How to form an LLC in New York (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in New York?

After the Articles are filed, New York adds newspaper publication, a step with its own deadline and certificate. The list below gives each step with its form and state fee.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the New York Department of State, Division of Corporations. You can reserve a name for $20 for 60 days (up to two 60-day extensions at $20 each).
2. Decide whether to name a registered agent. New York law lets an LLC name one but doesn't require it; if you name one, it must be a person or company with a New York address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization (DOS-1336-f), $200 with the New York Department of State, Division of Corporations. The state fee is $200. Filing methods: Online, by mail, in person (Albany) or by fax with a credit card authorization form.
4. Wait for approval: Online: email filing receipt within minutes; no standard time published for paper filings. Faster options: $25 within 24 hours; $75 same day; $150 within 2 hours (per document, plus filing fee).
5. Meet the publication rule: Publish the Articles or a notice in two newspapers chosen by the county clerk for six consecutive weeks, then file a Certificate of Publication ($50) within 120 days.
6. File the recurring report (Biennial Statement ($9, every two years)): due every two years (biennial statement), in the calendar month the articles of organization were filed, fee $9.

The second step in that list is optional in New York: an LLC doesn't have to name a registered agent. The statute says an LLC may designate a registered agent, while every LLC must designate the Secretary of State as its agent for service of process. That designation is printed in Article THIRD of the Articles, so the state itself receives lawsuits and forwards them to the address you give.^{3, 4, 5}

Publication is the step without a state price list. The state doesn't publish newspaper rates, so no total on this site includes them. If you'd rather compare services than file on your own, the New York LLC services ranked with totals shows each provider's first-year cost here.

How do you check and reserve a New York LLC name?

Search the New York Department of State, Division of Corporations business entity records first, then file an Application for Reservation of Name if you need to hold the name. The fee is $20 for 60 days, with up to two 60-day extensions at $20 each.⁶

With both extensions, a reservation covers three periods back to back, which can help when partners are still signing on or the business plan isn't final.

Reserving is optional. If the search comes back clear and the paperwork is ready, you can go straight to the Articles.

Does a New York LLC need a registered agent?

No. A New York LLC may designate a registered agent under N.Y. Ltd. Liab. Co. Law § 302, but it doesn't have to, because every LLC must designate the Secretary of State as its agent for service of process. Papers served on the Secretary of State are then mailed on to an address the LLC keeps on file, the address to which the Secretary of State mails process accepted for the LLC.^{3, 4, 7}

That address is the weak point. If it's an old office or a home you've moved from, the state's copy of a lawsuit goes somewhere nobody checks. Keeping that address current is the main upkeep this setup needs.

Who may serve if you do name one? Under N.Y. Ltd. Liab. Co. Law § 302, an agent can be a natural person who is a resident of this state or has a business address in this state, and the statute's other parts allow LLCs and corporations. A service puts its own address on file for receiving papers. Northwest Registered Agent lists agent service at $125 per year, InCorp Services at $129/year, and Tailor Brands at $199/year. Because the agent is optional in New York, a bundled agent is an extra here, not a requirement. The list of services that include a registered agent shows which plans do and for how long, and Northwest's pricing page breaks down its renewal.^{3, 8, 9, 10}

How do you file the Articles of Organization, and how fast is it?

You can file online, by mail, in person in Albany, or by fax with a credit card authorization form. Online filing is the quick route, since you get an email filing receipt within minutes.^{1, 4}

The state lists no standard time published for paper filings, which covers mail, fax and counter filings, and the fax route needs the card authorization form sent with the Articles.¹

Expedited review tiers

A filing can be moved up the queue for a fee charged per document, plus filing fee. New York sells three speeds.¹

1. $25 within 24 hours¹
2. $75 same day¹
3. $150 within 2 hours¹

The state's page doesn't say how these tiers apply to online filings, which already return a receipt within minutes. A formation service's own stated speed is a separate clock from the state's. The guide to how long LLC formation takes explains the two, and the fastest stated filing list compares providers on their published times.

How does the New York publication requirement work?

Within 120 days after the Articles are filed, the LLC must publish the Articles or a notice in two newspapers chosen by the county clerk, for six consecutive weeks, then file a Certificate of Publication ($50) with the New York Department of State, Division of Corporations.¹

The county clerk picks the papers, and the clerk that counts is for the county in which the office of the LLC is located. The state doesn't publish rates for the notices, so what you pay depends on the papers the clerk names.¹

Missing the deadline has a cost. Failing to publish and file the certificate in time will result in the suspension of the LLC's authority to do business. The deadline runs from formation, so the notices, which run for six consecutive weeks, have to start well before it.¹

None of the formation services we compare mentions the newspaper notices in the plan details we collected. Ask before you order, and get the price in writing if a provider offers to arrange it.

What does a New York LLC cost in the first and second year?

Year one costs the $200 filing fee, the Certificate of Publication ($50) fee, the newspaper charges, and any plan or expedite fee you pick. The recurring Department of State charge is the Biennial Statement fee of $9.^{1, 2}

The table shows each provider's first- and second-year totals in New York with the plan we compare. Rows follow our rating, with ties in the editorial order set out in how we rate.

First year: state filing fee plus the provider's compared plan. Second year: the recurring state fee plus the plan's renewal, if it renews.

Totals are our arithmetic on the published figures. Registered agent renewals are extra unless a plan includes the agent. Try other plans in the calculator.

Two things are left out of those totals. Publication costs aren't in them, since newspaper rates aren't published by the state. And the second-year column adds the full $9 statement fee, even though that statement comes due every other year.²

Second-year figures differ mostly by whether the plan renews. Inc Authority's Free LLC plan totals $200, the state fee alone, and $9 in year two before its agent renews. Harbor Compliance Standard Formation totals $299; its agent, if you add one, renews at $159 annually. Rocket Lawyer is a yearly membership, so its Standard membership plan comes to $349 in year one and $158 in year two. See Rocket Lawyer's profile and Harbor Compliance's profile for what each plan leaves out.¹¹

The LLC cost calculator works out your own mix of plan and expedite. The national guide to LLC costs and the lowest first-year totals by provider cover the same question beyond New York.

What does a New York LLC file after it is formed?

A New York LLC files a Biennial Statement every other year, in the calendar month the articles of organization were filed, for $9. Its main question is the address to which the Secretary of State mails process accepted for the LLC.^{2, 7, 12}

That short form keeps the state's service-of-process address current. Since the Secretary of State is the LLC's agent for lawsuits, a stale address on the statement can mean legal papers go astray.

Missing a statement brings no late fee from the state; instead, the LLC is shown as past due in DOS records.⁷

Tax is a separate track, run by the Department of Taxation and Finance. LLCs with New York-source income pay an annual filing fee on Form IT-204-LL, either $25 for disregarded entities or, for LLCs taxed as partnerships, $25 to $4,500 by New York-source gross income. LLCs with no New York-source income, and LLCs that elect corporate tax treatment, do not file Form IT-204-LL. How that fee applies to your own income is a question for an accountant.¹³

Some services sell recurring report filing. InCorp Services lists it at $89 + state fees, Rocket Lawyer at $100 with Pro membership, excluding state fees, and Swyft Filings through ComplianceGuard at $199/year after a 14-day free trial then auto-charged. None of them names the New York statement, so check which filing the price covers. The package contents guide separates filings from reminders.^{14, 15, 16}

How do you change or add a New York registered agent later?

An LLC names, changes or removes a registered agent by filing a Certificate of Change with the New York Department of State, Division of Corporations. The LLC's fee is $30; a change filed by the agent itself costs $5.^{2, 17}

An agent can also step down. It files a Certificate of Resignation and must send a copy to the LLC by registered mail; the designation ends 30 days after filing. The Secretary of State's designation as agent for process doesn't depend on a registered agent, so it stays in place; the LLC loses only the agent's address for receiving papers.³

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC formed elsewhere files an Application for Authority to do business in New York, for $250. The publication rule follows it here too: foreign LLCs must also publish within 120 days.¹⁸

That is more than the $200 domestic fee, and the newspaper charges come on top. Whether to register an existing company or form a new New York one depends on where the business operates and how it's taxed, which is a question for a lawyer or accountant. The state fees table compares costs across states, including neighbors New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.