Washington Registered Agent Requirements
Washington's registered agent rules live in the Uniform Business Organizations Code. RCW 23.95.405 requires every LLC to designate and maintain an agent, RCW 23.95.415 governs the designation, and RCW 23.95.410 sets the address rule. The agent is the party the state and process servers can always reach, and the designation sits on the public record.
Who Can Serve Under RCW 23.95.415
Washington recognizes three ways to fill the seat:
- A commercial registered agent. A professional agent listed with the Secretary of State under RCW 23.95.420.
- A noncommercial registered agent. An individual or a business with a Washington address that takes the role without registering commercially.
- The holder of a named office or position within the LLC. Washington lets you designate an office rather than a person, for example "President" or "Member," and whoever holds that title serves as agent.
One rule applies across all three: the agent must give prior consent in a record before the designation is filed. The Secretary of State's forms collect that consent, and the annual report requires it again whenever the agent changes.
The Address Rule
RCW 23.95.410 requires "a street address in this state" for any address in a registered agent filing, with an in-state mailing address added if it differs. The state form is blunter about it: no PO Box or PMB. A mailbox storefront or virtual office will not satisfy the statute; process servers need a real door.
Serving Through Your Own LLC
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Get StartedNotice what the office-holder option does and does not allow. The LLC never names itself as its own agent; it names an office or position inside itself, and the human holding that title takes on the duty. That person must be reachable at the registered street address during business hours, and the address goes on the public record. It works, and plenty of small LLCs use it. Just be sure you want that address, often a home office, sitting in a public database before you take the route.
Changing Agents Later
Washington's Statement of Change/Designation of Registered Agent is an unnumbered Secretary of State form filed with the Corporations & Charities Division under RCW 23.95.430, and the state fee is $0. The new agent's consent in a record is required, same as at formation. The current fillable form is posted with the Secretary of State's fee schedule and forms.
Our Washington Registered Agent Service
We serve as registered agent for Washington LLCs at $99 per year, and the first year is included when you form through our $199 formation service. The service gives you:
- A street address in Washington that satisfies RCW 23.95.410, so yours stays off the record
- Scanned service of process and state mail delivered to your online portal
- Reminders ahead of your anniversary-month annual report deadline
- The consent and designation paperwork handled when you appoint or switch to us