This article describes Minnesota law and filing practice in general terms. It is not legal advice about your business, and reading it does not create a lawyer-client relationship.
The Secretary of State accepts business filings three ways, and the office describes each lane differently in a way worth reading closely.
By mail — processed “on a non-expedited, first-come, first-served basis.” Completed filings are returned to the address on the check unless you provide other instructions or include a return envelope. You can enclose a prepaid FedEx, USPS Priority, or UPS label to speed the return trip; it is not required.
Online — eligible filings are expedited, “typically processed within 2–5 business days,” and the completed documents come back by email.
In person, by appointment at the customer counter — expedited and processed while you wait. Customers “will leave with their filed documents in hand.”
For most filings, online and in person cost the same, and both run $20 above mail. Articles of Organization for an LLC: $135 by mail, $155 either other way. Same spread on a corporation’s Articles of Incorporation, on an amendment ($35 / $55), and on a change of registered office or agent ($35 / $55).
Where the lanes are not interchangeable
The schedule is dotted with “Not Available Online,” and the pattern is not random. Filings that restructure an entity or that the office needs to examine tend to be mail-or-counter only:
- Conversions and domestications — mail or in person, never online.
- Mergers — mail only, for most entity types.
- Resignation of a registered agent — mail only.
- LLC statements of authority, amendment, cancellation, and denial — mail only.
- Articles of correction — mail only.
- Pre-clearance filing ($250) — mail only.
There is also a rule that catches dormant entities: an entity inactive for more than six years cannot be reinstated online at all, regardless of what you are willing to pay.
When the premium is worth paying
The $20 buys expediting, but the more useful thing it buys is a document you can forward. Online filings come back by email, which means you have proof of existence the same week — the thing a bank wants before opening a business account, a landlord wants before signing a lease, and an insurer wants before binding coverage.
If nobody is waiting on you, mail it and keep the $20. If anything downstream is blocked on proof the entity exists, the premium is the cheapest part of that week.
The full schedule by entity type is on the costs page.
Sources
Every source below was retrieved and checked against this page on August 7, 2026.
- Business Filing and Certification Fee Schedule — Minnesota Secretary of State