How to Change Your Registered Agent in Georgia

To change your registered agent in Georgia, file an amended annual registration with the Secretary of State through the eCorp portal at ecorp.sos.ga.gov. The filing costs $20 plus a $10 service charge, and it must list your current agent, the new agent, and confirm that the registered office address matches the new agent’s business office address.¹ Move quickly: a Georgia corporation that goes 60 days without a registered agent can be administratively dissolved.²

The Filing You Actually Submit

Georgia has no standalone “change of registered agent” form. You update the agent through the annual registration system. If you’ve already filed this year’s annual registration, submit an amended annual registration. If you haven’t filed yet, make the change as part of the regular annual filing.¹

For a business corporation, the filing must include the corporation’s name, the current registered office address, the new registered office address if it’s changing, the current agent’s name, the new agent’s name, and a statement confirming that the registered office address and the agent’s business office address will be identical after the change.³ That last requirement catches people out. The agent’s business office and the company’s registered office have to be the same physical location.

LLCs follow the same mechanism under a different statute. An LLC’s amendment must include the LLC’s name, the current registered office address and county, the new address and county if changing, the current agent’s name, and the new agent’s name.⁴ The county of the registered office is the main extra field. The fee is the same: $20 plus a $10 service charge.

Nonprofit corporations use the same amended-annual-registration route under the Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code. The required information matches the business corporation version: the nonprofit’s name, current and new registered office addresses, current and new agent names, and confirmation that the office and agent addresses will match.⁵

Sole proprietorships and general partnerships are generally not required to maintain a registered agent under Georgia law, so this filing does not apply to them.

Both business corporations and LLCs file through the Corporations Division’s eCorp system online. A regular annual registration is $50 plus the $10 service charge; the amended annual registration is $20 plus the $10 service charge.

Who Can Serve as the New Agent

Georgia limits who qualifies. For a corporation, the registered agent must be one of the following:⁶

An individual who resides in Georgia and maintains a business office at the registered office address.
A domestic Georgia corporation, nonprofit corporation, or LLC whose business office is at the registered office address.
A foreign corporation, nonprofit corporation, or LLC authorized to do business in Georgia whose business office is at the registered office address.

LLCs face substantively the same eligibility rules: an individual resident of Georgia, a Georgia corporation or LLC, or a foreign corporation or LLC with a certificate of authority in the state.⁴

The statute does not spell out business-hours availability, but the practical picture matters. If a process server arrives at the registered office and finds no one, your company can miss a lawsuit and face a default judgment. Confirm the new agent is willing to serve and will actually be at the address during normal hours before you list them on the filing.

When the Change Is Triggered by a Resignation

Sometimes the agent forces the timeline. A registered agent can resign by filing a statement of resignation with the Secretary of State and notifying the company in writing. For an LLC, the resignation takes effect on the earlier of two dates: when the LLC files a new annual registration naming a replacement, or 31 days after the resignation is filed.⁴

That 31-day window is tight. If your agent resigns and you don’t name a replacement, the clock on administrative dissolution starts running as soon as the resignation takes effect.

What Happens If You Don’t File

Georgia law requires every corporation to continuously maintain a registered agent and registered office in the state.⁶ The Secretary of State can begin administrative dissolution proceedings against a corporation that:²

Goes 60 days or more without a registered agent or registered office.
Fails to notify the Secretary of State within 60 days that its registered agent has changed, resigned, or that its registered office has been discontinued.
Does not file its annual registration within 60 days of the due date.

These are separate grounds. A company can be dissolved for having no agent, or separately for failing to report a change even if a valid agent exists.

The other risk is quieter but just as damaging. If your agent information is stale and a plaintiff serves process at the address on file, courts can still deem service valid. The first you may hear about a lawsuit is when a default judgment shows up.

Reinstatement If Your Company Is Dissolved

If a corporation is administratively dissolved, Georgia allows reinstatement within five years of the dissolution date. The application goes to the Secretary of State, must show the ground for dissolution has been fixed, must include a statement that all taxes owed by the corporation have been paid, and must be accompanied by the required reinstatement fee.⁷

Reinstatement relates back to the date of dissolution, so the corporation is treated as though the dissolution never happened. The Secretary of State reserves the corporation’s name for up to five years after dissolution, so another entity can’t claim it during that window.⁷ After five years, reinstatement is off the table and the company has to be re-formed from scratch.

Updates to Make Outside the Secretary of State

Filing the amended annual registration handles the state requirement. A few other updates may follow from the same change.

If the registered office address is also your business’s address on file with the IRS, file Form 8822-B to notify the IRS of the new address. Changes to a responsible party (the individual who controls or manages the entity) must be reported to the IRS within 60 days.⁸ Changing only the registered agent doesn’t automatically trigger this, but if the address the IRS uses shifts, don’t skip it.

Review your operating agreement or bylaws too. Many name the registered agent, and an outdated reference can create confusion about who’s authorized to accept service. Update any internal documents that name the old agent, and let banks, insurers, and key business partners with the old address on file know about the change.

1
Georgia Secretary of State. Business Division FAQ
2
Justia. Georgia Code 14-2-1420 – Grounds for Administrative Dissolution
3
Justia. Georgia Code 14-2-502 – Change of Registered Office or Registered Agent
4
Justia. Georgia Code 14-11-209 – Registered Office and Registered Agent
5
Justia. Georgia Code 14-3-502 – Change of Registered Office or Registered Agent
6
Justia. Georgia Code 14-2-501 – Registered Office and Registered Agent
7
Justia. Georgia Code 14-2-1422 – Reinstatement Following Administrative Dissolution
8
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party – Business