How long does it take to form an LLC?

What are the two parts of LLC formation time?

The first part is the service preparing your Articles of Organization (or the state's equivalent) and sending it in. The second is the state reading, approving and recording it. Your LLC exists only once the state finishes.

If you file yourself, the first part is however long you take to fill in the form. With a service, it is the processing time the provider states for your plan, and several providers word that time as their own work. LegalZoom's comparison page says so plainly: "these are service processing times, not state approval times." BizFilings writes its times as "Submitted in 7-10 business days" on its entry plan, and InCorp says its time runs "before state submission."^{6, 7, 8}

So a plan that promises a single business day doesn't mean a finished LLC the next day. It means the provider aims to have your filing at the state by then. The state's own queue starts after that.

Neither clock includes the work you do before ordering, such as picking a name and deciding who will be the registered agent. The how to form an LLC guide walks through those steps in order.

How long do formation services take to file?

A service's stated time depends far more on the plan you buy than on the provider. Paid tiers often state a single business day, while entry and free tiers at the same company state a week or more.

The table below lists every plan in our records that states a processing time, quickest first. Northwest and Rocket Lawyer publish no time for their LLC plans, and Harbor Compliance describes its tiers in words without a number of days, so none of the three appear.

The gap inside one provider is often wider than the gap between providers. ZenBusiness states 7-10 business days on Starter and 1 business day on Pro. Tailor Brands states 14 business days on Lite, and its Essential and Elite cards list "1 day expedited processing" as part of the plan. At Bizee the spread runs from 4 to 6 weeks on Basic to approximately 4 business days on Premium.^{2, 9, 10, 11, 12}

Some providers state one time for everything they sell. doola gives 1 to 2 business days for each of its yearly plans. Inc Authority has one free plan, which lists 24 hours processing without defining it there; its FAQ says that with its Premium Rush Service, your order is submitted within 24 hours during business hours.^{1, 13, 14}

These figures come from each provider's own pages; we don't time orders. The fastest formation services list orders providers by their quickest stated plan, and the full plan list shows speed next to price.

How long does the state take to approve an LLC?

State review runs from minutes to many weeks, depending on the state and on whether you file online or on paper. Where the states below publish both times, online is quicker.

Some states approve online filings almost at once. Wyoming says "When filed online, the business entity is active immediately," though mailed filings take up to 15 business days. For online filings, Colorado's checklist says "your filing takes effect immediately after payment," and Kansas says "Processing happens within minutes." New York sends an email filing receipt within minutes, with no standard time published for paper filings. Kentucky says "documents are usually processed the same day they are received."^{3, 15, 16, 17, 18}

A middle group takes several business days to a few weeks. Rhode Island lists 1 to 3 business days. Ohio's regular service is 3 to 7 business days. Georgia's time moves with its workload, and it says "online filings are generally processed in approximately 7 business days." California says online filings take 5 days or less and PDF forms 10+ days. Pennsylvania asks filers to allow 15 business days, and Arizona's regular review is typically 14-16 days.^{19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24}

At the slow end, Maine lists 40 to 55 business days and Maryland's standard service is 6 to 8 weeks. Pairing one of these states with a plan that states a long service time, such as Bizee Basic (4 to 6 weeks), adds the two waits together.^{2, 4, 25}

Delaware and Florida publish no fixed figure. Delaware says regular (non-expedited) processing varies with volume. In Florida, the Division posts current processing dates online, so you can see which filing dates it is working on the day you file.^{26, 27}

Each state page, such as forming an LLC in Maryland or forming an LLC in Wyoming, lists that state's published time and filing methods. The list of every state links to all of them.

How much does it cost to expedite an LLC filing?

There are two separate rush fees: the state's expedite fee, which speeds up its review, and a provider's rush fee, which speeds up the provider's handling. One doesn't buy the other.

State expedite fees

Each state below sells more than one speed, at rising prices. Texas, Nevada, New York and Arizona say the expedite fee is added to the filing fee.

The priciest tiers buy short windows, and some come with a cut-off time in the day, as in Pennsylvania (Same-day $100 (received before 10 a.m.); 3-hour $300 (before 2 p.m.); 1-hour $1,000 (before 4 p.m.), on top of filing fees). A cheaper tier can still take days, as with Maryland's expedited service (Expedited $150 total (7 to 14 business days)), against its standard 6 to 8 weeks.^{25, 31}

Not every state sells it. Florida says "We do not offer expedited services." Wyoming's paid expedite is not available for initial formations or other filings that can be completed online, which covers a new LLC filed online. Massachusetts has no separate expedite option, and Minnesota's expedited service is built into in-person and online filings, so filing online or in person gets the faster handling there.^{32, 33, 34, 35}

Provider rush fees

Several providers sell a faster tier of their own handling, either as an add-on or by moving you to a higher plan.

• ZenBusiness charges $79 to add rush processing to Starter; Pro and Premium include it.⁹
• Swyft Filings lists express processing at $50 as an add-on to Basic and same-day processing at $100 as an add-on to Basic and Standard; Premium includes same-day processing.³⁶
• LegalZoom lists expedited processing at $99, which it says gets formation documents submitted to the state in as little as one business day.⁶
• InCorp's fee schedule lists both an expedited service fee and a separate rush fee for its own handling, and adds: "Any state expedite fee is charged in addition."³⁷
• Harbor Compliance sells speed as tiers, $299 for Expedited Formation and $499 for Premium Formation, without stating days. It also says it can expedite the state's review and offer several options in most states.^{38, 39}
• Bizee lets you add expedited filing from your dashboard after checkout, at a price the order page doesn't show.²

InCorp's note spells out how its own rush fees work: they cover InCorp's handling, and a state expedite fee is a second charge. Where a provider doesn't say which part its rush fee covers, its pages leave that open. The ZenBusiness review and Swyft Filings pricing show where their rush options sit in each plan.

How long does the whole process take in a few real cases?

Add the service's stated time to the state's published time, then any expedite you buy. The examples below use only figures each source publishes.

1. Wyoming, filed online yourself. Online filings are active immediately, so the LLC can exist the day you file. Paying a service adds its handling time on top.³
2. Texas, ZenBusiness Starter. ZenBusiness states 7-10 business days. Our Texas record has no published standard review time, but the state's Texas Express tier is Standard Expedited $50 (typically 2 to 3 business days), plus the filing fee. The Texas services ranking shows each provider's plan cost in that state.^{5, 9}
3. Maryland, Tailor Brands Essential. Tailor Brands states 1 business day, then the state's standard service takes 6 to 8 weeks. Here the state's queue is almost the whole wait, and Maryland's paid tiers change the total far more than the plan does.^{11, 25}

The cost calculator adds each plan's price to a state's fees if you want to weigh speed against money.

What can add time after the state approves the LLC?

Approval creates the LLC, but a few states require a further step within a deadline, and the federal tax number is a separate application. None of these hold up the approval itself.

Newspaper publication can take the longest. New York requires notice in two newspapers chosen by the county clerk for six consecutive weeks, then the LLC must file a Certificate of Publication ($50) within 120 days. Arizona requires publication within 60 days of filing, unless the agent's street address is in Maricopa or Pima County, where the state posts the notice online. Nebraska requires notice of organization published for 3 successive weeks in a legal newspaper. The New York LLC guide and Arizona LLC guide cover the details.^{17, 40, 41}

The EIN (the federal tax ID for the business) comes from the IRS, not the state. Online, you apply with the IRS online tool; if approved, the EIN is issued immediately online. That tool asks for an SSN or ITIN. A business based abroad uses a different route, since a business whose principal place of business is outside the U.S. applies by phone (267-941-1099, Monday to Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern) or submits Form SS-4 by fax or mail. doola's upper plans list "Expedited EIN Processing", and doola prices an expedited EIN application at +$300. The EIN guide and the guide for non-U.S. residents cover each route. Beneficial ownership reporting is a different story for each kind of company. FinCEN's rule now says U.S. companies are permanently exempt from BOI reporting under a FinCEN final rule effective August 14, 2026, while foreign entities that are reporting companies must still report BOI, which reaches a company formed outside the U.S. that registers in a state.^{13, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46}

Some first reports come due quickly. California's Statement of Information is due within 90 days of formation, then on its regular cycle. The annual report guide lists what other states ask for and when.²²