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

The order sheet attached to Form AAO (Application to Appoint or Change Process, Officers, and/or Addresses) lists standard processing as 5 to 10 business days at no extra cost, with paid expedite options from next business day ($25 extra) to 1 hour ($500 extra). Until the change is filed, your current agent stays on the record. If your old agent resigns instead, its agency ends on the 31st day after its statement of resignation is filed, and if no new agent is named, the Secretary of State becomes your LLC's agent for service of process.

How much does it cost to change a registered agent in West Virginia?

Changing your registered agent in West Virginia costs $15. That is the fee West Virginia law sets for a change of agent, and the Secretary of State charges it on Form AAO (Application to Appoint or Change Process, Officers, and/or Addresses), which also covers changes of address and of officers, members or managers. 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 West Virginia?

Yes. If you are a West Virginia resident, you can be your LLC's agent for service of process, and your address then appears on the public record. You can also choose not to have an agent at all, because West Virginia does not require one; in that case the Secretary of State is your LLC's agent for service. To name yourself, file Form AAO (Application to Appoint or Change Process, Officers, and/or Addresses) with the $15 fee and sign the new agent line.

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

No. Changing your agent does not affect your LLC's standing, and because West Virginia does not require an LLC to have an agent, a gap between agents is not a ground for dissolution either. During any gap the Secretary of State is your LLC's agent for service. What does put standing at risk in West Virginia is different: unpaid fees or taxes, or an annual report more than 60 days late.

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

You can file online. The Secretary of State says the change can be filed through the West Virginia One Stop Business Portal, or you can submit the paper Form AAO (Application to Appoint or Change Process, Officers, and/or Addresses) with the $15 fee to the Secretary of State's Business and Licensing Division. The form's order sheet offers same-day service in person for $25 extra.

How to Change Your Registered Agent in West Virginia

Update your LLC's registered agent quickly and correctly with our step-by-step guide for West Virginia business owners.

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.

Not sure which service is right? Compare formation services →

Step diagram for changing an LLC's registered agent in West Virginia, showing the 5 filing steps required by the West Virginia Secretary of State. — The 5 steps to change your registered agent in West Virginia. Source: West Virginia Secretary of State.

How to File

1
Choose Your New Registered Agent
If you appoint an agent, it must be a West Virginia resident individual, a domestic corporation, another LLC, or a foreign corporation or company authorized to do business in West Virginia. Remember that West Virginia does not require an LLC to have an agent at all.
2
Get the new agent's signature
Form AAO has a signature line for the new agent. Confirm your new agent has agreed to serve before you file.
3
Complete Form AAO
File Form AAO (Application to Appoint or Change Process, Officers, and/or Addresses) with the West Virginia Secretary of State. The same form lets you remove your current agent without naming a new one.
4
Submit Form and Pay Fee
Pay the $15 filing fee. You can file online through the West Virginia One Stop Business Portal, or submit the paper form to the Secretary of State's Business and Licensing Division. Standard processing for the paper form is 5 to 10 business days.
5
Update Your LLC Records
Once the state processes your filing, update your internal LLC records and notify banks, vendors, and other business contacts of the registered agent change to ensure important documents reach you.

Need the West Virginia Secretary of State?

Go directly to the West Virginia Secretary of State website.

File with the West Virginia Secretary of State →

When Should You Change Your Registered Agent?

Your current registered agent is moving out of West Virginia or closing their business
You want to switch from being your own registered agent to a professional service
Your registered agent isn't reliably available during business hours to receive legal documents
You're unhappy with your current registered agent service and want better customer support

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

Registered agent services for West Virginia 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 order sheet attached to Form AAO (Application to Appoint or Change Process, Officers, and/or Addresses) lists standard processing as 5 to 10 business days at no extra cost, with paid expedite options from next business day ($25 extra) to 1 hour ($500 extra). Until the change is filed, your current agent stays on the record. If your old agent resigns instead, its agency ends on the 31st day after its statement of resignation is filed, and if no new agent is named, the Secretary of State becomes your LLC's agent for service of process.
: Changing your registered agent in West Virginia costs $15. That is the fee West Virginia law sets for a change of agent, and the Secretary of State charges it on Form AAO (Application to Appoint or Change Process, Officers, and/or Addresses), which also covers changes of address and of officers, members or managers. A registered agent service charges its own annual fee on top of that, which varies by provider.
: Yes. If you are a West Virginia resident, you can be your LLC's agent for service of process, and your address then appears on the public record. You can also choose not to have an agent at all, because West Virginia does not require one; in that case the Secretary of State is your LLC's agent for service. To name yourself, file Form AAO (Application to Appoint or Change Process, Officers, and/or Addresses) with the $15 fee and sign the new agent line.
: No. Changing your agent does not affect your LLC's standing, and because West Virginia does not require an LLC to have an agent, a gap between agents is not a ground for dissolution either. During any gap the Secretary of State is your LLC's agent for service. What does put standing at risk in West Virginia is different: unpaid fees or taxes, or an annual report more than 60 days late.
: You can file online. The Secretary of State says the change can be filed through the West Virginia One Stop Business Portal, or you can submit the paper Form AAO (Application to Appoint or Change Process, Officers, and/or Addresses) with the $15 fee to the Secretary of State's Business and Licensing Division. The form's order sheet offers same-day service in person for $25 extra.

Sources

11 documents

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified West Virginia 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.

code.wvlegislature.gov/31B-1-108/W. Va. Code 31B-1-108, designated office and agent for service of process (an LLC may maintain an agent)
code.wvlegislature.gov/31B-1-109/W. Va. Code 31B-1-109, change of designated office or agent
code.wvlegislature.gov/31B-1-110/W. Va. Code 31B-1-110, resignation of agent for service of process
code.wvlegislature.gov/31B-1-111/W. Va. Code 31B-1-111, service of process (Secretary of State as agent)
code.wvlegislature.gov/31B-8-809/W. Va. Code 31B-8-809, grounds for administrative dissolution
code.wvlegislature.gov/59-1-2/W. Va. Code 59-1-2, Secretary of State fees ($15 change of agent)
sos.wv.gov/media/226/download?inline=West Virginia Secretary of State, Form AAO, Application to Appoint or Change Process, Officers, and/or Addresses
sos.wv.gov/agent-address-andor-officer-changeWest Virginia Secretary of State, Agent, Address and/or Officer Change
sos.wv.gov/businessWest Virginia Secretary of State: business entity filings
code.wvlegislature.gov/59-1-2a/West Virginia statute: Annual Report
sos.wv.gov/business/updates-and-changes/annual-reportsWest Virginia Secretary of State: file the 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.

How we check facts

How to File

Choose Your New Registered Agent

Get the new agent's signature

Complete Form AAO

Submit Form and Pay Fee

Update Your LLC Records