LLC Registered-Agent and Registered-Office Requirements in Georgia

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and terminology

The Georgia Limited Liability Company Act uses registered office and registered agent for service of process. O.C.G.A. § 14-11-209 is the core office, agent, change, resignation, and Secretary-service provision.

Continuous designation duty

O.C.G.A. § 14-11-209(a) requires each LLC to continuously maintain both a registered office and registered agent in Georgia. O.C.G.A. § 14-11-203(a) requires the organizer to supply the Secretary of State with the initial office's street address and county and the agent's name.

Eligible individual

Under § 14-11-209(b), an individual agent must be a Georgia resident. The section states no minimum age or citizenship condition.

Eligible entity and self-service

Section 14-11-209(b) permits a domestic corporation, another domestic LLC, or a foreign corporation or LLC holding Georgia authority. The Secretary of State expressly says an entity cannot act as its own registered agent. An owner may serve only in the owner's own capacity as a qualified Georgia resident, not by naming the represented LLC itself.

Registered office, address, and hours

Section 14-11-209(a) requires the agent's business-office address to match the registered office. The Secretary's FAQ adds the current filing rule: a Georgia street address where the agent is located, not a P.O. box or mail drop.

Neither § 14-11-209 nor the current Secretary guidance states a fixed daily availability window. A vendor's “nine to five” promise should not be restated as enacted Georgia law.

Consent and initial filing

Georgia separates the articles from the additional formation information. O.C.G.A. § 14-11-204 requires the articles themselves to state the LLC name and permits optional management or other provisions. Section 14-11-203(a) separately requires the organizer to supply agent, registered-office, and principal-office information in the Secretary's required format.

Those sections do not require a separate agent signature or filed acceptance. The Secretary nevertheless provides a notice route for an unauthorized agent appointment under its current rules; absence of a filed acceptance is not permission to name an unwilling person.

Change, resignation, and replacement

Under § 14-11-209(c), the LLC changes the agent or office through an amended annual registration stating the old and new information. An agent may make an office-address change under subsection (e), but must state that a copy was mailed to the LLC's recorded principal-business address.

An agent resignation under § 14-11-209(d) is filed with the Secretary, with notice delivered or mailed to the LLC on or before filing. The appointment ends on the earlier of a replacement filing or the 31st day after the resignation was filed.

Agent duties and service

O.C.G.A. § 14-11-1108(a) makes the registered agent the recipient for process, notice, or demand. The Secretary's FAQ also describes the agent as the in-state recipient for documents and other official communications. The statute states no separate private-agent forwarding deadline.

Lapse consequences and fallback service

O.C.G.A. § 14-11-603(b) makes two 60-day defaults dissolution grounds: being without an agent or office, and failing to report an agent/office change, resignation, or discontinuance. The Secretary then mails written notice. If the LLC does not cure within another 60 days, the Secretary administratively dissolves it; the LLC continues only for winding up.

Georgia supplies two lapse-service routes. Under § 14-11-209(f), the Secretary becomes agent after the LLC lacks an agent or reasonable diligence cannot find the agent; the plaintiff certifies a failed registered-office attempt and prior registered/certified mail or statutory overnight delivery. Section 14-11-1108(a) separately permits registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested, to the LLC's principal office.

What trips people up

The articles are not the whole formation submission. The articles may state only the LLC name, while the organizer supplies agent and office information to the Secretary in the accompanying filing workflow.

“Another LLC” does not mean the new LLC itself. Georgia permits a different domestic LLC to serve, while the Secretary says an entity cannot be its own registered agent.

Georgia has two fallback paths. Secretary service under § 14-11-209(f) and principal-office mail under § 14-11-1108(a) have different mechanics.

Common questions

Can the registered office also be the LLC's business office? Yes. Section 14-11-209(a) says it may, but need not, be a place of the LLC's business.

Must the agent sign the articles? No separate agent signature appears in the statutory articles contents or formation-information provision.

Does resignation end immediately on filing? No. It ends on a replacement filing or on day 31 after filing, whichever occurs first.

Statutes and sources

• O.C.G.A. §§ 14-11-203, 14-11-204, and 14-11-209 — formation information, articles contents, continuous office/agent duty, eligibility, changes, resignation, and Secretary fallback service. https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-ga/transforms/ga/ocga/r83/gov.ga.ocga.title.14.html (accessed 2026-07-27)
• O.C.G.A. § 14-11-100 — statutory short title. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unicourt/cic-code-ga/master/transforms/ga/ocga/r86/gov.ga.ocga.title.14.html (accessed 2026-08-16)
• O.C.G.A. §§ 14-11-603 and 14-11-1108 — administrative dissolution, notice/cure, wind-up status, agent service, and direct principal-office mail. https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-ga/transforms/ga/ocga/r83/gov.ga.ocga.title.14.html (accessed 2026-07-27)
• Georgia Secretary of State Business Division FAQ — current public filing guidance on eligible agents, self-agent exclusion, street address, P.O. box, continuous maintenance, and amended annual registration. https://sos.ga.gov/page/business-division-faq (accessed 2026-07-27)