North Carolina Registered Agent
When You Want More
A North Carolina registered agent is an individual resident or a registered business that accepts service of process and official notifications (such as annual report notices from the NC Secretary of State) on behalf of clients. North Carolina law requires every business entity to designate a North Carolina registered agent. A registered agent must maintain a physical address within the state and keep regular business hours.
With our registered agent service, get Privacy by Default®, business address, free mail forwarding, free Phone Service for 60 days, and local Corporate Guides®—only at Northwest.
Everything You Need To Know About North Carolina Registered Agents:
- Get North Carolina Registered Agent Service
- What Do North Carolina Registered Agents Do?
- Legal Requirements for North Carolina Registered Agents
- How Do I Change My North Carolina Registered Agent?
- What Makes Northwest Different From Other Services?
- North Carolina Registered Agent FAQs
- How To Order Registered Agent Service
Get North Carolina Registered Agent Service
Instant Online
Service
Sign up & immediately get a secure account where you’ll find:
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North Carolina business forms
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Annual report reminders
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All your scanned & stored documents
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Easy access to all our business services
Do Business
the Right Way
See why the pros choose Northwest:
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Same price every year
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Free limited mail forwarding
- Free 60-day trial of Phone Service
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Privacy by Default®
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Lifetime support from our Corporate Guides®
North Carolina Registered Agent Service
$ 125 Per Year
Hire Us What Do North Carolina Registered Agents Do?
To be a registered agent in NC, you have to:
- Be a resident or a company that provides registered agent services.
- Have a registered office address that is a physical address located within the State of North Carolina.
- Accept legal documents on behalf of the business.
In other words, your registered agent’s address acts as the official place where any service of process and official mail for your North Carolina LLC, North Carolina corporation or North Carolina nonprofit will be sent.
What Are the Legal Requirements for North Carolina Registered Agents?
According to NC state statute § 55D-30, the sole duty of a registered agent in North Carolina is to forward to the entity at its last known address any notice, process, or demand served on the registered agent. And that’s all cheap registered agent services will do, and maybe not very well.
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.
How Do I Change My North Carolina Registered Agent?
There are two ways to change your registered agent in North Carolina.
- Hire us and we’ll complete the change of agent form for you for free.
- Do it yourself and file a Change of Registered Agent form with the North Carolina Secretary of State.
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. We scan 5 documents per year for FREE. We can also scan additional mail at a per document rate of $15.
- 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.
North Carolina Registered Agent FAQs
Why Do I Need A North Carolina Registered Agent?
- State law 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.
Can I Be My Own Registered Agent In North Carolina?
Yes, you can be your own registered agent in North Carolina. However, after considering the registered agent requirements most business owners elect to hire a registered agent service instead. Why? Well although being your own registered agent will cost you $0, a North Carolina registered agent’s name and address becomes part of the public record. Additionally, the registered agent is required to be available to accept service of process during normal business hours 5 days a week.
Where Is Northwest’s Registered Office In North Carolina?
We provide a commercial registered office location in Raleigh, NC.
Can I Use Your North Carolina Registered Office Address For Everything On My Business Filing?
Absolutely! We’re the only national registered agent service that allows our clients to use our address for filing with the Secretary of State. This means you get to keep your private addresses off of public records.
Can I Have My Business’s Mail Delivered To Your North Carolina 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 North Carolina?
Always hire a registered agent before you do the business registration filing. This is true for domestic and foreign business in North Carolina. You can’t registered with the NC Secretary of State if you do not list a registered agent. It is also smart to hire us first because you will find all the forms and instructions you need to complete your filing instantly after you place an order.
How Do North Carolina 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.
- The registered agent should forward the documents to the business.
NOTE: Serving a registered agent is legal proof that the business was notified, regardless of if the company looks at the docs or even gets them from the North Carolina registered agent services. You were notified. This is a serious responsibility that we do not take lightly.
How Do I Search For A North Carolina Registered Agent?
- You can do a North Carolina business name search.
- Type in the company name you are trying to look up.
- Look at the NC registered agent name and registered office street address.
If you want to legally notify someone through their North Carolina registered agent service, just send a certified letter directly to the registered agent name and registered office address.
How Do I Resign From Being A Registered Agent In North Carolina?
In North Carolina, to resign as a registered agent, you need to submit a Statement of Resignation of Registered Agent to the North Carolina Secretary of State. For a more detailed walkthrough, you can refer to our guide on how to resign as a registered agent in North Carolina.
How To Order North Carolina 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 North Carolina registered agent service once your business registration filing with the North Carolina Secretary of State is complete.
About a year later, we’ll send you an invoice for another year of NC 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 North Carolina registered agent service or paying a bill but for keeping up with state corporate compliance.
Information Your NC Registered Agent Should Help You Understand:
- Business documents are filed with the North Carolina Secretary of State, Business Registration Division.
- Domestic LLCs and corporations cost $125 to file.
- Foreign LLCs and corporations cost $250 to file.
- Domestic nonprofits are $60, and foreign nonprofits are $125.
- Online filings will also be subject to a small processing fee of $2.
- Every year, most businesses will need to file an annual report as well. Corporations pay a $20 fee ($25 paper) and LLCs pay a much steeper $200 fee. Nonprofits aren’t required to file reports.
At Northwest, we can also form your LLC or form your corporation in North Carolina 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®.