Alabama Registered Agent
When You Want More
An Alabama registered agent is an individual or corporation appointed by a company in Alabama to accept legal documents on that company's behalf. The registered agent is the company's official point of contact. Alabama state law requires every business entity to maintain an Alabama registered agent so that the Secretary of State and state courts have a reliable way of contacting a corporation or LLC.
When you hire Northwest Registered Agent as your company's Alabama registered agent, you'll get everything you need to stay compliant and in good standing, plus Privacy by Default®, free mail forwarding, business address and the expertise of local Corporate Guides®.
Everything You Need To Know About Alabama Registered Agents:
- Get Alabama Registered Agent Service
- What Do Alabama Registered Agents Do?
- Legal Requirements For Alabama Registered Agents
- How To Be Your Own Alabama Registered Agent
- How Do I Change My Alabama Registered Agent?
- What Makes Northwest Different From Other Services?
- Alabama Registered Agent FAQs
- How To Order Registered Agent Service

What Do Alabama Registered Agents Do?
At a minimum, Alabama registered agents:
- Have a physical address in Alabama.
- Be open during business hours.
- Accept documents on your behalf and get them to you.
However, the right registered agent service can do much more. At Northwest, we go above and beyond the minimum to ensure top speed, security, privacy and support.
What Are The Legal Requirements For Alabama Registered Agents?
- A registered agent in Alabama has to be a state resident or a company that provides registered agent services.
- The agent must maintain a registered office address that is a physical address located within the State of Alabama.
- The registered agent must accept legal documents for your company.
How to Be Your Own Alabama Registered Agent for $0
All owners of Alabama businesses are able to be their own registered agents. This means you can designate yourself to accept official notices and service of process for your business, and there are only a few requirements you must meet in order to be the registered agent.
Your Alabama registered agent must reside in Alabama or be an Alabama business. The registered agent must also maintain a business office at the same address, which is officially referred to as the registered office. It is very important that the registered office be a street address where process may be personally served on the registered agent. The registered office address can’t be a mailbox or P.O. Box.
How do I become my own registered agent?
It is easy to designate yourself as registered agent when you form your corporation or LLC. Just list your own name and address on the Certificate of Formation that you will file with the Alabama Secretary of State.
You can download the Certificate of Formation for a corporation or LLC from the Alabama Secretary of State’s website. Write in your own name as the name of the registered agent. Then write in your street address as the registered office (if it is different from your principal office address). Finally, write in your mailing address if you have one that is different from your street address. Once your Certificate of Formation is filed by the state, you are your business’s registered agent.
Although being your own registered agent will cost you $0, keep in mind that once you are the registered agent for your business, your name and address will be public. Anyone who searches your business on the Secretary of State’s website will see your name and address listed.
What if I already have a registered agent?
If you have an existing Alabama business and you would like to change your Alabama registered agent to yourself, all you have to do is file a change of agent form. You can download the Change of Registered Agent or Registered Office by Entity form from the Secretary of State’s website. You will need to fill in the old registered agent information and list yourself as the new registered agent. Make sure to list your street address as the registered office. You may list your mailing address if you have one that is different from your street address. Make sure you sign as the new registered agent accepting the appointment on behalf of your business entity.
Once you file the change of agent with the Secretary of State, your registered office address will be public information. It will also be the address when any service of process and official mail for your Alabama LLC, Alabama corporation or Alabama nonprofit will be sent. It is very important that you comply with the requirements for a registered agent and registered office.
What if I no longer want to be my own registered agent?
Alabama has its process for resigning as a registered agent in the state. We can walk you through Alabama registered agent resignation process if you’d like.
How Do I Change My Alabama Registered Agent?
There are two ways to change your registered agent in Alabama.
- Hire us and we’ll complete the change of agent form for you for free.
- Do it yourself and file a change of agent form with the Alabama Secretary of State. The form costs $25 to file.
What Makes Northwest Different From Other Services?
At Northwest, we do business the right way. We’re dedicated to getting you your docs fast, protecting your privacy and offering you support. Here’s how:
- Same-Day Scans, Instant Notifications: We accept and scan your docs at our local office the same day. We notify you instantly and reach out to you if your essential mail goes unread.
- Privacy by Default®: We automatically minimize the exposure of and access to your personal data. If we can put our address on a public doc instead of yours, we do. If we don’t have to list your personal info, we don’t. We have tough privacy policies to keep your data safe and private. And we never sell your data.
- Free Limited Mail Forwarding: Of course we’ll get you your state and legal mail. That’s our job. But what if we get some of your regular business mail? It happens a lot—clients and businesses trying to connect with you via your registered agent.
- Corporate Guides®: Have questions? We have answers. Our guides are business experts whose sole job is to provide phone and email support for all your toughest business questions.
Alabama Registered Agent FAQs
Why Do I Need An Alabama Registered Agent?
- Alabama State Law (Section 10A-1-5.31) requires all legitimate, registered businesses to appoint one.
- The secretary of state will reject your business filing if you don’t appoint a registered agent.
- A registered agent requirement gives the public and the state a reliable way to contact your business.
Where Is Northwest’s Registered Office In Alabama?
We provide a commercial registered office location in Dothan, Alabama.
Can I Use Your Alabama Registered Office Address For Everything On My Business Filing?
Absolutely! We’re the only national registered agent service that allows our clients to list our addresses for everything when you’re doing a filing to keep your private addresses off of public records.
Can I Have My Business’s Mail Delivered To Your Alabama Office?
We don’t want ALL of your business mail. It’s not what we do. And it wouldn’t serve you well. You wouldn’t have unique address or suite number. Any mail we receive on your behalf would come to to Northwest Registered Agent, care of you.
But we understand that businesses and clients sometimes reach out to you through your registered agent. Through us. That’s why we give you 5 FREE scans of regular business mail a year. You can request any additional documents to be forwarded at a per document rate of $15.
Do I Hire A Registered Agent Before Or After I Start My Business In Alabama?
You should hire us first and then do your business registration filing, because you can’t form an LLC or corporation without an Alabama registered agent service. You’ll find all the Alabama forms and instructions you need to complete your filing instantly after you place an order.
How Do Alabama Registered Agents Get Served?
- A process server, the sheriff, or any third party will walk into our office and hand us legal papers (service of process).
- The process server then gives an affidavit to the court that they “served” us.
- Service on a registered agent is legal proof that your business was notified. Regardless of if the company looks at the docs or even gets them from the Alabama registered agent services, you were technically notified. This is a serious responsibility that we do not take lightly.
How Do I Search For An Alabama Registered Agent?
- You can do an Alabama business name search on the state’s website
- Type in the company name you are trying to look up.
- Look at the Alabama registered agent name and registered office street address.
If you want to legally notify someone through their Alabama registered agent service, just send a certified letter directly to the registered agent name and registered office address.
How To Order Alabama Registered Agent Service:
You sign up online, clicking on one of the buttons or links that says “HIRE US.”
We collect the first year of the registered agent service fee up front.
For new businesses, we’ll become your Alabama registered agent service once your business registration filing with the Alabama Secretary of State is complete.
About a year later, we’ll send you an invoice for another year of Alabama registered agent service. If you want to keep using us, great; if you don’t, you can easily cancel.
With offices in every state, we make it easy to add registered agent services anywhere in the country. We don’t farm out work (or your info) to other companies—wherever you are, WE are your registered agent.
We make your account a real go-to resource for you, not just for Alabama registered agent service or paying a bill but for keeping up with Alabama corporate compliance.
Information Your Alabama Registered Agent Should Help You Understand:
Alabama is the only state that requires businesses to reserve a business name before registering. A name reservation can be done online for $28.
A domestic corporation has a $100 filing fee and can be filed online. Domestic LLCs are a little more complicated. The filing is first processed at the county level, which comes with a variable county fee (typically $50 or more). Then, the filing is processed by the Secretary of State, which comes with a $100 filing fee. Because there are two different agencies processing the filing, only some areas allow for online filing. Foreign corporations and LLCs can be filed online and cost $150 to file. All online filings are subject to a convenience fee of 4%.
At Northwest, we can also form your LLC or form your corporation in Alabama for $100 plus state fees. As part of our commitment to Privacy by Default®, we put our business address on your filings to better protect your privacy. And you always have the support of our Corporate Guides®.