How long does it take to change a registered agent in Louisiana?

A registered agent change in Louisiana takes effect when the Louisiana Secretary of State accepts your completed Form 983 (Change of Registered Office or Agent) for record; the filing fee is $30. If you need a firm date, expedite is $35 (24-hour) or $60 (while you wait). Until then, your old registered agent remains the agent of record for receiving service of process, so keep them in place until the change is accepted. To avoid delays, make sure your Form 983 includes your LLC's full legal name and number, the new agent's complete address, and the new agent's notarized affidavit of acceptance. Submit your filing promptly after your new registered agent accepts the appointment. The Louisiana Secretary of State publishes no standard processing time for this filing.

What does it cost to change a registered agent in Louisiana?

The filing fee to change your registered agent in Louisiana is $30, payable to the Louisiana Secretary of State when you submit Form 983 (Change of Registered Office or Agent). That is the amount on the Secretary of State's fee schedule effective October 1, 2026. This $30 fee covers the Secretary of State's filing of the change in the official LLC record. Any fees charged by your new registered agent are separate costs handled directly with that service provider, and the new agent's acceptance must be notarized, which can carry a notary's charge. The practical implication is straightforward: budget $30 plus any agent service fees when planning this change. Louisiana publishes no standard processing time for this filing. Your next step is to obtain Form 983 from the Louisiana Secretary of State website, complete it with your LLC name, old agent information, and new agent details, and file it with the new agent's notarized acceptance and payment.

Can I be my own registered agent in Louisiana?

Yes, you can serve as your own registered agent in Louisiana if you are a Louisiana citizen who lives in the state and you're available at the registered office during regular business hours. However, this approach carries practical risks. As your own registered agent, you become responsible for receiving and responding to legal documents, lawsuit notices, and state correspondence, and missing deadlines could result in default judgments against your company. The registered agent is named on the Initial Report (Form 973) filed with the Articles of Organization (Form 365), and changed later on Form 983. If you're frequently unavailable or travel often, a missed service of process could hurt your LLC. Many Louisiana business owners hire a professional registered agent service so that documents are received at a monitored address. Consider whether your schedule truly permits consistent availability before choosing to serve yourself. To proceed, contact the Louisiana Secretary of State's Commercial Division or name yourself as registered agent on the formation filings.

Will changing my registered agent affect my LLC's good standing?

Changing your registered agent won't affect your Louisiana LLC's good standing status, provided you file Form 983 correctly and keep an agent in place. Submit Form 983 (Change of Registered Office or Agent) to the Louisiana Secretary of State with the $30 filing fee and the new agent's notarized affidavit of acceptance. Louisiana law requires every LLC to keep a registered agent, and if your agent resigns, the LLC must appoint a successor. Your new agent should be in place before the previous one steps down so legal papers always have somewhere to go. File Form 983 well before the transition, because Louisiana publishes no standard processing time; the change takes effect when the Secretary of State accepts it for record. Next, confirm your current registered agent's departure date, then submit Form 983 with your new agent's information and notarized acceptance.

Can I file the registered agent change online or do I need to mail it?

Louisiana accepts Form 983 (Change of Registered Office or Agent) by mail, and the Secretary of State's website lists its online filing options. For online filing, check https://www.sos.la.gov for whether this change can be submitted through its online services. Louisiana publishes no standard processing time for either channel; expedite is $35 (24-hour) or $60 (while you wait). If you mail it, send the completed Form 983, the new agent's notarized affidavit of acceptance, and the fee to the Secretary of State's Commercial Division. Mail adds transit time in both directions. The fee is $30 regardless of filing method.

How to Change Your Registered Agent in Louisiana

Complete guide to filing a registered agent change for your Louisiana LLC, including required forms, fees, and step-by-step instructions.

By Edmond Hui · Last updated: October 2026

Affiliate disclosure: We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Get registered agent service from NorthwestRegistered agent service is $125/yr. The included first year applies only when you form a new LLC with them ($39 plus your state's filing fee), so it does not apply to an LLC you already have. Registered agent customers are enrolled by default in annual report filing at $100 plus state fees, charged automatically to your saved payment method and cancellable any time.

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Step diagram for changing an LLC's registered agent in Louisiana, showing the 6 filing steps required by the Louisiana Secretary of State. — The 6 steps to change your registered agent in Louisiana. Source: Louisiana Secretary of State.

How to File

1
Complete Form 983, Change of Registered Office or Agent
Download and fill out Form 983 from the Louisiana Secretary of State website. Include your LLC's charter number, current registered agent information, and new registered agent details.
2
Obtain consent from your new registered agent
Make sure your new registered agent agrees to serve and qualifies: an individual must be a Louisiana citizen who lives in Louisiana. The new agent must sign a notarized affidavit of acknowledgment and acceptance, which goes with the form.
3
Submit the form with filing fee
File Form 983 with the Louisiana Secretary of State along with the $30 filing fee. A manager signs it, or at least one member if the members manage the LLC. Check https://www.sos.la.gov for online filing options, or mail the form to the Commercial Division.
4
Wait for processing and confirmation
Louisiana publishes no standard processing time for this filing; expedite is $35 (24-hour) or $60 (while you wait). The change takes effect when the Secretary of State accepts it for record.
5
Notify your former registered agent
Inform your previous registered agent in writing that their services are no longer needed and provide them with the effective date of the change.
6
Update your LLC records
Update your internal LLC records, operating agreement, and notify banks, vendors, and other business contacts of your new registered agent address.

Need the Louisiana Secretary of State?

Go directly to the Louisiana Secretary of State website.

File with the Louisiana Secretary of State →

When Should You Change Your Registered Agent?

Your current registered agent is moving out of Louisiana or closing their business
You want to switch from being your own registered agent to a professional service
Your registered agent is no longer responsive or reliable in handling legal documents
You're moving your business and need a registered agent in a different Louisiana location

Hiring a service is optional. You can name yourself or another individual with a street address in Louisiana, and the FAQ below gives Louisiana's own rule.

Registered agent services for Louisiana LLCs, by renewal price

Affiliate disclosure: Northwest Registered Agent, Bizee, ZenBusiness and LegalZoom pay us a commission if you sign up through our link, at no extra cost to you. We list only the registered agent services we have an affiliate relationship with, so this is not a survey of the whole market.

This table is not scored. The four are listed cheapest annual renewal first, and the rows below it say which one fits which situation. The scored ranking, and the formula behind it, is on the formation services review, which orders them on three-year cost, BBB rating and Trustpilot score.

Service	With formation, year 1	Annual renewal	BBB	Trustpilot	Privacy
Northwest Registered Agent	Included with $39 formation	$125/yr	A	4.1/5 (297)	Says it does not sell your information; runs its own servers
Bizee	Free year one (some visitors are being shown shorter free periods, so confirm at checkout)	$149/yr	C (unaccredited)	4.8/5 (26,100+)	No data-sharing commitment
ZenBusiness	$99, not included in any plan	$199/yr	A	4.8/5 (32,500+)	Partial
LegalZoom	Not included, $249 extra	$249/yr	A+	4.6/5 (32,900+)	Partial

Note: Bizee holds a C rating from the BBB and is not accredited. BBB's profile carries a live alert describing a pattern of complaints about unexpected charges, difficulty canceling and filing delays, and Bizee has posted a response to it. We flag this so you can make an informed choice.

Prices are each provider's standard published rates; year-one pricing applies when you form your LLC through the same service. BBB and Trustpilot figures as recorded September 15, 2026, not re-checked since, and both sources update continuously. These are the dates the figures were last written to our dataset, which is the most we can show: they are not verification dates. See how we evaluate these companies in our full formation services review →

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state publishes about filing deadlines, fees, and the consequences of missing them, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you what your own company owes: the date turns on when and where you formed, states change these rules between our reviews, and in several states an entity-level tax falls due in a year when no report does. Confirm your own dates with the filing office named on this page before you rely on one here, because missing a deadline can cost the company its good standing or, in many states, its existence.

Read this guide for another state:

Frequently Asked Questions

: A registered agent change in Louisiana takes effect when the Louisiana Secretary of State accepts your completed Form 983 (Change of Registered Office or Agent) for record; the filing fee is $30. If you need a firm date, expedite is $35 (24-hour) or $60 (while you wait). Until then, your old registered agent remains the agent of record for receiving service of process, so keep them in place until the change is accepted. To avoid delays, make sure your Form 983 includes your LLC's full legal name and number, the new agent's complete address, and the new agent's notarized affidavit of acceptance. Submit your filing promptly after your new registered agent accepts the appointment. The Louisiana Secretary of State publishes no standard processing time for this filing.
: The filing fee to change your registered agent in Louisiana is $30, payable to the Louisiana Secretary of State when you submit Form 983 (Change of Registered Office or Agent). That is the amount on the Secretary of State's fee schedule effective October 1, 2026. This $30 fee covers the Secretary of State's filing of the change in the official LLC record. Any fees charged by your new registered agent are separate costs handled directly with that service provider, and the new agent's acceptance must be notarized, which can carry a notary's charge. The practical implication is straightforward: budget $30 plus any agent service fees when planning this change. Louisiana publishes no standard processing time for this filing. Your next step is to obtain Form 983 from the Louisiana Secretary of State website, complete it with your LLC name, old agent information, and new agent details, and file it with the new agent's notarized acceptance and payment.
: Yes, you can serve as your own registered agent in Louisiana if you are a Louisiana citizen who lives in the state and you're available at the registered office during regular business hours. However, this approach carries practical risks. As your own registered agent, you become responsible for receiving and responding to legal documents, lawsuit notices, and state correspondence, and missing deadlines could result in default judgments against your company. The registered agent is named on the Initial Report (Form 973) filed with the Articles of Organization (Form 365), and changed later on Form 983. If you're frequently unavailable or travel often, a missed service of process could hurt your LLC. Many Louisiana business owners hire a professional registered agent service so that documents are received at a monitored address. Consider whether your schedule truly permits consistent availability before choosing to serve yourself. To proceed, contact the Louisiana Secretary of State's Commercial Division or name yourself as registered agent on the formation filings.
: Changing your registered agent won't affect your Louisiana LLC's good standing status, provided you file Form 983 correctly and keep an agent in place. Submit Form 983 (Change of Registered Office or Agent) to the Louisiana Secretary of State with the $30 filing fee and the new agent's notarized affidavit of acceptance. Louisiana law requires every LLC to keep a registered agent, and if your agent resigns, the LLC must appoint a successor. Your new agent should be in place before the previous one steps down so legal papers always have somewhere to go. File Form 983 well before the transition, because Louisiana publishes no standard processing time; the change takes effect when the Secretary of State accepts it for record. Next, confirm your current registered agent's departure date, then submit Form 983 with your new agent's information and notarized acceptance.
: Louisiana accepts Form 983 (Change of Registered Office or Agent) by mail, and the Secretary of State's website lists its online filing options. For online filing, check https://www.sos.la.gov for whether this change can be submitted through its online services. Louisiana publishes no standard processing time for either channel; expedite is $35 (24-hour) or $60 (while you wait). If you mail it, send the completed Form 983, the new agent's notarized affidavit of acceptance, and the fee to the Secretary of State's Commercial Division. Mail adds transit time in both directions. The fee is $30 regardless of filing method.

Sources

4 documents

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Louisiana sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.

Louisiana statute: La. R.S. 12:1308 (registered office and registered agent; change of agent)
Louisiana Secretary of State: Fee Schedule effective 10/1/26 (Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Session)
sos.la.gov/business-servicesLouisiana Secretary of State: business entity filings
legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=76256Louisiana statute: Annual Report

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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.

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How to File

Complete Form 983, Change of Registered Office or Agent

Obtain consent from your new registered agent

Submit the form with filing fee

Wait for processing and confirmation

Notify your former registered agent

Update your LLC records