How to Change Your Registered Agent in Washington

Washington makes this one easy: the state charges nothing to change your registered agent. You file one short form with the Washington Secretary of State, Corporations & Charities Division, and the only money involved is whatever your new agent charges for service. Here is the form, the fee, and the steps.

The Form: Statement of Change/Designation of Registered Agent

The filing is called the Statement of Change/Designation of Registered Agent. It carries no form number; the state identifies it by title. You can submit it online through CCFS, the official state filing portal, or download the official form PDF and mail it in.

The state fee is $0. That is not a promotion, it is simply Washington's fee schedule: the Secretary of State's fee schedule lists no fee for a change of registered agent, and the form itself has a "No Filing Fee" checkbox. Optional expedited processing is available for $100 if you want the filing moved ahead of the normal queue.

One requirement to know before you file: the new agent must consent to the appointment in a record. Washington will not accept a designation the agent has not agreed to.

Steps to Change Your Registered Agent in Washington

1. Pick a replacement agent who satisfies Washington's rules: a physical street address in the state (no PO boxes, private mailboxes, or virtual offices) and availability during regular business hours.
2. Get the new agent's consent in a record, since Washington requires prior consent from any newly designated agent.
3. File the Statement of Change/Designation of Registered Agent, either online through CCFS or by mailing the PDF to the Corporations & Charities Division. There is no state filing fee.
4. Verify the update in the Secretary of State's online business search once the filing is processed, and let your former agent know the switch is complete.

A shortcut worth knowing: if your annual report is coming due anyway, CCFS lets you designate a new registered agent inside that filing instead of submitting a separate statement.

Common Reasons for Changing Registered Agents

Better annual price. Many registered agent services bill $125 to $436 a year. If you are paying premium rates for a standard service, moving to us at $99 per year trims your compliance spending without giving anything up.

Privacy. If you currently serve as your own agent, your home or office address sits in the public record at the Washington Secretary of State, where anyone can look it up. A professional service puts our address on those filings instead of yours.

Reliability. An agent has to be at the registered office during business hours to accept service of process. If your current agent has missed deliveries or been slow forwarding documents, a dedicated service removes that risk.

Business changes. Owners who move out of Washington, close a local office, or shift to remote work need a stable in-state address. A professional agent gives you one that never changes no matter where you operate.

The $0 Filing Fee Removes the Usual Barrier

Plenty of states charge $25 to $50 to swap agents, which nudges businesses to stay with providers they have outgrown. Washington does not. Since the state filing is free, the only figure in the whole switch is your new agent's annual fee, and ours is $99 per year.

Making the Transition Smooth

When you sign up with us, we provide everything the form asks for: our Washington registered office address and the agent details to list on the statement filed with the Washington Secretary of State.

Once you file the change, we begin monitoring your registered office and start receiving and forwarding documents as soon as the state processes the filing. Processing time depends on the state's workload; online CCFS filings generally clear faster than mailed forms, and the $100 expedite option exists if you are in a hurry. After processing, your new agent appears in the Secretary of State's online database.

Order Here Questions about changing your registered agent in Washington? Contact us at support@waregisteredagent.org, Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm PT. We're here to help make your transition straightforward.