How to form an LLC in Oregon (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in Oregon?

Oregon keeps formation short: pick a name, line up a registered agent, file the Articles with the Corporation Division, wait for staff review, then renew once a year. Each step's form and fee is in the list below.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the Oregon Secretary of State, Corporation Division. You can reserve a name for $100 for 120 days.
2. Name a registered agent in Oregon: a person or company with an Oregon address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization - Limited Liability Company ($100) with the Oregon Secretary of State, Corporation Division. The state fee is $100. Filing methods: Online (Oregon Business Registry) or by mail; walk-in front desk in Salem.
4. Wait for approval: Staff review of an online filing typically begins within one business day; no overall processing time published.
5. Recurring filing: Annual Report (annual renewal), $100, due on the anniversary of formation, fee $100.

Oregon charges $100 for the Articles, $100 to hold a name, and $100 for each yearly renewal, so a name reservation costs as much as forming the company outright.^{1, 5}

The registered agent step carries a legal consequence. Oregon can start an administrative dissolution of an LLC that has no registered agent or registered office in the state (ORS 63.647), so the agent has to stay in place for as long as the LLC exists. When you would rather pay a service to handle the filing, the Oregon LLC services ranked with totals page compares what each one costs here.⁶

How do you check and reserve an Oregon LLC name?

Check the Oregon Secretary of State, Corporation Division records for the name before you file. To hold a name while you get ready, file the state's name reservation form; it costs $100 and keeps the name for 120 days.⁵

Because the reservation fee equals the $100 filing fee, a reservation pays off only when something delays the Articles themselves, such as a co-owner who hasn't signed on yet or an agent you haven't chosen. If everything is ready, filing the Articles costs the same and forms the company.¹

What are the registered agent rules for an Oregon LLC?

Oregon requires the registered office to sit at a real street address, and Oregon law (ORS 63.111) says the office must be located at a physical street address where process may be personally served on the registered agent. "Process" here means legal papers, such as the notice of a lawsuit, delivered by hand.⁶

That wording rules out an address where nobody can take papers in person. A P.O. box alone won't meet it. Whether you list yourself or hire a company, the same address test applies.

A registered agent service supplies its own Oregon street address for that field. Northwest Registered Agent, for example, sells agent service on its own at $125 per year. Inc Authority includes its agent free for the first year with LLC formation, after which it renews at $249/year. Price comparisons are on Northwest's pricing page, Inc Authority's pricing page and the list of plans with a registered agent included. Our registered agent explainer covers what the role involves anywhere in the country.^{7, 8, 9}

If an LLC is dissolved for lacking an agent, it isn't necessarily over. Oregon allows reinstatement within five years of dissolution under ORS 63.654(1). Our Oregon record has no verified reinstatement fee, so this page doesn't quote one.⁶

How do you file the Oregon Articles of Organization, and how long does review take?

You file the Articles of Organization - Limited Liability Company online through the Oregon Business Registry, by mail, or at the state's walk-in desk in Salem, and the state publishes no overall processing time. What it does say is that staff review of an online filing typically begins within one business day after you submit.^{2, 3, 4}

The state takes filings in these ways.

• online through the Oregon Business Registry²
• by mail, which the state asks for when online filing isn't an option
• in person at the walk-in front desk in the Public Service Building, Salem, open Mon-Fri 8 a.m.-5 p.m.²

Email is not one of them. Forms and payments are not accepted by email, so a PDF sent to a state inbox won't count as a filing.²

An Oregon filing isn't approved the instant you pay, because registrations are reviewed by Corporation Division staff before completion. Our Oregon record lists no state rush option or expedite fee, so no rush price appears on this page or in the totals. If a deadline is tight, ask the Corporation Division directly what it can do.³

A formation service's stated speed measures its own work, not the state's. Tailor Brands and ZenBusiness each state 1 business day on their compared plans, which is their own processing time; Oregon's staff review then runs on its own schedule. The guide to how long LLC formation takes separates the two, and the fastest stated filing list compares the providers' published times.

What does an Oregon LLC cost in the first and second year?

An Oregon LLC costs $100 in state fees to form and $100 for each renewal after that, so the state's share doesn't change from the first year to the second. A service's plan price, and any agent renewal, sits on top.¹

The table gives each provider's first- and second-year totals in Oregon with the plan we compare. Rows follow our rating, highest first, with ties in the editorial order explained 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.

Because Oregon publishes a fixed renewal fee, the second-year column has a figure for every provider. Read it with care, though. It counts the plan's own renewal and the state's $100, and nothing billed separately.¹

Inc Authority and Northwest Registered Agent show why. Inc Authority's Free LLC plan comes to $100 in the first year and $100 in the second, which is the state fee alone each time. Its registered agent, free at first, then renews at $249/year, and that charge is not in the column. Northwest Registered Agent totals $139 and then $100, and its included agent renews at $125/yr after year 1. The doola row repeats its plan price in year two. Its plans auto-renew at rates then in effect and doola publishes no renewal price, so that figure carries today's price forward.^{9, 10, 11}

Plans that bill every year look higher in year two but may cover more. Tailor Brands Elite totals $349 and then $349, and the plan lists mandatory report filing. ZenBusiness Premium reaches $399 in year two and lists filing of state-required annual reports. See the Inc Authority profile and the Northwest profile for what each cheaper plan leaves out.^{12, 13}

To test your own plan choice, the LLC cost calculator adds the Oregon fees for you. The list ranked by cost across both years and the national guide to LLC costs answer the same question beyond Oregon.

What does an Oregon LLC file each year?

An Oregon LLC files an annual report, also called its annual renewal, on the anniversary date of the original filing and pays $100. The due date follows the day your LLC was formed, so companies formed on different days have different deadlines.^{1, 3, 4}

The state gives some warning. Its FAQ says renewal notices go out about 45 days before the due date.⁴

Missing the renewal is a serious problem in Oregon even though no fine is listed. The Business Registry fee schedule contains no late-filing fee line for LLCs. Under ORS 63.647(2), failing to file the annual report when due is grounds for administrative dissolution. That means the Secretary of State may begin dissolving the company.⁶

Several services sell annual report filing, at different prices. Their published terms describe the service in general and don't name Oregon's renewal, so confirm Oregon coverage before relying on one.

1. Tailor Brands lists mandatory report filing in its Essential and Elite plans.¹²
2. ZenBusiness lists state-required annual reports in its Pro and Premium plans.¹³
3. Northwest Registered Agent charges $100 + state fees per filing, and registered agent customers are auto-enrolled in that renewal service.¹⁴
4. LegalZoom lists a one-time annual report filing at $99 + state filing fees.¹⁵

Where a provider spells it out, the state fee is extra; doola, for example, offers annual report filing on its higher plans with state fees paid by customer. For the others, ask whether the plan pays Oregon's $100 or only does the paperwork. The package contents guide explains the difference between a filing service and a reminder, and the annual report explainer covers how these reports work elsewhere.^{1, 16}

How do you change an Oregon registered agent?

You change an Oregon registered agent with the Information Change form, filed on paper or online, and the state fee is $0. Because it costs nothing at the state level, switching agent services in Oregon costs only what the new provider charges.^{1, 17}

The order of steps still counts. File the change with the state first, then cancel the old service, so the LLC never sits without an agent and open to dissolution under ORS 63.647.⁶

An agent can also step down on its own. The agent files a signed resignation statement, with a copy to the LLC, and its appointment ends on the 31st day after the date on which the statement was filed by the Secretary of State, unless a successor is appointed sooner (ORS 63.117). That gap is the time you have to name someone new.⁶

What does an LLC from another state pay to register in Oregon?

An LLC formed elsewhere registers in Oregon by filing an Application for Authority, and the fee is $275. The fee schedule also notes that the foreign LLC annual renewal is also $275.⁴

Compare that with $100 to form a new Oregon LLC and $100 to renew one. Our Oregon record cites the street-address rule for Oregon LLCs only and holds no separate fact on agent rules for foreign LLCs, so confirm those with the Corporation Division. Whether to register an existing company or form a new one depends on where the business operates and how it is taxed, which is a question for an accountant or lawyer. The state fees table puts Oregon's figures beside its neighbors', including Washington, Idaho and California, and the foreign LLC guide explains the registration step.¹