Wyoming Registration LLC: Exact Steps, Real Costs, and What You Actually Get

Submit Articles of Organization through Wyoming's Business Center at wyobiz.wyo.gov. The state filing fee is $100, payable online by card. You will need a business name that includes 'LLC' or 'Limited Liability Company,' a Wyoming registered agent with a physical in-state address, and a principal office address, which can be anywhere in the world. Processing runs 3-5 business days; expedited same-day processing is available for an additional $100.

Every Wyoming LLC must maintain a registered agent with a physical Wyoming street address year-round. You cannot use a P.O. box. If you are not based in Wyoming, you hire a commercial registered agent service, which typically costs $50-$150 per year. The agent's name and address appear on the public record, but the agent's identity reveals nothing about who owns or manages the LLC.

Wyoming requires an annual report filed with the Secretary of State. The fee is $60 minimum for LLCs with less than $300,000 in Wyoming assets, or two-tenths of one mill on the dollar of in-state assets above that threshold. The report is due by the first day of the anniversary month of formation each year. Missing the deadline triggers a $25 late fee, and the state can administratively dissolve the LLC after 60 days of non-compliance.

Wyoming does not require member or manager names to be listed in the Articles of Organization filed with the state. The only public record is the registered agent and the LLC name itself. For a deeper look at exactly what appears in the public record and what remains private, see Wyoming LLC Register Search: What the Public Records Show and What They Hide. Separately, under federal FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Information rules effective 2024, most LLCs must report true beneficial owners to FinCEN, though that information is not publicly accessible.

There is no U.S. residency or citizenship requirement to register a Wyoming LLC. Non-U.S. persons can own and manage a Wyoming LLC without restriction. A foreign-owned single-member LLC that conducts no U.S. trade or business owes no U.S. federal income tax, but must file Form 5472 and a pro forma 1120 annually with the IRS to report any reportable transactions with foreign related parties. Failure to file carries a $25,000 per-form penalty, which is the most common compliance trap for international owners.

Delaware charges $90 to form an LLC and $300 per year in franchise tax regardless of activity, making it more expensive annually for passive or low-revenue structures. New Mexico charges $50 to form and has no annual report or renewal fee, but offers weaker statutory charging order protection than Wyoming. Wyoming's charging order protection is among the strongest in the country, meaning a creditor who wins a judgment against a member cannot force a liquidation of the LLC, they can only receive a lien on distributions if and when they are made. For most asset protection and holding company use cases, Wyoming outperforms both alternatives on the combination of cost, privacy, and statutory protection.