The Wyoming Articles of Organization is the short document you file with the Wyoming Secretary of State to legally create your LLC. By statute (W.S. 17-29-201) it has to state only two things: your LLC's name, and the name and Wyoming street address of your registered agent, filed together with the agent's signed consent. It costs $100, filed online through WyoBiz or by mail. It does not list the LLC's members or managers, which is why a Wyoming LLC keeps ownership off the public record.
By law the Articles state only your LLC name and the name and Wyoming street address of your registered agent. Nothing else is mandatory.
Member and manager names never appear on the Articles or the Secretary of State form, so your ownership stays off the public filing.
You pay the state's $100 filing fee and file online through WyoBiz or by mail, along with your registered agent's signed consent.
What are the Wyoming Articles of Organization?
The Articles of Organization is the legal document that brings your Wyoming LLC into existence. One or more people act as organizers, sign the Articles, and deliver them to the Wyoming Secretary of State for filing, exactly as W.S. 17-29-201 sets out. Once the state files them, your company legally exists.
If you are new to the structure itself, our guide to what an LLC is covers the basics. This page is about the one document that creates it. For a non-resident, filing the Articles is step one of forming a Wyoming LLC from abroad, before the EIN and the bank account come into play. There is no citizenship or residency requirement, and no SSN, to file the Articles or to own the LLC, so a non-US resident can form one by meeting the same state filing requirements as anyone else.
What information do the Articles of Organization actually require?
Most people expect a long form. The statute asks for surprisingly little. Under W.S. 17-29-201(b), the Articles have to state only two things:
Your LLC's name, which must follow Wyoming's LLC naming rules under W.S. 17-29-108. Check that your name is free first with the Secretary of State's business entity search.
The street address of your initial registered office and the name of your initial registered agent at that address.
That is the entire statutory list. There is no requirement to state a business purpose, a roster of members or managers, an ownership breakdown, capital contributions, or a duration. Overstating what the form needs is the single most common piece of wrong information you will read online.
Your registered agent and registered office (and the required consent)
The one substantive requirement inside the Articles is your registered agent. Wyoming law requires every LLC to name a registered agent and to keep a registered office at a physical street address in the state. A P.O. box will not satisfy the rule. Only this registered office has to sit in Wyoming. Your principal office and mailing address can be anywhere, including your home country, and both of those appear on the public filing alongside the registered office.
Your agent can be an individual who lives in Wyoming or a business entity authorised to operate there. Because the agent needs a real Wyoming address and has to be reachable during business hours, most non-resident founders appoint a commercial agent instead of trying to serve as their own.
There is one extra step the statute is strict about. Under W.S. 17-29-201(c), the Articles must be accompanied by a written consent to appointment signed by your registered agent. The Secretary of State provides a Consent to Appointment section for exactly this, and the filing is not complete without it.
What the Articles do NOT contain: the ownership-privacy angle
Here is the part that draws founders to Wyoming. Because the statutory list stops at your name and your registered agent, the Articles never record who owns or runs the company. Member and manager names appear nowhere on the filing or on the Secretary of State form.
That single omission is the mechanism behind Wyoming's anonymous LLC reputation, and it is one reason many non-residents rate it the best state to form an LLC. Your ownership simply is not part of the public record.
On the public Articles | Kept off the Articles |
|---|---|
The LLC name | Member names |
The registered agent's name | Manager names |
The registered office street address | Ownership percentages |
The principal office mailing address | Capital contributions |
The organizer's name and signature | Your operating agreement |
How much does it cost, and how long does it take?
The state's filing fee for the Articles of Organization is $100. That is a one-time charge to form the company. Treat $100 as the state's current figure and confirm it on the live Wyoming Secretary of State fee schedule before you pay.
If you file online, expect a small card-processing surcharge on top of the $100. Wyoming's portal adds a percentage-based payment fee that the processor sets, so the exact amount can change over time. Filing by mail with a check avoids that surcharge entirely.
That $100 is a one-time formation charge. It is not the same as the separate yearly filing every Wyoming LLC owes, the Wyoming annual report and license tax, which is a different obligation you keep up each year regardless of any US activity. Check its due date and minimum fee in that guide so the first one does not slip past you.
On timing, Wyoming does not publish a fixed turnaround for LLC formation, and it does not list a standard expedite fee, so avoid promising yourself a specific date. If you file by mail from outside the US, budget for international postage in both directions on top of the state's processing time.
Filing online with WyoBiz vs. filing by mail
You have two ways to file: online through WyoBiz, the Secretary of State's business portal, or on paper through the mail. Both end with the same filed Articles on the public record.
For an online filing you complete the Articles on WyoBiz at wyobiz.wyo.gov, pay the $100 plus the card surcharge, and submit. There is one quirk worth knowing. If your company name begins with the letter A, Wyoming requires you to file on paper so the office can review the name manually.
An online filing runs through these steps:
Choose LLC as the entity type on WyoBiz and enter your LLC name.
Add your registered agent and the registered office address, then your principal or mailing address.
Review the Articles, e-sign as the organizer, and confirm the registered agent's consent to appointment.
Pay the $100 fee plus the card processing surcharge.
Download and save the filed Articles PDF as your proof of formation.
A complete mail filing has three pieces in the envelope:
The signed Articles of Organization form, with your LLC name and registered agent details filled in.
The registered agent's signed Consent to Appointment.
A check or money order for the $100 filing fee, payable to the Wyoming Secretary of State.
Send the package to the Secretary of State's Business Division: Herschler Building East, 122 West 25th Street, Suite 101, Cheyenne, WY 82002-0020. Addresses change, so confirm it on the live Articles form before you post it.
When does your Wyoming LLC legally exist?
Your LLC is formed the moment the Articles become effective, not when you post the envelope. By default they are effective as soon as the Secretary of State files them. You can also name a delayed effective date, and Wyoming caps that date at the 90th day after filing under W.S. 17-16-123.
There is a further benefit to a completed filing. Under the statute, the Secretary of State's filing of your Articles is conclusive proof that the organizer met every condition to form the LLC, except in a state-run dissolution case. In practice, the filed Articles are your evidence that the company was properly created.
After you file: what you receive and how to change the Articles later
Once the state accepts the filing, your Articles are on the public record and your LLC is live. You keep a copy of the filed Articles as proof of formation, and you use it when you apply for an EIN and open a US bank account. The Articles themselves are short and rarely need attention again.
If a recorded detail changes later, such as your company name or the address printed in the Articles, you do not refile from scratch. You submit a separate Wyoming LLC amendment to update only what changed. Members and managers are not in the Articles, so ordinary ownership changes never touch this filing at all.
With the Articles filed, the rest of the setup follows the familiar path for a non-resident forming a Wyoming LLC: getting the EIN, arranging a US business address, and opening a bank account.
Frequently asked questions
What information do the Wyoming Articles of Organization require?
By statute (W.S. 17-29-201) just two things: the LLC's name, and the name and Wyoming street address of the registered agent, filed together with the agent's signed consent. The Secretary of State form also asks for a principal mailing address and the organizer's signature.
Do the Wyoming Articles of Organization list the LLC's owners?
No. Member and manager names do not appear on the Articles or the Secretary of State form, which is why a Wyoming LLC keeps ownership off the public record. The registered agent's name and address, however, are public.
How much does it cost to file the Wyoming Articles of Organization?
The state's fee is $100, paid to the Wyoming Secretary of State. Filing online through WyoBiz adds a small card-processing fee. Confirm the current amount on the WY SOS fee schedule before you file.
Can I file the Wyoming Articles of Organization online?
Yes. You file through WyoBiz at wyobiz.wyo.gov, or by mailing the signed Articles plus the registered agent's signed consent. One exception: LLCs whose name starts with A must file on paper for manual review.
How do I get a copy of my filed Wyoming Articles of Organization?
When you file online, WyoBiz generates the filed Articles for you to download, so save that PDF. Later, anyone can look the LLC up through the Secretary of State's business entity search on WyoBiz, where the filed record and, for most entities, the document itself are public. Keep your own copy as proof of formation for the EIN and bank steps.
When is my Wyoming LLC officially formed?
When the Articles become effective, which is upon filing or on a delayed effective date you choose. That date cannot be later than the 90th day after filing (W.S. 17-16-123). The Secretary of State's filing is conclusive proof the LLC was properly formed.
Does the registered agent have to consent?
Yes. The Articles must be accompanied by a written consent to appointment signed by the registered agent (W.S. 17-29-201(c)), and that agent must keep a physical Wyoming street address.
How this article was prepared
The rules on what the Articles must contain, the registered agent consent, and when the LLC is formed are drawn from the Wyoming Limited Liability Company Act, mainly W.S. 17-29-201, together with W.S. 17-16-123 on effective dates. The required and administrative form fields come from the Wyoming Secretary of State's own Articles of Organization form. The $100 fee, the online card surcharge, and the paper-filing rule for names beginning with A come from the Secretary of State fee schedule and the WyoBiz registration instructions. The paper-filing mailing address and the business entity search come from the Secretary of State's own contact page and WyoBiz. State fees and processing details are the agency's current figures, so verify them on the live Wyoming Secretary of State site before you file. Last reviewed July 2026. This is general information, not legal or tax advice, and CORPBOLT is a formation service, not a law or accounting firm.
A quick note on CORPBOLT: CORPBOLT forms US LLCs for non-resident founders, handling the Wyoming filing, the registered agent, and a US business address, with no SSN and no US visit required. Formation with the registered agent and address starts from $349 a year, and the package with the EIN included is $599 a year. Start your US LLC.
Official references
Wyoming Secretary of State: LLC Articles of Organization form and registered agent consent
Wyoming Secretary of State: Business Division fee schedule ($100 Articles of Organization)
WyoBiz: online business registration instructions (fees, card surcharge, paper filing for A names)
Wyoming Secretary of State: business entity search (check a name or view a filed record)
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