Registered agent requirements in Wyoming

Who can be a registered agent in Wyoming?

Wyoming allows three kinds of registered agent (Wyo. Stat. § 17-28-101): an adult individual who resides in this state, a domestic or authorized foreign business entity, or a commercial registered agent. Anyone outside those groups cannot be named.¹

The individual route has more conditions than it first appears. The person must be at least the minimum age the statute sets, must live in Wyoming, and must have a business office that is the same place as the registered office. That last condition, an individual whose business office is identical with the registered office, means a Wyoming resident can't simply lend their name and list some other building. The office on file has to be where they do business.¹

The business route covers companies formed in Wyoming and companies from elsewhere that hold authority to operate here. Commercial registered agents are a separate category in the statute, with their own registration.

A few practical consequences follow.

• A co-owner who lives in Colorado or Idaho cannot act as your individual agent, however close they live to the border.
• An accountant or law office can serve if it qualifies as a business entity under the statute, or if a person there meets the residency and office tests.
• A friend in Casper can serve only if their own business office is the address you list.

Beyond the age, residency and office tests, the sources behind this guide list no other qualifications for an individual agent. If you are unsure what the job involves day to day, the plain explainer on what a registered agent does covers the duties every state shares, and the glossary defines terms such as service of process.

What address can a Wyoming registered agent use?

The registered office shall be located at a street address in Wyoming which shall be a physical location where the agent is present (Wyo. Stat. § 17-28-101). In plain terms, it must be a real building in Wyoming, with a street address, where someone acting for the agent can take delivery of legal papers.¹

That wording settles most of the common questions.

1. A P.O. box fails the test, because it is not a street address and nobody is present there to accept service.
2. A mail-forwarding or virtual mailbox address is a risk. If no one representing the agent is physically there, it does not match the statute's description of a physical location where the agent is present.
3. A home address works for an individual agent only if that home is also their business office, because of the "identical" office rule above.
4. A commercial agent lists its own Wyoming office, and the same physical-location rule applies to it.

Every agent, paid or not, puts its own address in the agent field of your filings. Choosing a commercial service therefore swaps your address for the service's in that one field, and the same is true of every provider. The sources behind this guide don't say which other names and addresses on the Articles of Organization the Secretary of State shows publicly, so read the form before filing. Some providers sell a separate business address product for those other fields: Tailor Brands lists a Virtual Address product without a published price, Bizee lists one at $29/month, and Harbor Compliance charges $350/year per company, per location. Our page on what an agent can and can't keep off the public record explains the difference.^{2, 5, 6, 7}

Can you be your own registered agent in Wyoming?

You can, if you are an adult who lives in Wyoming and the registered office you list is your own business office (Wyo. Stat. § 17-28-101). Your own name simply goes in the agent field of the filing.

Whether you should is a question of habits more than law.

• Someone has to be physically present at that office to accept papers. A sole owner who is often on the road, at a ranch, or at a job site can miss a delivery, and a missed lawsuit can end in a default judgment.
• Your business office becomes the agent address on the public record, which may be your home if you work from there.
• If you move out of Wyoming, you no longer meet the residency test, and the LLC needs a new agent on file.

Owners who live in another state cannot serve themselves at all. They need a Wyoming resident whose business office can be the registered office, a qualifying business, or a commercial registered agent.

Can the LLC act as its own agent? The statute lists domestic business entities among those that may serve, but the sources for this guide don't say whether an entity may name itself. If you are considering that route, ask the Secretary of State's Business Division before you file.

A paid service fits owners who live elsewhere, have no staffed Wyoming office, or prefer not to list a home. The Wyoming registered agent services list sets out each provider's published price and terms.

How do you name a registered agent when forming a Wyoming LLC?

You name the agent and its registered office address in the Articles of Organization, the filing that creates the LLC, and pay $100 to the Secretary of State.^{2, 3}

The state takes the Articles online or by mail, and the route sets the speed: online filings are active immediately, while a mailed filing can take up to 15 business days. Paying by card online adds a credit card processing fee of 2.4% (minimum $1) of the filing fee. Wyoming's paid rush service does not help here, because it is not available for initial formations or other filings that can be completed online, so the online route is the fast one.^{2, 3, 8, 9}

Before you submit, check three things.

1. The person or company you name fits one of the statute's categories.
2. The street address is in Wyoming and is where the agent is present.
3. The agent has agreed to act for you. The sources for this guide don't describe how Wyoming records the agent's consent on the Articles, so read the form's instructions or ask the Business Division.

The rest of the Articles, including the name check, are covered in the step-by-step guide to forming a Wyoming LLC. The cheapest ways to form a Wyoming LLC adds up the full year-one bill.

How do you change your registered agent in Wyoming?

You file an Appointment of New Registered Agent and Office with the Secretary of State and pay $5. The same filing updates the registered office address, so a new agent and their address go on record together.^{3, 4}

The order of steps protects you from a gap in coverage.

1. Pick the new agent and confirm they meet the statute: a qualifying resident with an identical business office, a qualifying business, or a commercial registered agent.
2. Get their agreement and their exact Wyoming street address.
3. File the appointment form. The sources don't say whether this form can be filed online. If it goes by mail, the Business Division's review can take up to 15 business days. Where a document is eligible for Wyoming's rush review, it costs $700 next business day or $1,400 same business day per document; filings that can be completed online are excluded.⁹
4. Check the state's record to confirm the new agent shows.
5. Cancel the old service only after that.

Commercial agents write their own cancellation rules, and several assume the change has already been filed. LegalZoom's terms add that proof of new RA may be required. Bizee lets you cancel by assigning a new registered agent with the state and notifying Bizee of the change. InCorp's terms set out three ways out (dissolve entity, appoint new agent, or resign InCorp with fees), and one of them must be met before the annual fee falls due. Harbor Compliance asks for notice of non-renewal at least 90 days before the end of the current term, or the term rolls over. Read your provider's terms before you file so a renewal date doesn't land mid-switch.^{10, 11, 12, 13}

For the parts of switching that work the same everywhere, see how to change a registered agent and how to cancel a registered agent service.

What happens if your Wyoming registered agent resigns?

A Wyoming agent who quits must warn your LLC at least 30 days before filing a statement of resignation with the state, and the appointment ends on the date the statement of resignation is filed. With no successor, service goes to the Secretary of State.¹

That fallback keeps lawsuits moving even when your LLC has no agent, which is the danger. Papers served on the state may not reach you quickly, while a court's deadline to respond still runs.

The advance notice is your planning window. Use it to line up a replacement and file the appointment before the resignation is filed, so the record never shows a gap.

An agent may resign for ordinary reasons, such as retiring, moving away or an unpaid renewal invoice. A notice sent to an old email address is easy to miss, so keep your contact details current with whoever acts for you.

What happens if a Wyoming LLC has no registered agent?

An LLC left without a registered agent or registered office can lose its existence: if it does not fix the problem within 60 days of notice from the state, it is deemed defunct and forfeits its articles (W.S. 17-29-705(a)).¹⁴

The sequence runs like this.

1. The LLC is without an agent or office in Wyoming, for any reason, including an agent's resignation.
2. The Secretary of State sends notice.
3. The LLC has the statutory window to appoint an agent and file the change.
4. If it does not, the LLC is treated as defunct and its articles are forfeited.

Reinstatement is possible, but only for a limited time. The fee schedule lists $350 if dissolved for having no registered agent, against $100 if dissolved for unpaid annual report tax. The statute on defunct LLCs also describes revival as needing a reinstatement fee plus a $250 penalty, and the sources don't say whether the listed figure already includes it, so ask the Business Division. The deadline is firm. An LLC can be reinstated only within 2 years of dissolution, and after that Wyoming's rules do not allow the LLC to be revived. The Wyoming compliance guide covers how reinstatement works and the other route to dissolution, an unfiled annual report.^{3, 14}

What does a Wyoming LLC file each year?

Each year a Wyoming LLC files an Annual Report with the Secretary of State, due on the first day of the anniversary month of formation, and pays a license tax of $60 minimum, or $0.0002 per dollar of Wyoming assets if that comes to more.^{8, 15}

Because the report is tied to your formation month, the due date differs from one LLC to the next. A report left unfiled is a second path to losing standing: an LLC is administratively dissolved if not filed within 60 days of the due date.⁸

The annual report is also a natural moment to look at your agent details. If your agent or registered office has changed and the record hasn't, fix that with the appointment form rather than waiting. The Wyoming compliance calendar walks through the first and second year, and the general guide to how annual reports work explains the filing in other states.

Do out-of-state LLCs need a Wyoming registered agent?

Yes. An LLC formed elsewhere registers here by filing for a Certificate of Authority, which costs $150, and it must keep a Wyoming registered agent and office under the same rules as a local LLC (Wyo. Stat. § 17-28-101).^{1, 3}

Your home-state agent does not carry over unless it also qualifies in Wyoming, either as a commercial registered agent here or as an authorized business with a staffed Wyoming address. A national service that acts for you elsewhere still has to be appointed here, and some price each state separately: InCorp, for example, lists its agent fee at $129 per state per year.¹⁶

The sources list one appointment form for changing agents and don't describe a separate version for foreign LLCs. If you also operate next door, compare the rules in Montana, Colorado, Utah and South Dakota.

Published prices for registered agent services in Wyoming

If a commercial agent suits you better than acting yourself, the table shows each provider's published agent price and renewal terms. Providers here are listed by our score, highest first, with ties in editorial order; Trustpilot ratings are shown separately and come from Trustpilot. Each provider's terms in detail are on the Wyoming registered agent comparison, and the full reviews of Tailor Brands, ZenBusiness, Northwest and InCorp go further.