How to Start an LLC in Virginia (2026)

Published by Jon Morgan | Co-Founder & Chief Editor

Last updated: September 4, 2026

FACT CHECKED by Jon Tobin, Business Attorney

Methodology
We meticulously research and verify the information presented in our articles. By consulting reliable sources and ensuring factual accuracy, we are committed to providing readers with well-informed, trustworthy content.

To start an LLC in Virginia, you file Articles of Organization (Form LLC1011) with the State Corporation Commission (SCC) and pay a $100 filing fee.

Virginia skips the usual annual report. Instead, the SCC bills you a $50 registration fee every year, due on the month your LLC was formed.

Here's the full walkthrough for forming a new domestic LLC in Virginia. It covers everything from picking a name to what happens once the SCC signs off on your filing.

Quick Summary:

Virginia LLC Requirements at a Glance

Here's the exact filing document, agency, fee and rules Virginia sets for a new LLC, verified against the State Corporation Commission's own pages.

How to Start an LLC in Virginia: 5 Steps

Virginia's process comes down to five mandatory moves. Lock in a name and name a registered agent. File with the state and put your internal rules in writing. Then get a federal tax ID.

Step 1: Choose and check your LLC name

Your name must include "LLC," "L.L.C.," "limited company," or "limited liability company." It also has to be different enough from every other name on file with the SCC. That comparison ignores small words like "the" and the required designators.

Run the Name Availability Check in the Clerk's Information System before you file anything else. Some words trigger an extra SCC review, covered in the state rules below [1].

If you want to hold a name before you're ready to file, the SCC will reserve it for $10 for 120 days.

Step 2: Appoint a registered agent

Every Virginia LLC must keep a registered office and a registered agent in the state [2]. The agent must be a qualifying Virginia resident. That's usually a member, manager or officer.

It can also be a company already approved to do business in Virginia at that same address. Your LLC itself can't act as its own agent.

You can serve as your own agent for free if you qualify. You'll just need to keep regular business hours there. Or hand it to a registered agent service in Virginia instead.

Step 3: File the Articles of Organization with the State Corporation Commission

File Form LLC1011 online through the Clerk's Information System, or mail it in instead. Pay the filing fee when you submit it.

The next section walks through every field on the form. It covers the payment options and what happens after you submit. It's the same core sequence covered in our guide to how to start an LLC, adapted here to Virginia's own form and fee.

Step 4: Create an operating agreement

Virginia doesn't require an LLC to adopt an operating agreement [3]. It doesn't have to be in writing unless your articles or an existing written agreement requires it. Put it in writing anyway, since banks and courts will ask for it later.

Step 5: Get an EIN

Apply for a federal Employer Identification Number free at irs.gov. The online application issues your EIN right away once it's approved.

You'll need it to open a business bank account. If you have employees or sell taxable goods, you'll also need it to register with Virginia Tax.

Filing the Articles of Organization in Virginia: What to Expect

Here's what the SCC expects at each stage of filing Form LLC1011, from what the form asks for to what happens between submission and approval.

1. What the form asks for

Form LLC1011 has six sections:

• Your LLC's name, plus an optional phone number and email
• The principal office street address (no PO boxes)
• Your registered agent's name and optional email
• One checkbox confirming how that agent qualifies under Virginia law
• The registered office street address
• The signature, printed name and date for every organizer

2. Fee and payment methods

The filing fee is $100, payable to the State Corporation Commission. Pay online with a credit card through the CIS portal. Or mail a check or money order if you file by mail. Walk-ins can pay by card, cash, check or money order.

3. Processing times

An online filing with no attachment gets a receipt email, then an acceptance email. The SCC doesn't publish a fixed turnaround for this. Attaching your own articles, or using a name with restricted words, adds a review step. That adds about five business days.

Mail and in-person filings don't carry a published turnaround either. Our breakdown of how long it takes to form an LLC in Virginia tracks any changes to these estimates.

4. Where to file by mail or in person

Mail Form LLC1011 to the State Corporation Commission, P.O. Box 1197, Richmond, VA 23218-1197. To deliver it in person, bring it to 1300 East Main Street, Tyler Building, 1st Floor, Richmond, VA 23219.

5. Common reasons filings are rejected

The SCC's own top five reasons a filing gets rejected:

• An attachment that doesn't match what you typed online
• A name that fails the availability check
• Using the wrong form (a foreign LLC needs Form LLC1052, a professional LLC needs Form LLC1103)
• Attaching documents beyond the articles themselves
• Missing information, like an incomplete address

If your filing gets rejected, you'll get a notice explaining exactly what went wrong and how to fix it before you resubmit.

6. What you receive when it's approved

What you get back depends on how you filed:

• Online, no attachment: a receipt email, then an acceptance email once the SCC approves it
• Online, with an attachment or a name that needed review: a receipt and confirmation email first, then the acceptance email
• By paper: an acceptance letter mailed to you

What It Costs to Start an LLC in Virginia

Virginia charges one fee to file the paperwork, shown in the table below. It treats almost everything else as optional or something you pay later.

A name reservation, certified copies, expedited processing and a commercial registered agent are all optional. Virginia only requires the one-time filing fee above. The annual registration fee is the other required cost, covered later in the compliance section.

For a full breakdown of every optional add-on and what each one runs, see what it costs to form an LLC in Virginia.

Virginia-Specific Rules That Change the Process

1. Restricted words need extra approval

Beyond the core naming rule in Step 1, some words need extra proof. A name with "bank," "trust," "engineer," "architecture" or "land surveying" only clears the SCC if your LLC actually provides that service. Otherwise the filing gets held for review.

2. Professional LLCs need their own form

Virginia has a separate Professional LLC for services the state licenses, including law, accounting, architecture, engineering and medicine. A PLLC files Form LLC1103 instead of the standard articles. The filing fee is the same as a standard LLC.

Its name also has to close with a professional identifier like "PLLC" or "P.L.L.C.," so clients recognize the entity type right away.

3. Members and managers aren't named on the public filing

The Articles only ask for your LLC's name, principal office and registered agent. They don't ask who owns or runs it. The operating agreement spells out ownership and control instead, and it isn't filed with the state at all. That keeps it private.

4. The annual "report" is really just a fee

Virginia doesn't ask for updated information every year the way some states do. There's no publication requirement to worry about either [4]. See our Virginia LLC annual report guide for the full renewal calendar.

5. Foreign LLCs register on a separate form

An LLC formed in another state has to register to do business in Virginia. It files an Application for Certificate of Registration (Form LLC1052) with the SCC instead. That's different from the Articles used to form a new LLC here.

6. There's no single state business license

Virginia leaves general business licensing to local government. Counties, cities and towns can each charge a Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) tax [5].

Regulated professions like contractors, cosmetologists and engineers get a separate state license instead. It comes from the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR).

7. Reinstatement after cancellation

If your LLC gets canceled for not paying the annual registration fee, you can apply for reinstatement within five years. The reinstatement fee is $100, plus every unpaid fee and penalty, filed as Form LLC1050.4P [6]. See our guide on how to dissolve an LLC in Virginia if you'd rather wind the business down instead.

What to Do After Your Virginia LLC Is Approved

Getting the SCC's approval is only the beginning. A short list of follow-up tasks keeps your Virginia LLC compliant and ready to operate.

Handle licenses and permits. Check with your county, city or town's Commissioner of Revenue about a local BPOL license. Also check with DPOR, the state's professional licensing board. You may need a state professional license too.

Register for state taxes. If you'll have Virginia employees or sell taxable goods, register online with Virginia Tax. Use your FEIN to do it. Our guide to filing LLC taxes in Virginia covers the rest of your state tax obligations.

Keep your books straight from day one. Separate accounting for the LLC makes the annual registration fee and tax filings far less painful. Revisit the compliance schedule below every year to stay on track.

FAQs

References:

1. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/13.1-1012/
2. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/13.1-1015/
3. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/13.1-1023/
4. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title13.1/chapter12/
5. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/58.1-3703/
6. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/13.1-1050.4/