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

The North Dakota Secretary of State does not publish a standard processing time for a registered agent change. North Dakota law says the statement of change takes effect when it is filed, so until then your current agent stays on the record. If your agent resigns instead, the resignation takes effect on the 31st day after it is filed, or earlier if you appoint a new agent.

What does it cost to change a registered agent in North Dakota?

Changing your registered agent in North Dakota costs $10, the fee North Dakota law sets for a statement of change and the fee the Secretary of State lists for a Registered Agent/Office Change. The Secretary of State notes the fee is charged per entity when the agent is a noncommercial agent. A registered agent service charges its own annual fee on top of that, which varies by provider.

Can I be my own registered agent in North Dakota?

Yes, if you are an individual who lives in North Dakota and can accept papers at a North Dakota street address or rural route box number. Your address then appears on the public record. Your LLC itself cannot be its own agent, the Secretary of State says, but you as an individual can. To name yourself, file a Registered Agent/Office Change (a statement of change) with the North Dakota Secretary of State. The fee is $10.

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

No. Changing your agent properly does not affect your LLC's standing. Being without one does: North Dakota may involuntarily terminate an LLC that fails to appoint and maintain a registered agent, after mailing at least 60 days' notice during which the LLC can cure by filing the change. To avoid a gap, file the change before your current agent stops serving.

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

The Secretary of State says you can update your business registration record by filing amendments through its FirstStop portal, but we could not confirm on its pages that the registered agent change itself can be filed online. Check the FirstStop portal or ask the Secretary of State. Either way the fee is $10.

How to Change Your Registered Agent in North Dakota

Update your LLC's registered agent with the North Dakota Secretary of State to maintain compliance and ensure proper service of process delivery.

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 North Dakota, showing the 6 filing steps required by the North Dakota Secretary of State. — The 6 steps to change your registered agent in North Dakota. Source: North Dakota Secretary of State.

How to File

1
Obtain consent from your new registered agent
North Dakota law treats naming an agent as your LLC's statement that the agent has consented, and no proof of consent is filed. The Secretary of State warns that naming an agent without its approval can lead to involuntary dissolution, so get the agent's agreement first.
2
Complete the Registered Agent/Office Change
File a statement of change (the Secretary of State calls it a Registered Agent/Office Change) with your LLC's name and the new agent's details. A noncommercial agent needs an actual North Dakota street address or rural route box number; a commercial agent is named only.
3
Pay the required filing fee
The fee is $10, charged per entity when the agent is a noncommercial agent.
4
Submit your filing to the Secretary of State
Submit your filing to the North Dakota Secretary of State. Check its FirstStop portal for online filing, or the form for the mailing address.
5
Notify your old registered agent
Inform your previous registered agent in writing that their services are no longer needed and provide the effective date of the change to avoid confusion about document delivery.
6
Update your internal records
Update your LLC's operating agreement, business licenses, and any contracts that reference your registered agent to reflect the new agent information for consistency.

Need the North Dakota Secretary of State?

Go directly to the North Dakota Secretary of State website.

File with the North Dakota Secretary of State →

When Should You Change Your Registered Agent?

Your current registered agent is moving out of North Dakota or closing their business
You want to switch from being your own registered agent to using a professional service for privacy and reliability
Your registered agent has failed to forward important legal documents or annual report notices
You're relocating your business and need a registered agent in a different North Dakota city

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

Registered agent services for North Dakota 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

: The North Dakota Secretary of State does not publish a standard processing time for a registered agent change. North Dakota law says the statement of change takes effect when it is filed, so until then your current agent stays on the record. If your agent resigns instead, the resignation takes effect on the 31st day after it is filed, or earlier if you appoint a new agent.
: Changing your registered agent in North Dakota costs $10, the fee North Dakota law sets for a statement of change and the fee the Secretary of State lists for a Registered Agent/Office Change. The Secretary of State notes the fee is charged per entity when the agent is a noncommercial agent. A registered agent service charges its own annual fee on top of that, which varies by provider.
: Yes, if you are an individual who lives in North Dakota and can accept papers at a North Dakota street address or rural route box number. Your address then appears on the public record. Your LLC itself cannot be its own agent, the Secretary of State says, but you as an individual can. To name yourself, file a Registered Agent/Office Change (a statement of change) with the North Dakota Secretary of State. The fee is $10.
: No. Changing your agent properly does not affect your LLC's standing. Being without one does: North Dakota may involuntarily terminate an LLC that fails to appoint and maintain a registered agent, after mailing at least 60 days' notice during which the LLC can cure by filing the change. To avoid a gap, file the change before your current agent stops serving.
: The Secretary of State says you can update your business registration record by filing amendments through its FirstStop portal, but we could not confirm on its pages that the registered agent change itself can be filed online. Check the FirstStop portal or ask the Secretary of State. Either way the fee is $10.

Sources

5 documents

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified North Dakota 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.

ndlegis.gov/cencode/t10c32-1.pdfN.D.C.C. 10-32.1-16, registered office and registered agent
ndlegis.gov/cencode/t10c01-1.pdfN.D.C.C. chapter 10-01.1, registered agents (statement of change, fees, resignation)
sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/registered-agentsNorth Dakota Secretary of State, Registered Agents
sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/maintain-registrationNorth Dakota Secretary of State, Maintain Registration (Registered Agent/Office Change, $10)
sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/business-structures/limited-liability-company-llcNorth Dakota Secretary of State: business entity filings

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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.

How we check facts

How to File

Obtain consent from your new registered agent

Complete the Registered Agent/Office Change

Pay the required filing fee

Submit your filing to the Secretary of State

Notify your old registered agent

Update your internal records