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

The South Carolina Secretary of State does not publish a standard processing time for Form F0080. Until the change is filed, your current agent stays on the record. If your agent resigns instead, the agency ends on the 31st day after its statement of resignation is filed, and the Secretary of State mails copies to your LLC's designated office and principal office.

What is the cost to change a registered agent in South Carolina?

Changing your agent in South Carolina costs $10, the fee South Carolina law sets for a statement of change of designated office or agent and the fee on Form F0080. 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 South Carolina?

Yes, if you live in South Carolina and can accept papers at a South Carolina street address. Your address then appears on the public record. To name yourself, file Form F0080 (Notice of Change of Designated Office, Agent for Service of Process, or Address of Agent) with the South Carolina Secretary of State, sign the agent consent on the form yourself, and pay the $10 fee.

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

No. Changing your agent does not affect your LLC's standing, and South Carolina's LLC Act does not list a missing agent as a ground for administrative dissolution (the ground it lists is an unpaid fee, tax or penalty). Still, file your change before your current agent stops serving, so that lawsuits and official notices always reach someone you chose.

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

The Secretary of State's Business Entities Online system lets users file documents for existing entities, but we could not find a statement that this particular change can be filed online. Check Business Entities Online, or file the paper Form F0080 in duplicate with the $10 fee at the address printed on the form.

How to Change Your Registered Agent in South Carolina

Complete guide to updating your LLC's registered agent with the South Carolina Secretary of State, including required forms and filing procedures.

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 Northwest's renewal service, which charges your saved payment method $100, plus any state fee or tax it pays for you, each time it handles a state filing for you, cancellable any time.

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

How to File

1
Obtain Consent from New Registered Agent
Your new agent must be an individual who lives in South Carolina, a South Carolina corporation, another LLC, or a foreign corporation or company authorized in South Carolina, with a South Carolina street address. The agent signs a consent on Form F0080, so confirm they agree before you file.
2
Complete Form F0080
Use the Secretary of State's Form F0080 (Notice of Change of Designated Office, Agent for Service of Process, or Address of Agent) for domestic and foreign LLCs.
3
Include Required Information
Provide your LLC's name, the new agent's name and South Carolina street address, and the new agent's signed consent to the appointment.
4
Pay the Filing Fee
Include the $10 filing fee.
5
File with the Secretary of State
File two copies (the original and a duplicate original or conformed copy) with the South Carolina Secretary of State at the address printed on the form, or check whether Business Entities Online offers this filing.
6
Update Your Records
Once processed, update your internal LLC records and notify banks, vendors, and other parties of your new registered agent information to ensure proper document delivery.

Need the South Carolina Secretary of State?

Go directly to the South Carolina Secretary of State website.

Visit the South Carolina filing office →

When Should You Change Your Registered Agent?

Your current registered agent is moving out of South Carolina or closing their business
You want to switch from being your own registered agent to hiring a professional service
Your registered agent is no longer providing reliable service or missing important documents
You're relocating your business and need a registered agent in a different South Carolina location

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

Registered agent services for South Carolina 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 South Carolina Secretary of State does not publish a standard processing time for Form F0080. Until the change is filed, your current agent stays on the record. If your agent resigns instead, the agency ends on the 31st day after its statement of resignation is filed, and the Secretary of State mails copies to your LLC's designated office and principal office.
: Changing your agent in South Carolina costs $10, the fee South Carolina law sets for a statement of change of designated office or agent and the fee on Form F0080. A registered agent service charges its own annual fee on top of that, which varies by provider.
: Yes, if you live in South Carolina and can accept papers at a South Carolina street address. Your address then appears on the public record. To name yourself, file Form F0080 (Notice of Change of Designated Office, Agent for Service of Process, or Address of Agent) with the South Carolina Secretary of State, sign the agent consent on the form yourself, and pay the $10 fee.
: No. Changing your agent does not affect your LLC's standing, and South Carolina's LLC Act does not list a missing agent as a ground for administrative dissolution (the ground it lists is an unpaid fee, tax or penalty). Still, file your change before your current agent stops serving, so that lawsuits and official notices always reach someone you chose.
: The Secretary of State's Business Entities Online system lets users file documents for existing entities, but we could not find a statement that this particular change can be filed online. Check Business Entities Online, or file the paper Form F0080 in duplicate with the $10 fee at the address printed on the form.

Sources

6 documents

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified South Carolina 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.

scstatehouse.gov/code/t33c044.phpS.C. Code 33-44-108 to 33-44-111, designated office and agent; change; resignation; service on the Secretary of State
businessfilings.sc.gov/BusinessFiling/Entity/DownloadForm?formName=F0080&entityType=2&filingType=Notice+of+Change+of+Designated+Office%2C+Agent+or+Address+of+Registered+AgentSouth Carolina Secretary of State, Form F0080, Notice of Change of Designated Office, Agent for Service of Process, or Address of Agent
sos.sc.gov/online-filings/business-entities/file-and-search-onlineSouth Carolina Secretary of State, Business Entities Online
sos.sc.gov/online-filings/business-entitiesSouth Carolina Secretary of State: business entity filings
scstatehouse.gov/code/t12c020.phpSouth Carolina statute: Annual Report and License Fee
dor.sc.gov/business-income-taxes/corporateSouth Carolina Department of Revenue: file the Annual Report and License Fee

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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 New Registered Agent

Complete Form F0080

Include Required Information

Pay the Filing Fee

File with the Secretary of State

Update Your Records