How Long Does It Take to Form an LLC? State-Published Processing Times
Only one source knows how long your state will take: the state. This page collects the processing times the fifty states publish themselves, names the source for each, and says so plainly for the states that publish nothing. Checked November 8, 2026.
How to read this table
Every time below was published by the state itself, on its Secretary of State or business division site, and the source link is in the row. Three kinds of figures appear. Some states publish a business-day range, and we print it as published. Some states post the date they are currently processing instead of a range; those rows show the posted date, and any business-day lag is labeled as our conversion from it. And some states publish no standard processing time at all. Those rows say "Not published by the state" rather than borrowing a number from a blog or a formation service, because an estimate dressed as a fact is how bad formation advice starts.
Expedited service is listed only where the state publishes both the fee and the faster time. A published expedited fee with no published time (Connecticut and Hawaii both do this) is noted as exactly that. One more caution: these are the state's review times for the formation document. The clock starts when the state receives a correct filing, and a rejected filing restarts it. What happens after approval, the EIN, the bank account, and your state's first recurring deadline, is in our formation guide.
Processing times by state
| State | Published processing time | Expedited service the state publishes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Not published by the state. The formation form publishes no standard timeframe. | Expedited processing for an additional $100: the Secretary of State indexes the filing within approximately 3 business days after receipt from the county probate office. | Alabama Secretary of State, Domestic LLC Certificate of Formation form |
| Alaska | Online filings are completed immediately. Paper filings run 10 to 15 business days from March through September, and more than 15 business days from October through February. | None. The Division states it does not provide expedited filing services. | Alaska Division of Corporations, Online Filing Instructions for LLC Articles |
| Arizona | For new LLC filings, the Corporations Division's processing-times table lists 9 to 11 business days standard and 2 to 4 business days expedited. The table is dated December 29, 2025, the latest version posted when checked. | Standard expedite fee $35. Accelerated tiers: Next Day $100, Same Day $200, and 2-Hour $400, each with its service time published. | Arizona Corporation Commission, Document Processing Times and Accelerated Services |
| Arkansas | 3 to 5 business days for every method, per the current heavy-volume notice on the Business and Commercial Services pages. An older state FAQ still says two business days; the current notice is the figure printed here. | None published. | Arkansas Secretary of State, Business and Commercial Services |
| California | Online submissions: 5 days or less. Filings on PDF forms: 10 or more days, per the column headings on the official Domestic LLC forms page. | 24-Hour service $350 with a guaranteed response within 24 hours; Same Day service $750, response by 4:00 p.m. for documents received by 9:30 a.m.; 4-Hour service $500, drop-off in Sacramento, precleared documents only. | California Secretary of State, Domestic LLC forms and Service Options |
| Colorado | Online filings are processed in real time: the document is filed immediately after payment confirmation. Articles of Organization are online only in Colorado. | Not applicable to this filing; online filing is already real time. | Colorado Secretary of State, Business FAQs |
| Connecticut | Not published by the state for a Certificate of Organization. | The state offers a $50 expedited service at checkout where available, but publishes no expedited time for formations, so no time is printed here. | Connecticut Business.CT.gov, Expedited Services knowledge base |
| Delaware | No standard range is published. The Division states that regular processing time varies with volume and tells filers to ask which date is currently being processed. | Same Day $100 and 24-Hour $50 for a domestic LLC formation, per the Division fee schedule revised August 1, 2026; 2-Hour $500 and 1-Hour $1,000 services are also published. | Delaware Division of Corporations, expedited services and fee schedule |
| Florida | The Division posts the dates it is currently processing rather than a range. In its November 6, 2026 update, mail filings received November 2 and online filings received November 3 were being processed, a lag of roughly 4 business days by mail and 3 online (our conversion from the posted dates). | None published on that page. | Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz), Document Processing Dates |
| Georgia | Online filings are normally processed within 7 to 10 business days. Paper filings by mail or hand delivery run 15 to 21 business days. | Two Business Days service $120; Same Day service $275 for filings received by noon; One Hour service $1,200, per the reference in effect since September 6, 2025. | Georgia Secretary of State, First Stop Business Guide and filing fee reference |
| Hawaii | Not published by the state. The Domestic LLC page publishes fees but no processing time in business days. | An expedited fee of $25 is published for Form LLC-1, but no faster time is published with it, so no time is printed here. | Hawaii Business Registration Division, Domestic LLC page |
| Idaho | The Secretary of State posts a processed-through date instead of a range: on November 6, 2026, business filings through November 4 were processed, about 2 business days of lag (our conversion from the posted date). | Expedited service, typically processed within 8 business hours, for $40; same-day service for $100, requests received by 1 p.m. Mountain Time. | Idaho Secretary of State, SOSBiz Processed Through Date and Business FAQ |
| Illinois | Online Articles of Organization are reviewed within 10 business days at the standard service level. | 24-hour review for an additional $100 ($250 total with the $150 filing fee). | Illinois Secretary of State, LLC Articles and formation instructions |
| Indiana | Not published by the state. No processing time or current processing date for Articles of Organization appears on the Secretary of State or INBiz pages. | None published with a fee and a time for this filing. | Indiana Secretary of State, Business Services (searched November 8, 2026) |
| Iowa | Not published by the state as a fixed time. The Fast Track Filing help pages describe fast online filing and email notice when the filing is complete, but print no business-day figure for a Certificate of Organization. | None published with a fee and a time for this filing. | Iowa Secretary of State, Fast Track Filing resource center |
| Kansas | Online filings are processed within minutes, per the official Articles of Organization (Form DL) instructions, revised February 27, 2026. No time is stated for paper filings. | None published; online filing is the fast method the state describes. | Kansas Secretary of State, Form DL instructions |
| Kentucky | Documents are usually processed the same day they are received, and it may take up to three business days, per the Secretary of State's business filings FAQ (annual reports excepted). | None published on that page. | Kentucky Secretary of State, Business Filings FAQs |
| Louisiana | No standard time is published on the Articles of Organization form; the transmittal form lists a Routine option with no time and no added fee. | Expedite $35 for 24-hour processing; Priority Expedite $60 for 2 to 4 hour processing, per the transmittal form (SS984, revised October 2026). | Louisiana Secretary of State, Form 365 transmittal information |
| Maine | 40 to 55 business days. Maine formation is a paper filing by mail; there is no online formation filing. This is the longest published standard time in the country. | 24-hour expedited filing (next business day) for $50 per entity; immediate (same business day) expedited filing for $100 per entity, per the Customer Contact Cover Letter. The state warns expedited requests may themselves be delayed by volume. | Maine Secretary of State, Limited Liability Company Forms |
| Maryland | Split by method. Online filings without an expedited fee are reviewed during the second calendar month after submission; expedited online filings get an initial review in 7 to 14 business days. Hard copy filings are reviewed within 7 to 10 business days expedited, and within eight weeks non-expedited, per the Maryland Business Express processing times page. | Rush service online for a $325 fee: filings submitted before 2:30 p.m. on a business day are reviewed within three hours. Paper Rush filings carry a $425 fee for two-hour service. | Maryland Business Express (SDAT), Processing Times |
| Massachusetts | No standard time for online or mail filing of a Certificate of Organization is published. One method carries a published time: fax filings are generally processed the same business day, and in no event later than the following business day. | No separate expedited fee and time are published for LLC formation; fax filing is the published fast method. | Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, File by Fax |
| Michigan | Not published by the state for standard service. | Expedited service is published for formation documents: 24-hour review for $50 and same-day review for $100, on top of the filing fee, per the LARA fee schedule and Form 272. | Michigan LARA Corporations Division, filing fees schedule |
| Minnesota | Not published by the state. The Articles of Organization form publishes fees only. | The state labels online and in-person filings as expedited service in the fee itself ($155 against $135 by mail) but publishes no faster time, so no time is printed here. | Minnesota Secretary of State, LLC Articles of Organization form |
| Mississippi | Some online filings paid online are approved and filed immediately; filings that need staff review are returned filed, or with an explanation, within 24 hours of submission. Paper filings take significantly longer, with no figure published. | None published as a separate paid tier. | Mississippi Secretary of State, Business FAQs |
| Missouri | No fixed range is published. The Corporations Division states that many online filings are processed immediately after submission, and that documents filed in person in proper form may almost always be processed while you wait. Mail filings are processed in the order received, with no timeframe given. | None published with a fee and a time for this filing. | Missouri Secretary of State, Corporations Division |
| Montana | The Business Services Division states in its general form instructions that it will process business documents within 10 working days of receipt. The instructions document is dated February 2017, so read the figure as the state's standing published statement, not a live queue number. | 24-hour priority handling for an additional $20 and 1-hour expedited handling for an additional $100, confirmed on the current fees page (updated September 16, 2025). | Montana Secretary of State, general form instructions and business fees page |
| Nebraska | Filings are reviewed and acted on within 1 to 2 business days of submission, per the official eDelivery FAQ. A current notice on the Secretary of State's eDocs portal warns that high volume has review running at approximately a week, so the live queue is slower than the FAQ figure. | Filers may contact the Business Services Division to request expedited processing; no expedite fee or guaranteed faster time is published. | Nebraska.gov eDelivery FAQ and Secretary of State eDocs portal |
| Nevada | Not printed. The Secretary of State publishes processing information on its forms and fees pages, but that page could not be loaded from our network on the check date, and this table prints no secondhand figures. | Not printed, for the same reason. | Nevada Secretary of State, All Business Forms (not loaded on the check date) |
| New Hampshire | No processing range is published on the formation form. The Form LLC-1 instructions state that an accepted filer receives a file-stamped copy within 30 days, a paper-era figure covering the return of the filed copy; the state posts current turnaround estimates in its NH QuickStart portal instead of a fixed range. | None published with a fee and a time for this filing. | New Hampshire Secretary of State, Form LLC-1 instructions |
| New Jersey | Not published by the state for standard service. | Expedited service $25 per filing, providing processing within 8.5 business hours for requests received in person, by fax, or by courier; Same Day service $50 (fax filings only); 2-hour service $500 and 1-hour service $1,000 per document, per the state fee schedule. | New Jersey Department of the Treasury, Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services fee schedule |
| New Mexico | Not published by the state as a fixed time. The Secretary of State's filing portal posts a running processed-through date showing how far the queue has advanced, instead of a promised turnaround. | None published with a fee and a time for this filing. | New Mexico Secretary of State, Enterprise filing portal |
| New York | Online filers receive the filing acknowledgement, with the filing receipt attached, by email within minutes of filing, per the Department of State's Articles of Organization page. No standard mail turnaround is published on that page. The county publication step that follows formation runs on the newspapers' schedule, not the state's, and is not a state processing time. | Expedited Handling: $25 per document for processing within 24 hours, $75 for the same day, and $150 for processing within 2 hours. | New York Department of State, Articles of Organization (Domestic LLC) |
| North Carolina | Entity creation filings, including LLC Articles of Organization, run 5 to 10 business days, per the Secretary of State's Business Registration page, which notes online filing is always faster. | None confirmed on an official page on the check date. | North Carolina Secretary of State, Business Registration |
| North Dakota | Not published by the state. The Secretary of State's current business pages publish no standard turnaround for LLC filings and offer no paid expedite. | None published. | North Dakota Secretary of State, Limited Liability Company page (checked November 8, 2026) |
| Ohio | Regular service: 3 to 7 business days, printed on Form 610 itself (last revised September 2025). | Expedite Service 1, $100, processed within 2 business days after receipt; Expedite Service 2, $200, within 1 business day; Expedite Service 3, $300, in-person delivery, processed within 4 hours if received by 1:00 p.m., otherwise by noon the following business day. | Ohio Secretary of State, Form 610, Articles of Organization |
| Oklahoma | Not published by the state. Filings are processed in the order received, and no standard turnaround appears on the Secretary of State's site. | Same-day handling for in-person filings is described in the Secretary of State's procedures document (Form 0074) at an additional $25 per document. That document is an older version and the current fee could not be confirmed on the Secretary of State's site, so read the time as published and the fee as dated. | Oklahoma Secretary of State, Form 0074, Procedures for Organizing an LLC |
| Oregon | Online business registrations are processed the same or the next business day, per the Secretary of State's Delivery Options page; in-person counter filings received by 4:00 p.m. get same-day processing, and overnight courier filings are processed within 2 to 3 business days. The Register a Business page also posts live queue figures; on November 6, 2026 the online estimate read 1 to 3 business days. | No paid expedite tier; the courier priority handling above is a delivery method, not a fee service. | Oregon Secretary of State, Delivery Options and Register a Business |
| Pennsylvania | The typical processing time for a filing submitted to the Department of State is 3 to 5 business days, per the PA Business One-Stop Shop Help Center. A Department of State registration guide gives 1 to 3 business days; we print the Help Center figure as the state's stated typical time. | None published with a fee and a time for this filing. | Pennsylvania Business One-Stop Shop Help Center (hub.business.pa.gov) |
| Rhode Island | Filings are processed within two business days of receipt, per the Secretary of State's Filing Confirmations page. A separate Register Business page gives a range of one to three business days. | None published. | Rhode Island Secretary of State, Filing Confirmations |
| South Carolina | Not published by the state as a current figure. The Secretary of State's current FAQ publishes no turnaround, and the only official number found is dated: a May 8, 2018 press release stating the online filing system reduced turnaround to 24 hours or less. | None published. | South Carolina Secretary of State, press release (May 8, 2018) and current FAQ |
| South Dakota | Online filings are processed immediately. Paper filings are processed within 1 to 3 business days on average, per the Secretary of State's corporations FAQ. | None published beyond immediate online processing. | South Dakota Secretary of State, Corporations FAQ |
| Tennessee | Not published by the state as a fixed range. The state's filing portal (TNCaB) displays the date through which filings have been processed, the state's queue indicator rather than a promised turnaround. | None published with a fee and a time for this filing. | Tennessee Secretary of State, TNCaB filing portal |
| Texas | No regular standard turnaround is published. The Secretary of State's Texas Express page publishes expedited tiers only. | Standard Expedited, $50 per document, processed before regular submissions, typically within 2 to 3 business days; Next-Day Service, $500, for filings received by noon; Same-Day Service, $750, for filings received by noon, each on top of the filing fee. | Texas Secretary of State, Texas Express |
| Utah | Standard processing for complete and correct documents is generally 5 to 7 business days, per the Division of Corporations' form instructions. | Expedited processing of 1 to 2 business days upon receipt is published in the same instructions; those instructions do not state the expedite fee. | Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code, form instructions |
| Vermont | Online filing normally takes less than 1 business day. Filings received by mail: allow 7 to 10 business days, per the Secretary of State's LLC page. | None published. | Vermont Secretary of State, Domestic Formation, LLC |
| Virginia | Online filings are approved quicker, in some cases the same day, per the State Corporation Commission. One published catch: an online filing with an attached Articles of Organization carries an expected delay of five business days while the Commission reviews the attachment. No fixed paper turnaround is published. | None published. | Virginia State Corporation Commission, Start a Business and LLC FAQs |
| Washington | Not published by the state on the pages reviewed, including its Processing Guidelines page. | Expedited priority for an additional $100 at checkout, generally processed within three working days, per the online filing instructions for a domestic LLC Certificate of Formation; the paper form confirms the same $100 expedite addition. | Washington Secretary of State, online filing instructions, domestic LLC |
| West Virginia | Standard processing is 5 to 10 business days, per the Secretary of State's Filing Submission Instructions (revised July 2026). | In-person Same Day service $25 and Next Business Day (24-hour) service $25, each in addition to the filing fee; 2-Hour service $250; 1-Hour service $500. | West Virginia Secretary of State, Filing Submission Instructions |
| Wisconsin | Not published by the state. The Department of Financial Institutions (Wisconsin filings run through DFI, not a Secretary of State) publishes no standard turnaround for regular filings. | Expedited service for an additional $100 per transaction, acted on by the close of business the following business day, per the DFI FAQ and the online Articles directions. | Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, Business Entities FAQ |
| Wyoming | Paper filings are processed in order received, taking no longer than 15 business days, per the Articles instructions (revised May 2022) and the Secretary of State's formation guide (revised June 2026). Online filings are active as soon as the online filing process is completed. | None. The instructions state Wyoming statutes do not allow for expedited filing at this time. | Wyoming Secretary of State, LLC Articles of Organization instructions |
The fastest and the slowest
Fastest: states whose online filing is effectively immediate. Alaska, Mississippi, and South Dakota approve qualifying online filings immediately or within 24 hours, Colorado processes online filings in real time, Kansas processes online filings within minutes, Wyoming online filings are active as soon as the process is completed, Vermont's online filing normally takes less than one business day, and Oregon processes online registrations the same or the next business day. In these states the honest answer to "how long does it take" is: about as long as the form takes to fill out.
Slowest: Maine, by a wide margin, at 40 to 55 business days for its paper-only filing. Maryland's non-expedited online filings are reviewed during the second calendar month after submission, and its non-expedited hard copy filings run up to eight weeks. Georgia paper filings run 15 to 21 business days, Wyoming paper filings up to 15 business days, and Alaska paper filings stretch past 15 business days in the winter season. The pattern is plain: where a state offers online filing, it is faster, and where formation is still a mailed paper form, patience is part of the filing fee.
The seasonal trap: several states slow down in January, when annual filings flood in, and posted processing dates move backward. If your formation is time-sensitive, a state with a published expedited tier and a published time is the only version of "rush" that means anything.
Common questions
A formation service promises my LLC in 24 hours. Is that real?
Only the service's own part is. A service controls how fast it prepares and submits your paperwork; the state's review clock is the state's. Where a state offers no 24-hour tier, or is running a posted backlog, no service can file you past the queue. Judge rush promises against the state-published times in the table above.
Does expedited filing change anything besides speed?
No. The state issues the same LLC, with the same formation date rules, whether you pay for speed or not. Expedited fees buy review speed only. Where the state publishes a fast online channel (Colorado real time, Kansas within minutes), the expedited tier may buy nothing at all.
Why do some states publish nothing?
Processing volume swings with the season, and some filing offices decline to commit to a number they cannot hold. Others publish the fee schedule and nothing else. Where a state is silent, the honest answer is that nobody outside that office knows, and any specific number a website gives you for those states is an estimate, theirs or ours, which is why this table leaves the cell honest.
What should I do while I wait?
The steps that do not need state approval: draft your operating agreement, line up your registered agent if you are changing one, and prepare the EIN application so it can go in the day approval lands. Our formation guide puts the eight steps in order and marks which ones wait on the state.
General Information Only
LLCForming publishes general information about forming and running an LLC. It is not legal, tax, or accounting advice, and it does not create an attorney or advisor relationship. Rules vary by state and by your situation. For a decision that matters, talk to a licensed attorney or tax professional in your state.