Form 304 and Form 301 filings
Texas foreign entity registration, prepared and filed for you
We prepare the Texas application for your LLC or corporation from another state, check the name, file it with the Secretary of State and send you the approved registration.
DelawareTexas
You order
A few minutes online, with the details from your formation papers.
We file
Form 304 or Form 301 goes to Austin through SOSPortal.
Registration approved
Expedited filings: typically 2 to 3 business days, by the Secretary of State's count.
To register an out-of-state LLC in Texas you file Form 304 with the Texas Secretary of State, and a corporation files Form 301; the state fee for either one is $750. Texas Foreign Registration prepares and files the application for $199 plus that state fee.
Texas calls the filing an application for registration. The Secretary of State notes that it used to be called an application for a certificate of authority, so if a bank or a client asks for your Texas certificate of authority, this is the document they mean. Registration is what gives an out-of-state company the authority to transact business in Texas, and the Secretary of State's acknowledgment of the filing is conclusive evidence of that authority (BOC 9.008(b)).
The State of Texas
Application for Registration of a Foreign Limited Liability Company
- Entity
- Sample Ridge LLC
- Formed in
- Delaware
- Filed with
- Secretary of State
The approved registration you get back, with your company on it.
- Filed with the Texas Secretary of State
- Texas registered agent included
- $199, state fee at cost
What's included
Form 304 or 301, done for you
We fill in the Texas application from your order answers, for an LLC or a for-profit corporation.
Texas name check
We check your name for a designator and for conflicts, and set up an assumed name if Texas needs one.
Filed online with the state
Submitted through SOSPortal with the state fee paid, so nothing waits in the mail.
A Texas registered agent
We serve as your agent in Texas, or we list the agent you already have.
Approved filing sent to you
You get the filed registration and a note on the first yearly report to the Comptroller.
Real answers by email
Questions about your Texas paperwork go to the people preparing your filing.
How we register your company in Texas
Check that Texas applies
A Texas office, staff here or a steady stream of work performed in the state usually means registration. The Texas doing-business test walks through the 16 activities the statute leaves out.
Answer the order questions
Legal name, entity type, home state and formation date, principal office, the person signing and whether we act as your Texas registered agent. Missing items, such as the governing persons or the date business began here, we ask for by email before anything is filed.
We prepare the application
Form 304 for an LLC, Form 301 for a corporation. If the name lacks a Texas designator or is already taken, we add the designator or set up an assumed name on Form 503.
We file and pay the state
Through SOSPortal, with the $750 fee. Ask for expedite and the state adds $50.
You receive the registration
The Secretary of State emails evidence of filing, and we pass it to you with a short note on the first May 15 report to the Comptroller.
Texas registration at a glance
- Filing
- Application for Registration of a Foreign Limited Liability Company
- Forms
- Form 304 (LLC), Form 301 (corporation), Form 302 (nonprofit), Form 306 (limited partnership), Form 307 (LLP)
- Filed with
- Texas Secretary of State
- State fee
- $750 for an LLC, corporation or limited partnership; $25 for a nonprofit; $200 per Texas partner for an LLP, capped at $750
- How to file
- Online through SOSPortal at any hour, or on paper by mail or in person in Austin
- Faster handling
- $50 standard expedite (typically 2 to 3 business days), $500 next day, $750 same day
- Home-state certificate
- Not required
- Notary
- Not required
- Yearly filing
- Public Information Report (Texas Comptroller) and franchise tax report, due May 15
- Late registration
- Registration fee again for each calendar year touched, after 90 days of unregistered business
Texas registration fees by entity type
| Entity | Form | State fee |
|---|---|---|
| LLC | Form 304 | $750 |
| For-profit corporation | Form 301 | $750 |
| Limited partnership | Form 306 | $750 |
| Nonprofit corporation | Form 302 | $25 |
| Limited liability partnership | Form 307 | $200 per partner in Texas, $750 at most |
Paying the state by card on SOSPortal adds $0.25 and 2.25% of the total as a convenience charge; ACH payments do not. The Texas registration cost page adds the optional speed fees and a worked total.
Do you need to register in Texas?
Texas law never defines "transacting business". Instead, Section 9.251 of the Business Organizations Code lists 16 activities that do not count, and Section 9.252 says that list is not exclusive. The Secretary of State's own rule of thumb is that a company keeping an office or staff in Texas, or pursuing one of its purposes here, is transacting business.
So a Delaware company with two salespeople working from Houston usually needs to register. A Colorado company that only ships catalog orders to Texas customers usually does not need to register on that fact alone, since interstate commerce is on the exempt list. The full doing-business guide covers remote staff, warehouses, rental property and one-off projects.
Which Texas form fits your company
Each entity type has its own Texas application, and filing the wrong one gets it returned. An LLC uses Form 304, the foreign LLC application; a business corporation uses Form 301 for foreign corporations. A nonprofit corporation or cooperative files Form 302, a limited partnership files Form 306, and a limited liability partnership files Form 307. A series LLC registers once, on Form 313. Professional corporations and associations have Form 303 or Form 311, and business trusts and other entity types use Form 312.
Our online order covers LLCs and for-profit corporations. For the other forms, email us and we quote the filing.
The 90-day grace period
A foreign company can transact business in Texas for 90 days before a late filing fee applies. After that, the Secretary of State collects the registration fee once more for every calendar year the company worked here unregistered, and part of a year counts as a whole one (BOC 9.054(b)).
Example: an LLC that started serving Texas clients in early November and files in late February of the next year touches two calendar years, so its late fees come to $1,500, owed in addition to the $750 filing fee. Filing within the first 90 days costs nothing extra. The late registration penalties page covers the five-year cap and the court consequences.
After approval: what Texas expects every year
Texas has no annual report at the Secretary of State for most registered companies. The yearly filing goes to the Comptroller: a franchise tax report with a Public Information Report (Texas Comptroller), due May 15. A company whose revenue sits at or below the no-tax-due threshold, $2,650,000, owes no franchise tax but still files the information report.
Missing it has teeth. A report filed late draws a $50 penalty, and a company that keeps ignoring the Comptroller can lose its right to transact business here. Our franchise tax and PIR guide explains the rates, extensions and forfeiture notices.
A registered agent in Texas
The application has to name a Texas registered agent with a street address where legal papers can be handed over in person during business hours (BOC 5.201). The agent can be a Texas resident or a company authorized to do business here, but never your own company, and the agent has to agree before being named.
Our order includes a Texas registered agent, or you can list one you already have. Changing the agent later is Form 401 with a $15 fee; the registered agent rules page covers resignations and what happens if an agent disappears.
Formed in Delaware or Wyoming?
Plenty of companies that work in Texas were formed elsewhere for their home state's law or yearly costs. They register here exactly like any other foreign LLC and keep paying their home state too. Read the Delaware LLC in Texas walkthrough or the Wyoming LLC in Texas walkthrough for the two-state bill. Doing it alone? The step-by-step DIY guide shows each SOSPortal screen.
Leaving Texas later
A company that stops doing business here but still exists at home files Form 608 to withdraw, paying $15. Most for-profit companies attach a tax clearance from the Comptroller. A company that has dissolved at home files Form 612 instead.
Registered agent: first year included, then $149 a year
$199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
One price for the whole filing
Register in Texas
Delaware or any stateTexas
$199
+ $750 state fee
- Form 304 for an LLC or Form 301 for a corporation, prepared from your answers
- Name check against Texas designator rules
- Filed with the Secretary of State through SOSPortal
- Our Texas registered agent, or one you name
- The approved registration sent to you
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
The state fee is passed through at cost. Checkout shows every line before payment. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Texas registration questions
What does Texas charge to register a foreign LLC?
The Secretary of State charges $750 for Form 304. Our fee is $199 on top. Expedite is optional at $50. See the full cost breakdown.
Is a Texas certificate of authority the same as registration?
Yes. The Secretary of State renamed the filing; the old application for a certificate of authority is today's application for registration.
Do I need a certificate of good standing from my home state?
No. Texas does not ask for one with the application. The form only asks you to state that the company exists under the law where it was formed.
How long does Texas take to approve a foreign LLC?
With standard expedite ($50) the Secretary of State says filings are typically 2 to 3 business days. Next-day service costs $500 and same-day $750 for filings received by 12:00 p.m. Texas does not publish a turnaround for filings sent without expedite.
What if my company name is already taken in Texas?
You register under an assumed name that meets Texas rules and file Form 503 ($25). After that, the company has to use the assumed name for its Texas business.
Can I file it myself?
Yes. SOSPortal accepts the application around the clock, and our DIY walkthrough shows each screen. We are here if you would rather hand it off.
What happens if I already started doing business in Texas?
Register now. Past the 90-day grace period, each calendar year adds another $750 late fee, so waiting until January makes it cost more.
Does a foreign LLC pay Texas franchise tax?
It files a franchise tax report every year by May 15. Whether it owes tax depends on revenue; at or below $2,650,000 the tax is zero, but the information report is still due.
Official sources
- Texas Secretary of State, Form 806 fee schedule (rev. 09/26)
- Texas Secretary of State, Form 304 instructions
- Texas Secretary of State, foreign entity FAQs
- Texas Secretary of State, Texas Express expedited filings
- Texas Comptroller, franchise tax
- Texas Business Organizations Code, Chapter 9 (foreign entities)
- Texas Business Organizations Code, Chapter 5 (names, registered agents)
- Texas Secretary of State, Form 608 instructions (withdrawal)
- Texas Secretary of State, Form 612 instructions (termination of registration)
Ready to register in Texas?
Order online in a few minutes. We take it from there and send you the approved registration.