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Foreign LLC guide · Kentucky

Kentucky Foreign LLC Route (2026): Entry Fees and the 3 Best Registration Services

Kentucky, 2026, a foreign LLC registration: start with Mainstay Filing ($199), KY Registered Agent.org ($199) and Kentucky Registered Agent.co ($199), in the order given. An LLC from elsewhere pays $90 to enter Kentucky and $15 at every report checkpoint, which puts the state 38th of 50.

Surveyed by the Filing Mapper team

Kentucky survey figures

38th

of 50 on foreign LLC tolls

Mile 1 is the lightest toll. See the full map

Entry fee for outside LLCs
$90
apps.legislature.ky.gov, surveyed October 2026
Checkpoint report
$15
Annual report
Yearly minimum tax
$175
revenue.ky.gov, surveyed October 2026
State toll, three years
$645
Only state tolls, miles one to three, with a minimum tax at each of the three stops

The Kentucky stops, ranked

Five weighted criteria set the stops in order, with three-year cost and steps covered counting most (the method lists them).

1. Mainstay Filing: best for a business crossing state lines

Route pick$199 for lap one, $149 for each lap after

We put Mainstay Filing at the head of the route because registering costs $199 plus state tolls, and the registered agent costs nothing in year one.

KY Registered Agent.org is $100 cheaper over three years, yet the coverage criterion points the other direction.

The free lap ends, and an agent fare of $149 a year begins wherever the company registers.

The fare covers

  • The registration drafted and filed by Mainstay
  • No charge for registered agent duty while year one lasts
  • The same fare on every route

On the plus side

  • $199 over the state toll
  • Registered agent free for lap one
  • One fare for every state

On the minus side

  • Agent renewal of $149, $50 above KY Registered Agent.org
Visit Mainstay FilingPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.

2. KY Registered Agent.org: best for a light Kentucky crossing

Local pick$199 for lap one, $99 for each lap after

Continuing, KY Registered Agent.org is the second alternative, since the Kentucky registration for $199 with a free agent lap, then $99 each lap.

The fare covers

  • Kentucky registration drafted and filed
  • A year of agent service

On the plus side

  • $199 plus the state toll
  • A lap of agent duty is included
  • The agent renews at $99

On the minus side

  • The home state needs a separate agent
Visit KY Registered Agent.orgPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.

3. Kentucky Registered Agent.co: best for a second route within Kentucky

Local pick$199 for lap one, $99 for each lap after

Continuing, Kentucky Registered Agent.co is the third alternative, since the Kentucky registration for $199 with a free agent lap, then $99 each lap.

Fare for fare, it equals KY Registered Agent.org.

The fare covers

  • Kentucky registration drafted and filed
  • A year of agent service

On the plus side

  • The agent renews at $99
  • A lap of agent duty is included
  • $199 plus the state toll

On the minus side

  • The home state needs a separate agent
Visit Kentucky Registered Agent.coPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.

3 services, side by side

StopProviderLeg oneLater legsProvider cost, three years
1Mainstay Filing$199$149/yr$497Visit Mainstay FilingPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.
2KY Registered Agent.org$199$99/yr$397Visit KY Registered Agent.orgPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.
3Kentucky Registered Agent.co$199$99/yr$397Visit Kentucky Registered Agent.coPartner link. We may earn money if you buy.

Each fare was read from the provider's own pages on November 12, 2026. Add the $90 entry toll to every row.

Entry and upkeep by year

The entry fee is $90, followed by the $15 report from year two, and each provider's fares are added.

With Mainstay Filing, 3 years come to $1,142 ($645 state, $497 provider).

Kentucky and the stops on either side of it

MileStateThree-year foreign LLC fees
35thMaine$550
37thArkansas$570
38thKentucky$645
39thNorth Carolina$650
40thMaryland$700

Every state is plotted in Foreign LLC fees by state.

The Kentucky entry filing for LLCs formed elsewhere

Entry costs $90, paid when the Certificate of Authority (Foreign Business Entity) (Form FBE) reaches the Kentucky Secretary of State, Division of Business Filings.

At each later stop it files the annual report ($15), between January 1 and June 30 each year. There is a tax for LLCs doing business here: Limited Liability Entity Tax: a $175 minimum each year to the Department of Revenue.

Before sending the filing

  • The LLC's legal name plus the day it was formed.
  • A registered agent inside the state, included with each pick.
  • A budget for the $90 official fee.

If you never register

The state's courts turn back a suit from an LLC that has not registered (KRS 14A.9-020(1)). A daily penalty of $2 applies.

Why Mainstay Filing leads the route

Steps the service takes over (27%) is the criterion on which Mainstay Filing outscored KY Registered Agent.org here.

A foreign LLC already has a home route, so a provider covering both states scored best.

Kentucky: your route questions

What does Kentucky toll a foreign LLC for entry?

$90 for the filing itself. Our picks add $199.

Which form gets a foreign LLC into Kentucky?

Entry is on the Certificate of Authority (Foreign Business Entity) (Form FBE), which goes to the Kentucky Secretary of State, Division of Business Filings.

Is there a yearly checkpoint for a foreign LLC?

There is: the annual report, which costs $15.

What happens when the LLC does business there without registering?

The state's courts turn back a suit from an LLC that has not registered (KRS 14A.9-020(1)). A daily penalty of $2 applies.

Does a foreign LLC need to carry a registered agent for Kentucky?

Every LLC must name a registered agent with an in-state street address.

Which provider should take my foreign LLC across?

The route begins at Mainstay Filing ($199 above the state toll, registered agent duty free in year one, then $149 a year) and continues with KY Registered Agent.org and Kentucky Registered Agent.co.

More from this state

Survey markers for this route

Survey marker
  1. Marker, via sos.ky.gov: Kentucky Secretary of State, logged August 2026.
  2. Marker, via sos.ky.gov: Kentucky Secretary of State, logged August 2026.
  3. Marker, via apps.legislature.ky.gov: Kentucky report due date, logged August 2026.
  4. Marker, via apps.legislature.ky.gov: KRS 275.025, logged August 2026.
  5. Marker, via sos.ky.gov: Kentucky formation fee: Filing fee, official source, logged October 2026.
  6. Marker, via apps.legislature.ky.gov: Kentucky registered agent statute, logged October 2026.
  7. Marker, via sos.ky.gov: Kentucky Secretary of State, business filings, logged October 2026.
  8. Marker, via web.sos.ky.gov: Form FBE, Certificate of Authority, logged October 2026.
  9. Marker, via apps.legislature.ky.gov: KRS 14A.9-020, consequences of transacting business without authority, logged October 2026.
  10. Marker, via apps.legislature.ky.gov: KRS 14A.9-010, authority to transact business required, logged October 2026.
  11. Marker, via revenue.ky.gov: Kentucky other cost: Limited Liability Entity Tax, official, logged October 2026.
  12. Marker, via maine.gov: Maine Secretary of State, foreign entities, logged October 2026.
  13. Marker, via maine.gov: Form MLLC-12, logged October 2026.
  14. Marker, via legislature.maine.gov: 31 MRSA § 1622, foreign qualification, logged October 2026.
  15. Marker, via legislature.maine.gov: 31 MRSA § 1623, activities that do not, logged October 2026.
  16. Marker, via legislature.maine.gov: 31 MRSA § 1629, consequences of not qualifying, logged October 2026.
  17. Marker, via legislature.maine.gov: 31 MRSA § 1680, fees, logged October 2026.
  18. Marker, via sos.arkansas.gov: Arkansas Secretary of State, foreign LLC forms and, logged October 2026.
  19. Marker, via sos.arkansas.gov: Form FL-01, logged October 2026.
  20. Marker, via arkleg.state.ar.us: Act 1041 of 2021, Uniform LLC Act, logged October 2026.
  21. Marker, via sos.arkansas.gov: 2026 LLC franchise tax report and instructions, logged October 2026.
  22. Marker, via sos.arkansas.gov: Form FL-04, application for cancellation, logged October 2026.
  23. Marker, via sosnc.gov: North Carolina Secretary of State, Business Registration, logged October 2026.
  24. Marker, via sosnc.gov: Form L-09, Application for Certificate of Authority, logged October 2026.
  25. Marker, via sosnc.gov: Secretary of State guide to registering a foreign, logged October 2026.
  26. Marker, via ncleg.gov: G.S, logged October 2026.
  27. Marker, via sosnc.gov: Annual report due dates, logged October 2026.
  28. Marker, via egov.maryland.gov: Maryland Business Express, logged October 2026.
  29. Marker, via egov.maryland.gov: Business Express fee schedule, logged October 2026.
  30. Marker, via mgaleg.maryland.gov: Corporations and Associations § 4A-1002, registration, logged October 2026.
  31. Marker, via mgaleg.maryland.gov: Corporations and Associations § 4A-1009, activities that are, logged October 2026.
  32. Marker, via mgaleg.maryland.gov: Corporations and Associations § 4A-1007, effect of not, logged October 2026.
  33. Marker, via mgaleg.maryland.gov: Tax-Property § 11-101, annual report, logged October 2026.
  34. Mainstay Filing (Kentucky service page), survey of November 12, 2026
  35. KY Registered Agent.org (pricing page), survey of November 12, 2026
  36. Kentucky Registered Agent.co (pricing page), survey of November 12, 2026