How to change your registered agent in New York
A New York domestic LLC files a Certificate of Change to add, change or revoke its optional registered agent. This does not replace the Secretary of State as the statutory recipient of service of process. The forwarding address for service received by the Secretary of State is a separate item on the certificate.
Checked against primary sources ·
New York- Jurisdiction terminology
- registered agent
- Filing office
- New York Department of State, Division of Corporations
Choose the right New York filing
A New York LLC has two service-of-process arrangements that must not be collapsed into one address change. The Secretary of State remains the statutory recipient, while a private registered agent is an optional additional appointment. A Certificate of Change can update the address used to forward process received by the Secretary of State, add or replace a private agent, change that agent's address, or revoke the private appointment. The domestic certificate also has separate county and electronic-service-notice email choices. Decide which records must change before checking statements: hiring a provider does not automatically update every channel.
- Procedure scope
- A New York domestic LLC designating, changing or revoking an optional private registered agent, or updating its service-of-process forwarding address.
- Form or online transaction
- Certificate of Change under LLC Law Section 211-A — DOS-1359-f
Which route fits your registered agent change?
- Change only the Secretary of State's forwarding address
On the domestic certificate, select the statement changing the post office address to which the Secretary of State mails process served by personal delivery. This can be done without appointing a private registered agent. If a departing provider supplied that address, replace it even when no optional agent was ever designated. Source 2.
- Add, replace, move or revoke a private agent
The certificate has separate statements for an initial designation, change of designation, change of the agent's address and revocation. Choose the statement matching the existing record. An address-only statement is not a new appointment, and revocation of the optional designation does not eliminate the Secretary of State's role. Source 2.
- Domestic and authorized foreign LLCs differ
Domestic LLCs use the Section 211-A certificate, DOS-1359-f. An authorized foreign LLC changes its Application for Authority under Section 804-A using the separate foreign Certificate of Change route. The foreign instructions require the application-for-authority filing date, not the home-state formation date. Source 4.
- A provider's resignation is another filing
LLC Law Section 302 provides a separate registered-agent resignation certificate, including notice by registered mail to the LLC and termination after thirty days. Do not wait for or copy that agent-initiated certificate when the LLC itself is making a change through its applicable Certificate of Change. Source 3.
Prepare for the change in New York
- Verify identity and formation filing date
For a domestic LLC, confirm the exact current name, the name under which it was organized if changed, and the date its Articles of Organization were filed. The official instructions say the name and filing date must exactly match Department records. Do not use the business's first sales date or a publication date. Source 2.
- Inventory all process destinations
Prepare the current and desired Secretary of State forwarding address, optional registered-agent designation and address, and electronic-service notice email. Compare each separately. This is particularly important when one outgoing provider supplied more than one destination and the engagement is ending. Source 2.
- Check private-agent eligibility
Section 302 permits a natural person resident in New York or with a New York business address; a domestic or authorized foreign LLC; or a domestic or authorized foreign corporation. Agree on the appointment before filing and obtain the street address required by the certificate's designation statement. Source 3.
- Identify the actual authorized capacity
The domestic certificate provides Member, Manager and Authorized Person choices for the signer. Use the capacity that is true for the signer, with signature and typed or printed name. Do not treat those choices as arbitrary labels simply because a third party is delivering the document. Source 2.
- Choose reliable return contacts
The packet includes both filer name and mailing address information and a document cover sheet requesting contact details. The cover sheet states that documents generally return to its email address. Choose a monitored return email rather than an outgoing provider's inbox that may soon stop being monitored for the LLC. Source 2.
Consent and acceptance
Arrange the private agent's agreement before designating it. The reviewed domestic LLC Certificate of Change requires the member, manager or authorized person's signature and does not contain a separate incoming-agent consent attachment requirement.
Entity-type differences
DOS-1359-f is for domestic LLCs under Section 211-A. Authorized foreign LLCs and corporations have separate Certificate of Change filings under their governing provisions. LLC Law Section 302 permits an additional private agent for domestic and authorized foreign LLCs; it does not make that optional agent a substitute for the Secretary of State.
Complete the New York change filing
Verify the LLC's exact legal name, any former name and the date its Articles of Organization were filed against Department of State records.
Choose the appropriate Certificate of Change statement: designate an agent, change its designation or address, or revoke the optional designation.
Enter the agent's street address where required. Separately update the address to which the Secretary of State mails process if that address is also changing; do not assume the agent field changes it.
Have a member, manager or authorized person sign the certificate and complete the filer and cover-sheet contact information.
Submit the completed certificate to the Division of Corporations at the address in the official instructions and retain the filing receipt.
Open the official filing instructions or transaction. Read the primary sources below alongside these steps.
Form fields and statement requirements
- FIRST and SECOND
FIRST identifies the domestic LLC and any original name if it changed. SECOND states the Articles of Organization filing date. Verify both against Department records before completing the change statements; a correct proposed agent cannot cure identification of the wrong entity or filing event. Source 2.
- THIRD: county and postal forwarding
The county-location statement changes the county in which the LLC office is located. The separate postal statement replaces the address for mailing process served on the Secretary of State by personal delivery. Enter a county in the county choice and a complete forwarding address in the postal choice, not vice versa. Source 2.
- THIRD: electronic-service notice email
The domestic form contains separate statements to provide, change or delete the email used for notice that process was served electronically upon the Secretary of State. Review the applicable statement deliberately. This email is not the cover sheet's return email, and updating one does not describe an update of the other. Source 2.
- THIRD: private-agent choices
For a new designation, state the agent and its street address. For an existing appointment, use the applicable change-of-designation or address-change statement, or select revocation if ending the optional designation. Review the Secretary of State forwarding address separately, even if the same provider appeared in both arrangements. Source 2.
- Execution and filing cover sheet
Sign, print the signer's name and check the correct capacity. Complete the filer information and the cover sheet's exact entity name and document type. The packet's return-email instruction concerns delivery of the filing receipt or other document, not the address for forwarding future service of process. Source 2.
Submit the change to New York Department of State, Division of Corporations
- Deliver the completed domestic certificate
The Department's domestic instructions direct the completed certificate to the Division of Corporations at the address stated on the official page. Use the current certificate and cover sheet and follow the accompanying submission instructions. The page reviewed does not establish an authenticated online filing sequence for this transaction. Source 1.
- Use the separate foreign instructions when applicable
The foreign LLC page links its own certificate and directs delivery to the Division. It describes changing the Application for Authority, including forwarding address, county or private-agent designation. Do not merely change domestic to foreign in DOS-1359-f and leave its Articles of Organization statements intact. Source 4.
Before you submit
Keep the Secretary of State's process-forwarding address and electronic-service notice email current as applicable. Revoking a private agent does not revoke the Secretary of State's statutory role.
Verify the change and finish the transition
- Retain the returned filing evidence
Monitor the cover sheet's return email and save the filing receipt with the executed certificate. The cover sheet says documents generally return by email, with a stated exception for certain older copies. The recipient of that email should review the result instead of only forwarding a payment acknowledgment. Source 2.
- Reconcile each selected statement
Practical guidance. Compare the filed certificate with your destination inventory: postal forwarding, optional agent, agent street address and electronic-service email where applicable. Record which items were intentionally unchanged. This makes it possible to explain why a provider's name still appears in one context but not another.
- Close both forwarding relationships carefully
Practical guidance. Before ending the old engagement, ask who holds any process already received and who will handle notices arriving during the handover. Confirm your own internal legal contact can access the current inbox. Do not assume the provider change has redirected documents already in transit.
Avoid these New York filing mistakes
- Replacing the optional agent but leaving an obsolete postal address
Use the separate Secretary of State postal-forwarding statement when that destination also changes. The certificate treats the two as different items. A successful private-agent change does not mean an address supplied in another statement was replaced. Source 2.
- Using the domestic filing date for a foreign LLC
Follow the foreign instructions, which require the date the Application for Authority was filed. That is a different filing event from home-state formation. Use the foreign certificate rather than trying to force the event into the domestic certificate's SECOND paragraph. Source 4.
- Ignoring the electronic notice email
The domestic certificate expressly provides email-related choices. Review the recorded notice destination and select only the appropriate change. Do not confuse the electronic-service notice email with the filer return email or assume a new postal address resolves an obsolete inbox. Source 2.
Questions about changing your registered agent in New York
Must a New York LLC hire a private registered agent?
LLC Law Section 302 permits a private registered agent in addition to the Secretary of State designation. It is an optional additional appointment, not a replacement for the statutory Secretary of State arrangement. Source 3.
Can I remove a private agent without naming another?
The domestic certificate includes a statement revoking the registered-agent designation. Review the separate Secretary of State forwarding address and electronic-service notice email so that ending the private relationship does not leave obsolete destinations in place. Source 2.
Is the process-forwarding address the same as the county location?
No. The domestic form has different statements for the LLC's county location and the post office address used to mail process received by the Secretary of State. Complete the statement for the information actually changing. Source 2.
Does an authorized foreign LLC use DOS-1359-f?
No. The Department publishes a foreign LLC Certificate of Change under Section 804-A for changes to its Application for Authority. Its identification includes the authority filing date, while DOS-1359-f is the domestic Section 211-A certificate. Source 4.
Is agent resignation the same as the LLC's revocation?
No. Section 302 describes an agent-executed resignation certificate and notice requirements, with termination thirty days after filing. The LLC's own Certificate of Change has a revocation choice for its optional agent designation. Source 3.
Which primary sources support this procedure?
Checked . The filing office’s current instructions govern the submission.
- New York Department of State — domestic LLC Certificate of Change instructions
- New York Department of State — DOS-1359-f certificate and cover sheet
- New York Senate — LLC Law Section 302, optional additional registered agent
- New York Department of State — foreign LLC Certificate of Change under Section 804-A
Procedural guidance, not legal advice. Confirm the correct filing for your entity and its current record.
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