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Founder Primer

LLC paperwork, boiled down for founders.

Quick read 1 · Virginia

LLC Formation in Virginia (2026): 7 Moves and the 2 Best LLC Services

Our 2026 marks for starting an LLC in Virginia: VA Registered Agent.org ($199) and Mainstay Filing ($199), highest first. To start the LLC: 7 moves and $100 paid to Virginia; the Annual Registration Fee follows every year.
From the Founder Primer desk

Key facts

Charged by the state
$100
Check it yourself at law.lis.virginia.gov; we read it in October 2026
Annual Registration Fee
$50 a year
Mark it: last day of the LLC's anniversary month
What the state collects in 3 years
$200
No service fees counted
Moves
7
First to last

Primer goals

  • The Virginia formation form, its price and where it goes
  • Who can be the registered agent
  • What you file every year after
  • Who we would hire to file

The Virginia shortlist

Three-year cost and to-dos cleared weigh the most. How we score lists all five criteria.

Start with this $199 plus state fee, $99/yr after

1. VA Registered Agent.org: best for a bootstrapped formation

VA Registered Agent.org gets the top mark in Virginia: $199 to file, then $99 a year to keep the agent.

Cost settles it: three years total less here than at Mainstay Filing.

You file the Annual Registration Fee yourself every year.

Inside the price
  • We prepare and file the formation
  • Agent service for year one
In its favor
  • No agent fee in year one
  • $199 plus the state fee
  • $99 yearly from year two
Against it
  • The Annual Registration Fee stays with you
  • It charges $99 for the EIN
Visit VA Registered Agent.org Partner link. We may earn money if you buy.
Any state $199/yr and the $100 state fee

2. Mainstay Filing: best for one invoice for filing and upkeep

Number 2 is Mainstay Filing, where $199 covers formation, the registered agent and the annual registration fee; year two costs $199.

Add up three years: $200 more than VA Registered Agent.org.

Add the Annual Registration Fee to what it handles, with Virginia's $50 passed on without markup.

Inside the price
  • The filing is made for you
  • Registered agent all year
  • Annual registration fee filed on time
  • EIN application included
  • No markup on the state fee
In its favor
  • EIN application included
  • Flat $199 a year
  • $199 each year
Against it
  • A $100 yearly premium over VA Registered Agent.org
Visit Mainstay Filing Partner link. We may earn money if you buy.

2 services side by side

# Service First year From year two Three-year total
1 VA Registered Agent.org $199 $99/yr $397 Visit VA Registered Agent.org Partner link. We may earn money if you buy.
2 Mainstay Filing $199 $199/yr $597 Visit Mainstay Filing Partner link. We may earn money if you buy.

Each company's listed price on November 13, 2026. Each row still needs Virginia's $100 fee.

Formation in order

  1. Move 1

    Choose a name

    Name search comes first. Use the records at the State Corporation Commission (SCC).

    Show up with a second name.

  2. Move 2

    Name a registered agent

    Every LLC must name a registered agent with an in-state street address. A Virginia resident who is a member, manager or officer of the LLC (or of an entity that manages it) or a member of the Virginia State Bar, or a corporation, LLC or registered LLP authorized in Virginia.

    The address has to be a registered office in Virginia that is the agent's business office. A P.O. box is accepted only in a town of under 2,000 people with no street address.

    The registered agent job comes with each pick.

    Where this comes from: Check it yourself at law.lis.virginia.gov; we read it in October 2026

  3. Move 3

    Do it yourself, or not

    $100 goes to the state regardless. A service costs $199 extra; the ranking shows who to use.

  4. Move 4

    Fill in and send the Articles of Organization of a Virginia Limited Liability Company

    the State Corporation Commission (SCC) forms the LLC when it accepts the Articles of Organization of a Virginia Limited Liability Company (Form LLC-1011) with $100, under Va. Code § 13.1-1010.

    Where this comes from: Check it yourself at law.lis.virginia.gov; we read it in October 2026

  5. Move 5

    Request an Employer Identification Number

    Approval first. Then the IRS. Hire Mainstay Filing and the EIN application is handled.

  6. Move 6

    Put ownership rules in writing

    Who owns what, who decides what: that lives in the operating agreement, an internal paper outside the Virginia filing.

  7. Move 7

    Plan for year two

    Calendar the Annual Registration Fee: $50, every year, due last day of the LLC's anniversary month. Miss it and it is $25 more.

    Where this comes from: Check it yourself at scc.virginia.gov; we read it in October 2026

Virginia costs by move

Line Goes to Total
Filing the LLC Paid to the state $100
Annual Registration Fee Paid to the state $50 every year
Late report Paid to the state $25
A service, if you hire one The provider $199 to begin
State fees, years one to three Paid to the state $200

State fees come from the official pages in the sources. Three years means the filing, two years of reports and the minimum tax where one applies.

The logic behind the order

won on founder outlay over three years (27% of the mark), with close behind.

Three years with VA Registered Agent.org come to $397, $200 under Mainstay Filing.

Virginia questions

Which Virginia fees apply to a new LLC?

$100 goes to the state. $199 extra buys a service that does the filing.

Which form creates the LLC?

Move 4 shows how to fill out the Articles of Organization of a Virginia Limited Liability Company (Form LLC-1011) and where it goes: the State Corporation Commission (SCC).

Is a registered agent required?

Every LLC must name a registered agent with an in-state street address.

What does Virginia require each year?

Every year the LLC files the Annual Registration Fee: $50, due last day of the LLC's anniversary month.

Can I form the LLC without a service?

The state accepts filings directly from owners, so you need no service. Expect $100 and a registered agent.

Which LLC service should a first-time founder use?

VA Registered Agent.org and Mainstay Filing, best mark first.

Keep reading

Sources, so you can check us

  1. For Virginia yearly filing: Recurring filing, official source the primer cites law.lis.virginia.gov, a page we went back to in October 2026.
  2. For Virginia yearly filing: Recurring filing, official source the primer cites scc.virginia.gov, a page we went back to in October 2026.
  3. For Va the primer cites law.lis.virginia.gov, a page we went back to in August 2026.
  4. For Virginia formation fee: Filing fee, official source the primer cites law.lis.virginia.gov, a page we went back to in October 2026.
  5. For Virginia registered agent statute the primer cites law.lis.virginia.gov, a page we went back to in October 2026.
  6. VA Registered Agent.org: pricing page, read on November 13, 2026
  7. Mainstay Filing: Virginia service page, read on November 13, 2026