How to form an LLC in Virginia (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in Virginia?

Each step of forming a Virginia LLC runs through the SCC, from the name reservation through the yearly registration fee. The list gives each step's form and the fee the Commission charges.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the State Corporation Commission. You can reserve a name for $10 (Form SCC631).
2. Name a registered agent in Virginia: a person or company with a Virginia address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization (Form LLC-1011); $100 with the State Corporation Commission. The state fee is $100. Filing methods: Online (SCC eFile, encouraged) or paper form.
4. Wait for approval: Organizational documents usually processed within 3 to 5 business days (regular service). Faster options: Expedited (generally filed by 4:00 p.m. next business day) and Same Day service (organizational documents received by noon), each for an additional fee; amounts not captured.
5. Recurring filing: None; Virginia LLCs pay an annual registration fee ($50), due by the last day of the month of formation, fee $50.

The order is flexible at the start and fixed at the end. You can reserve a name before you have an agent, but the Articles can't be filed without one, because Virginia law says an LLC shall continuously maintain in the Commonwealth a registered office and a registered agent (Va. Code § 13.1-1015).⁶

The last step comes a year later and is a payment rather than a form, so it is easy to miss. Our Virginia record doesn't include a newspaper notice or a separate initial report; ask the SCC if you've been told otherwise. If you'd rather pay a service to prepare the filing, the Virginia LLC services ranked with totals page compares each provider's first- and second-year totals in this state.

How do you check and reserve a Virginia LLC name?

Search the SCC's business records first, then reserve the name with Form SCC631 for $10 if you want to hold it before filing. The SCC's fee list describes that form as "Reserve or Renew a Business Name", so a reservation can be renewed.²

Our record doesn't capture how long a Virginia reservation lasts. If you need a long hold, check the period on the SCC's form before you count on it.

A reservation is optional. It can help when the members are still signing on, or when a bank or landlord wants to see the company name before the LLC exists.

The name also comes back into play later. An LLC whose existence is canceled has a limited time to reinstate, and our record doesn't say whether the name stays protected in the meantime. That is one more reason to pay the yearly fee on time (see the section on what an LLC files after formation).

What are Virginia's registered agent rules?

A Virginia LLC needs a registered agent and a registered office for as long as it exists. Virginia law says the LLC shall continuously maintain in the Commonwealth both (Va. Code § 13.1-1015).⁶

Virginia law adds that the registered office may be the same as any of its places of business, so the registered office can sit at one of the LLC's own business locations.⁶

The same section goes on to list who may be the agent. Our record quotes the requirement itself but not that list, so check the section before you name yourself or a friend.

The agent is the person or firm that receives lawsuits and official notices for the LLC. In Virginia, the agent also gets the yearly bill. Our record notes that the SCC mails the fee assessment to the registered agent two months before the due date. If the agent is a service, ask how it passes that notice on, because the SCC charges a $25 penalty for a late annual registration fee and can later cancel the LLC.⁷

Formation services price their Virginia agent differently. Inc Authority includes its agent free for the first year with LLC formation and then charges $249/year. Bizee (formerly Incfile) includes the first year with formation and then renews at $149/year. Northwest Registered Agent notes that its included registered agent renews at $125/yr after year 1. ZenBusiness gives 50% off the first year ($99) when you form with it. Bizee's pricing page, Northwest's pricing page and the list of plans that include a registered agent give the details, and the registered agent explainer covers what the role involves.^{8, 9, 10, 11, 12}

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

You file the Articles online through SCC eFile or by sending the paper form, and the SCC says regular filings are usually processed within 3 to 5 business days. Paying for Expedited or Same Day service shortens that, for an extra fee.^{2, 4}

The SCC prefers the online route. In its words, "We encourage you to file online to save time and prevent processing errors." The paper version comes as LLC1011-DOC or LLC1011-PDF.²

Expedited and Same Day service

Virginia sells two faster options, each priced on top of the $100 filing fee.³

1. Expedited (generally filed by 4:00 p.m. next business day).⁴
2. Same Day service (organizational documents received by noon), for a greater fee than Expedited.⁴

You ask for either one with the Expedited Service Request Form SCC21.2. Our record of the SCC's expedite page has no dollar figures, and that page sits on an older SCC host, so confirm the current price and cut-off with the Clerk's Office before you rely on them.⁴

A formation service's stated turnaround is a separate clock from the SCC's review. A provider's stated time covers its own preparation and submission, and the Commission then processes the Articles on its own schedule unless someone pays for faster service. The LLC timeline guide explains both clocks, and the fastest stated filing list compares providers on their published times.

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

A Virginia LLC costs the $100 filing fee in year one plus any plan or expedite fee, and $50 for the registration fee in year two, plus whatever your plan and agent renew at.^{3, 5}

The table adds those state fees to each provider's compared plan, in the order of our rating (ties follow the editorial order 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 Virginia's yearly fee is a flat $50, the table can show a second-year figure. Read that column carefully, though. It counts the plan's renewal and the $50 state fee, and leaves out registered agent renewals unless the plan itself includes the agent.⁵

Three providers show why that caveat counts. Inc Authority Free LLC totals $100 in year one and $50 in year two, but its agent renews at $249/year on top of that second figure unless you cancel and appoint someone else. Northwest Registered Agent comes to $139 and $50, with its included agent renewing at $125/yr after the first year. Tailor Brands Elite is $349 and then $299, because the plan itself renews. The Inc Authority profile and Northwest profile list what each plan leaves out.^{9, 11}

To try your own mix of plan, agent and expedite, use the LLC cost calculator. The national guide to LLC costs and the list ranked by combined first- and second-year cost put Virginia's figures in context.

What does a Virginia LLC owe after it is formed?

A Virginia LLC pays an annual registration fee of $50 to the SCC by the last day of the month in which the LLC was organized. The first payment comes sooner than the pattern suggests: it is first due by the last day of the 12th month after the month of organization. There is no annual report form to complete.⁵

Our record notes that the SCC mails the fee assessment to the registered agent two months before the due date. So before you choose a cheap or free agent, find out how it forwards that notice.⁷

Missing the due date costs money and, later, the company itself. The SCC charges a $25 penalty for a late annual registration fee. If the fee is still unpaid on the last day of the third month after the due date, the LLC's existence is canceled.⁷

A canceled LLC can come back. Reinstatement uses form LLC1050.4P and costs $100 plus all unpaid annual registration fees and penalties, and the owner must apply within five years. If the agent had resigned and no one replaced it, the LLC must file a statement of change as part of the application.²

Formation plans describe this yearly step in different ways. Tailor Brands lists annual compliance with mandatory report filing in Elite, and Northwest Registered Agent sells an annual report service at $100 + state fees, charged at filing. Both are worded for annual reports, and neither says how it handles a state like Virginia that collects a fee instead. Ask before you count on it. The annual report guide and the package contents guide explain which plan items are filings and which are reminders.^{13, 14}

How do you change a Virginia registered agent?

You change a Virginia registered agent by filing a Statement of Change of Registered Office and/or Registered Agent (Form LLC-1016) with the SCC, and there is no fee. The same form updates the registered office address.²

Appoint the new agent before you cancel the old service. If an agent resigns and the LLC doesn't file a statement of change after the SCC's notice, its existence is automatically canceled.¹⁵

An agent can also resign without being asked. The resignation takes effect on the earlier of 12:01 a.m. on the 31st day after filing or when a statement of change appointing a new agent is filed, and the agent must mail a copy to the LLC's principal office. So keep the principal office address on file current, since that is where the warning goes. The guide to cancelling or switching a service covers the provider side of a switch.¹⁶

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC formed elsewhere registers to do business in Virginia with an Application for Registration, Form LLC-1052, and the fee is $100.¹

Our record covers the agent rule for Virginia LLCs, not the wording that applies to registered foreign LLCs, so check the application's agent section before you file.

The SCC charges $100 to register an existing company and $100 to form a new Virginia one. Registering keeps the company's home-state formation in place, while forming creates a separate Virginia entity, so the choice is one for an accountant or lawyer. The foreign LLC guide explains the difference, and the state fees table compares Virginia with neighbors such as Maryland and North Carolina.^{1, 3}