Washington Registered Agent Service
Yes. Every Washington domestic entity and registered foreign entity must designate and maintain a registered agent with a physical Washington street address — the Secretary of State expressly rejects PO boxes and private mailboxes — and the agent must sign a dated consent to serve before the appointment can be filed. New entities also owe an Initial Report within 120 days of formation, on top of the yearly annual report.
Verified against the Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division · Reviewed September 2026
- Appointed the same day
- Real Washington street address
- Every US filing jurisdiction, one login
- Required?
- Yes, always
- Address rule
- Physical WA street address, no PO box or PMB
- Form to switch agents
- Statement of Change/Designation of Registered Agent — revised June 2025
- Key deadline
- Last day of your formation monthSee all deadlines
Your Washington year
Every recurring Washington filing on a single line, with a two-week heads-up before each due date.
- January: Annual Report (Secretary of State) due, Jan 31
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December
One filing a year: Annual Report (Secretary of State), due by the last day of your anniversary month.
- Form
- Annual Report (multiple entity types), filed in CCFS
- If late
- Delinquent status, which may lead to administrative dissolution
Deadline rules from the Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division · reviewed September 2026. We confirm every date when you file.
What does Washington require of your registered agent?
The rule
Governing statute: RCW 23.95.405 (entities required to designate and maintain a registered agent), RCW 23.95.410 (Washington street address), RCW 23.95.415 (designation and written consent), RCW 23.95.430 (statement of change), RCW 23.95.255 (initial and annual reports)
The registered office must be a physical street address in Washington — the Secretary of State states plainly that PO boxes and PMBs are prohibited. A Washington mailing address may be added alongside it but never replaces the street address. No Washington address of your own means hiring a commercial registered agent from the public CCFS list.
Washington does not publish a statutory office-hours rule. It requires the agent to be located at that Washington physical address so service of process can take place there, and a contact email address plus a signed, dated consent to serve are part of the required agent information.
If you have no agent
Losing your agent, or missing the annual report tied to it, drops the entity into delinquent status and can lead to administrative dissolution — which ends your active status and the good standing of your UBI.
New to the role? What a registered agent actually does — the role, explained in plain English.
Other states call the same role a registered agent, resident agent, statutory agent or agent for service of process. In Washington the law says registered agent. Which term each state uses.
Operating beyond Washington? Compare agent requirements state by state — the term, the address rule and the recurring filing all change at the state line.
What does Washington ask you to file, and when?
| Obligation | Form | Due | Late penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLC formation (Certificate of Formation) | Certificate of Formation | At formation | N/A |
| Initial Report | Initial Report (all entity types except nonprofits) | Within 120 days after the public organic record becomes effective (RCW 23.95.255) | The record stays incomplete and the entity is out of compliance until it is filed |
| Annual Report | Annual Report (multiple entity types), filed in CCFS | By the last day of the month in which the business was originally formed or registered; filable up to 180 days early without moving the expiration date | Delinquent status, which may lead to administrative dissolution |
| Change of registered agent | Statement of Change (or Annual Report / Amended Annual Report) | When the agent changes | N/A |
State fees change; we confirm current amounts with you before anything is filed.
Missed a filing? What happens to a Washington LLC, and how to put it right — Washington’s own status term, the filing that brings it back and the time limit.
What we file for you in Washington
- Every filing in the table above, prepared and submitted on time
- Reminders ahead of each deadline, for every entity you hold
- State fees confirmed with you before anything is filed
Priced for your portfolio, not a rate card.
Every Washington quote is built around your entities, your states and your filings — one entity or hundreds. Most quotes are same-day.
How do you appoint or change your registered agent in Washington?
Procedure scope: Washington domestic LLCs and registered foreign LLCs; the statement is a business-entity registered-agent filing rather than an LLC-only form.
5 steps
to switch your registered agent in Washington.
Step 1: Copy the business's Unified Business Identifier and exact name from the Secretary of State record; both must match the record.
Step 2: For a replacement, mark that the registered agent has changed and complete the new-agent page, rather than using only the current-agent contact-update block.
Step 3: Select one agent type. Name the listed commercial agent, or identify the noncommercial individual, business or office/position and provide its Washington physical street address and required email; do not use a PO box or private mailbox for the street address.
Agent consent
Step 4: Have the authorized person sign and date the statement and have the appointed agent sign and date Consent to Serve, including printed name and title as requested.
Submit
Step 5: File through the Corporations and Charities Filing System or mail the completed statement using its instructions, then save the filing evidence and check the business record.
Washington formStatement of Change/Designation of Registered Agent — revised June 2025
Change fee · Set by the stateAny state fee for this change is confirmed with you before anything is filed.
We handle the whole swapThe statement uses the business's UBI and covers business entities, including domestic and registered foreign LLCs and corporations. A commercial agent's address is already on its listing and need not be supplied in the new-commercial-agent field. A current agent's contact-only update uses the separate block and does not require submitting the replacement page.
Switching providers? How to change your registered agent in Washington — the filing route, consent and entity-specific instructions, with official sources.
Can you be your own registered agent in Washington?
Yes. Washington lets anyone who consents and holds a physical Washington address act as a noncommercial registered agent, including you personally or an officer of the company, or a named office or position within the business. The physical-address test is absolute: a PO box or a UPS/FedEx mailbox is rejected outright, so an owner without a Washington street location has to hire a commercial registered agent. Whatever address you use goes on the public record, and every state notice lands there — including the 60-day annual report reminder. The full guide: Can you be your own registered agent?
Should you be your own registered agent?
Three honest questions about Washington. If you don’t need us, we’ll say so.
- Address privacyNow
- Reaching you with legal papers
- Other states
Is it fine if your home or office address goes on the public record?
As your own registered agent, the street address you list is the one that appears on Washington's public record.
Should you even hire a registered agent?
If you live in Washington, keep regular hours at a fixed address, and run one entity, you may not need us, and we will tell you so. A service earns its keep when you value privacy, travel, run more than one entity, or operate across state lines.
| What the job involves in Washington | Be your own agent | LLCity |
|---|---|---|
| Physical WA street address, no PO box or PMB | Your home or office, on public record | Our Washington address, your privacy kept |
| You must be reliably reachable to accept and forward service of process | On you, every business day | Always staffed, scanned the day it arrives |
| Multi-state coverage | One state only | All 50 plus DC and Puerto Rico, one login |
| Deadline tracking | On you | Reminders before every deadline |
| Served in front of clients | Possible | Never, it comes to us |
Why do businesses in Washington choose LLCity?
Your Washington registered agent
Same-day appointment, mail scanned on arrival, and compliance reminders before every deadline.
- Real Washington street address (no PO box)
- Every notice scanned the day it arrives
- One dashboard for every state you operate in
One login
Every entity and every state in a single dashboard.
Every deadline tracked
Yours fall when your states say they fall. We watch all of them.
Every entity
Add states and entities without adding vendors.
Managing agents for more than three entities?
One agent, one login, and every state deadline tracked for every entity you own.
Put Washington’s deadlines in your calendar
Set your formation date and download reminders for every recurring Washington filing — or have us email them.
Annual Report (Secretary of State)
Next due: January 31, 2027 · repeats yearly · Due the last day of the month you first formed or registered; filable up to 180 days early
Dates sourced from the Washington filing office and carrying the month we last checked them. Schedules change — we confirm everything before anything is filed.
Is that letter really from Washington?
Private companies mail official-looking offers to file your recurring report or sell you a certificate. Here is what Washington has said about them, and where to file directly.
Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities Division
Third-Party Notices and Solicitations: Tips & Examples
“Third party service is not required to submit filings to the Corporations & Charities Division.”
Also published
- Secretary Hobbs Warns of Fraudulent Notices to Washington Businesses(Washington Secretary of State)
- Company to pay more than over allegations of deceptive solicitations to small businesses in Washington(Washington State Office of the Attorney General)
- AG Ferguson: Judge orders two companies to pay after sending more than 230,000 deceptive letters to Washington small business owners(Washington State Office of the Attorney General)
- Deceptive Solicitations to Washington businesses(Washington Secretary of State (pointing to Attorney General lawsuit))
File or order directly from Washington:
Annual report; certificate of existence · Annual report information
How to tell a lookalike from a real state notice, and what to do with one
Questions about registered agent service in Washington
Do I need a registered agent in Washington?
Yes. RCW 23.95.405 requires every domestic entity and registered foreign entity to designate and maintain a registered agent in Washington. The agent needs a physical Washington street address — PO boxes and private mailboxes are prohibited — and must give signed, dated consent before the appointment is filed. Without a Washington address of your own, you hire a commercial registered agent.
Can I be my own registered agent in Washington?
Yes, if you have a physical Washington street address and consent in writing. You can serve personally, or the business can name an office or position so whoever holds it acts as agent. The catch is the address: a PO box or a UPS mailbox will be rejected, and the address you use becomes public record where every state notice arrives.
What happens if my Washington LLC has no registered agent?
Your entity drifts out of compliance. Service of process has no reliable destination, and because the annual report and the agent record travel together, the entity slides into delinquent status and can be administratively dissolved. Dissolution ends your active status and the good standing attached to your UBI, which lenders and licensing bodies check.
How do I change my registered agent in Washington?
Washington domestic LLCs and registered foreign LLCs; the statement is a business-entity registered-agent filing rather than an LLC-only form. Washington's statement distinguishes replacing the registered agent from updating the current agent's contact information. A replacement requires the authorized person's signature and the incoming agent's signed consent, regardless of agent type. The statement uses the business's UBI and covers business entities, including domestic and registered foreign LLCs and corporations. A commercial agent's address is already on its listing and need not be supplied in the new-commercial-agent field. A current agent's contact-only update uses the separate block and does not require submitting the replacement page.
When is the Washington annual report due?
By the last day of the month in which your business was originally formed or registered, every year. You can file up to 180 days early, and filing early does not move the date — it stays pinned to your original formation month. A new entity also owes an Initial Report within 120 days of formation, which the annual report does not replace.
How much does a Washington registered agent cost?
Pricing is custom to your portfolio of entities and states, and most quotes are same-day. Call 212-202-5750 or start a filing and we’ll price exactly what you need. State filing fees in Washington are set by the state and are confirmed with you before anything is filed.
Figures verified against the Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division (www.sos.wa.gov/corporations-charities/business-entities/maintain-business-compliance/registered-agents) · Last updated September 2026
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