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Alabama Foreign Registration Order now

Foreign LLC and corporation registration

Register your out-of-state company in Alabama

We reserve the name, prepare the application and submit it to the Secretary of State in Montgomery.

Start my Alabama registrationWhat you get back

Alabama

What you get back

  • Filed applicationThe stamped copy from the Secretary of State, returned in the envelope we include.
  • Name reservation certificateThe reservation we requested for the filing, kept with your records.
  • Registered agent detailsThe Alabama agent and office now on record, ours or yours.
  • Tax return dateWhen the Department of Revenue first expects a business privilege tax return.
  • Filed with the Alabama Secretary of State
  • Name reservation handled first
  • Alabama registered agent available

An LLC or corporation formed outside Alabama registers by filing an application with the Secretary of State for $150, once it has reserved its name at $25 and can attach the reservation certificate. Our charge, $199, covers the work on both steps, and the state fee passes through at cost.

Alabama is a name-first state: the code ties the application to a reservation certificate that travels with it (Ala. Code 10A-1-7.01(e)). The order of work therefore runs reservation, application, registered agent, and finally the tax paperwork that stands in for an annual report.

Included in every order

  1. Name reserved before filing

    Alabama wants the reservation certificate attached to the application, so we request it first, spelled the way your home state spells it.

  2. The right Alabama form

    The Foreign LLC Application for Registration for an LLC or the Foreign Corporation Application for Registration for a corporation, typed and signed as the state requires.

  3. Sent to Montgomery

    Two original copies and payment go to the Business Entities Division, with a return envelope so the filed copy comes back.

  4. Alabama registered agent

    Use ours, with a physical Alabama office, or tell us who already serves for you.

  5. Tax return date flagged

    We tell you when the first Department of Revenue business privilege tax return is due after you register.

  6. A person answers email

    Write with a question and the person assembling your Alabama paperwork writes back.

From order to registered

  1. Tell us about the company

    The exact legal name from your home-state records, the state of formation, the formation date, the principal office, the person who signs, and the date you began or will begin doing business in Alabama.

  2. We reserve the name

    The reservation request goes to the Secretary of State with $25. If somebody holds your name in Alabama, we reserve a substitute name for Alabama use and draft the resolution that adopts it.

  3. We complete the application

    The Foreign LLC Application for Registration or Foreign Corporation Application for Registration is typed, the Alabama agent and office go in items 9 and 10, and an authorized signer signs it.

  4. We file in Montgomery

    Two original copies, the reservation certificate, the $150 fee and a self-addressed stamped envelope go to the Business Entities Division. You can also pay by card.

  5. You receive the filed copy

    We pass on the stamped application and calendar the first business privilege tax return, which follows the registration by about two and a half months after the entity registers with the Secretary of State.

The Alabama filing in one table

What it is called
An application for registration, which is the term Alabama uses on its forms
LLC form
Foreign Limited Liability Company (LLC) Application for Registration
Corporation form
Foreign Corporation (Business or Non-Profit) Application for Registration
Agency
Alabama Secretary of State, Business Entities Division
State fee
$150 for an LLC, corporation, nonprofit, limited partnership or LLP
Name reservation
$25 by mail, required before filing
Copies
2 originals, typed, plus a return envelope
Home-state certificate
Not requested; the person signing vouches that the entity is in good order at home
Every year after
Business privilege tax return to the Department of Revenue; no annual report fee for LLCs
Late registration
$150 for each year of delinquency once business has run past 90 days

What each entity type pays Alabama

Entity typeAlabama formState fee
Limited liability companyForeign LLC Application for Registration$150
Business corporationForeign Corporation Application for Registration$150
Nonprofit corporationForeign Corporation Application for Registration$150
Limited partnershipForeign Limited Partnership (LP) Statement of Authority$150
Registered limited liability partnershipStatement of Authority for Foreign Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)$150

Expedites, reservation costs and worked totals are on the Alabama cost page.

Why the name decides the rest

The name is where an Alabama registration starts. The application must show the company name the way its home state spells it, and the attached reservation certificate has to agree letter for letter. If Alabama already holds that name for another entity, a foreign LLC may use a version that carries limited liability company, L.L.C. or LLC, or take a different name for Alabama only, backed by a resolution of its governing authority (Ala. Code 10A-1-7.07(5)).

Item 2 of the LLC form allows the substitute only when the legal name is unavailable in Alabama or lacks the words Limited Liability Company, L.L.C. or LLC. Since a reservation can name the substitute, all of this is settled before anyone types the application, which is why we order the reservation first. The LLC application page goes through the items one at a time.

Do you have to register?

Alabama expects registration from a foreign entity that is active in the state and either would have filed a certificate of formation had it been born here or gives any owner a liability shield at home (Ala. Code 10A-1-7.01(c)). The code reads doing business widely, to include any activity, profit-making or not (Ala. Code 10A-1-7.01(b)). Regular activity in Alabama should be treated as covered. The page on who must register lists the statutory exceptions and common situations.

What happens if you do not register

Until it registers, an out-of-state entity doing business in Alabama has no standing to bring its own claim in the state's courts, although its contracts hold and it may defend itself (Ala. Code 10A-1-7.21(a)). The Secretary of State may also bill a late fee that repeats the registration fee for every delinquent year, once the entity has been in business here past 90 days (Ala. Code 10A-1-7.23). Today that is $150 a year. The late filing fee page shows how it adds up.

The yearly paperwork after registering

An LLC pays no annual report fee in Montgomery. What recurs is a return to the Department of Revenue for the business privilege tax, which the Department says is owed in each registered year until the entity withdraws, active or not. More recent tax years carry an exemption: an entity whose calculated tax is $100 or less owes nothing and need not file. The yearly tax page covers the forms, the dates and the exemption.

Agents, self-filing and withdrawal

The registered agent page explains who may serve and why a virtual office alone falls short. If you plan to file directly, the self-filing walkthrough is written for you. A company formed in Delaware or Wyoming has its own pages: Delaware LLC in Alabama and Wyoming LLC in Alabama. When the company stops doing business here, the certificate of withdrawal page covers the $100 filing and the Department of Revenue compliance certificate it needs.

Limited partnerships, LLPs and professional entities

Alabama uses a separate form for each of these. A foreign limited partnership files the Foreign Limited Partnership (LP) Statement of Authority, which names every general partner. A foreign LLP files the Statement of Authority for Foreign Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), which one or more partners sign and which can carry a delayed effective date. Professional LLCs and professional corporations file their own versions, backed by an Alabama licence and details of each licensed person. Each of these is filed at $150. We take them by email, so write to us before ordering.

What we ask you for

The order form collects the same facts the application will carry, so nothing is asked twice. Expect to supply:

  • The company name exactly as your home state spells it, with the ending.
  • Where and when the company was formed, and where it operates from today.
  • Whether you want a different name for Alabama, in case somebody else holds yours.
  • The name and street address of your Alabama agent, or a request that we arrange one.
  • The day your Alabama business started or will start.
  • The name and title of the person who signs.

We do not need a home-state certificate.

Registered agent: first year included, then $149 a year

$199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.

Start my Alabama registration

Our charge and the state fee, itemized

Register in Alabama

+ $150 state fee

  • The Alabama name reservation, requested first so its certificate can travel with the filing
  • The Foreign LLC Application for Registration or the Foreign Corporation Application for Registration, completed and signed for you
  • An Alabama registered agent and office: ours, or the one you keep
  • Submission to the Secretary of State and the filed registration sent back to you
  • Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year

$199

Alabama

Start my Alabama registration

Checkout lists our charge and the Alabama fee on separate lines before you pay. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.

Alabama registration questions

What does Alabama charge to register a foreign LLC?

The state fee is $150, plus $25 for the name reservation certificate that goes with it. We add $199, and the state fees reach you unchanged.

Does Alabama want a certificate of good standing from my home state?

Not on the LLC or corporation application. The signer instead vouches for the entity's valid existence at home. Other states ask for a certificate, so do not assume the rule carries over from one state to another.

Do I have to reserve the name first?

Yes. The certificate has to be attached to the application (Ala. Code 10A-1-7.01(e)), as the state's LLC page also says.

Can I file online?

The Secretary of State lists an online filing route for foreign LLCs and corporations at the same $150. On paper you send two typed originals, and email is not a valid way to file.

How long does Alabama take?

We send your filing as soon as the documents are complete and pass on whatever the state returns.

Is there an annual report?

Not for LLCs at the Secretary of State. Corporations have a $10 annual report fee collected through the Department of Revenue. Every registered entity deals with the business privilege tax return, subject to the $100 exemption.

Who can be my registered agent?

A person living in Alabama, or a business already registered here, with a staffed street address in the state. A virtual office or mail forwarder on its own does not qualify.

What if my name is already used in Alabama?

A foreign LLC can reserve and register a different name for Alabama use. The company's managers or members adopt it by resolution, and the application certifies that resolution.

What does withdrawal cost?

Withdrawing costs $100 and needs the Department of Revenue's original clearance document.

Can I register for a limited partnership or an LLP?

Yes. Both are $150 on their own Alabama forms. Email us and we prepare them by hand.

Where these facts come from

  1. Alabama Secretary of State, LLC filings
  2. Alabama Secretary of State fee schedule
  3. Alabama Secretary of State, Foreign LLC Application for Registration (form PDF)
  4. Alabama Secretary of State, Foreign Corporation (business or nonprofit) Application for Registration (form PDF)
  5. Alabama Secretary of State, foreign corporations
  6. Name reservation request form for foreign entities
  7. Code of Alabama, section 10A-1-7.01
  8. Code of Alabama, section 10A-1-7.23
  9. Alabama Department of Revenue, the initial business privilege tax return
  10. Alabama Secretary of State, Foreign LP Statement of Authority (form PDF)
  11. Alabama Secretary of State, Statement of Authority for Foreign LLP (form PDF)
  12. Code of Alabama 10A-1-7.07 (entity name)
  13. Code of Alabama, section 10A-1-7.21
  14. Alabama Department of Revenue, who files the business privilege tax return
  15. Alabama Secretary of State, Foreign LLC Certificate of Withdrawal (form PDF)
  16. Alabama Department of Revenue, business privilege tax

Doing business in Alabama from another state?

Order online and we reserve the name, prepare the application and file it in Montgomery.

Start my Alabama registration