Alabama Foreign Registration / LLC application
The Alabama Foreign LLC Application for Registration
The Foreign Limited Liability Company (LLC) Application for Registration is the form that lets an LLC formed in another state do business in Alabama, and it carries a $150 fee. It is filed under section 10A-1-7.04 with the Business Entities Division, and a name reservation certificate rides along. We can prepare it for $199 on top of the state fee, or you can use this page to file it on your own.
The application in brief
- Filed by
- An LLC formed outside Alabama, before it transacts business in the state
- State fee
- $150
- Copies
- 2 typed originals, with a self-addressed stamped envelope
- Attach
- The name reservation certificate from the Alabama Secretary of State
- Home-state certificate
- Not requested; the signer certifies the LLC exists under home-state law
- Mail to
- P.O. Box 5616, Montgomery, Alabama 36103
- Online
- The Secretary of State lists an online filing at the same fee
- Not accepted; the form says it must be typed
The twelve items, one at a time
| Item | Entry | Common slip |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Legal name | The LLC's name as the home state records it | Leaving off the ending, or spelling it differently from the reservation |
| 2. Name for Alabama use | Only if the legal name cannot be used here | Filling it in when the legal name is available |
| 3. Fictitious name certification | The signer certifies the governing authority adopted the name | No resolution behind the certification |
| 4. Name reservation | A copy of the certificate from the Secretary of State | Attaching nothing, or a certificate for a different name |
| 5. Principal office | A street location, never a PO box; add a mailing address only if it differs | Listing a mailbox store |
| 6. Jurisdiction | The state or country whose law formed the LLC | Naming the state of the principal office instead |
| 7. Date of formation | Month, day and year in the home jurisdiction | An approximate or missing date |
| 8. Valid existence | The signer vouches that the LLC is validly existing under home-state law | Signing for a company whose home status has slipped |
| 9. Registered agent | The agent's name, located physically in Alabama | An agent without an Alabama street office |
| 10. Registered office | Street address of the agent's Alabama office, and an Alabama mailing address if different | A PO box or a mailbox service |
| 11. LLC type | Check nonprofit LLC, series LLC or nonprofit series LLC if one applies | Skipping the box for a series LLC |
| 12. Business start | The day the LLC started, or will start, business in Alabama | Leaving it blank; the form requires a date |
At the foot come the date, the signer's typed name and title, and the signature itself, from someone with authority to sign under Alabama's general signing section. A separate sheet carries a voluntary business-ownership survey that Act 2021-223 has the office collect; the form says to tick a box or disregard it. The last page is a card payment slip.
Items 1 to 4: the name, and why it comes first
Items 1 to 4 deal with nothing but the name. Item 1 is the legal name from home-state records. Item 2 is an Alabama-only name, which the form permits solely when the legal name is unavailable in Alabama or lacks the words Limited Liability Company, L.L.C. or LLC. The statute on reserving names is Ala. Code 10A-1-5.11, and the endings rule is Ala. Code 10A-1-7.07(5). Item 3 asks the signer to certify the resolution of the LLC's governing authority adopting any fictitious name, with an affirmation of authority under 10A-1-7.07.
Item 4 needs the reservation certificate itself. Because the statute requires it (Ala. Code 10A-1-7.01(e)), the filing is only as good as the reservation. That is the reason we order it first. A reservation costs $25 on paper and is requested on a form that is mailed or couriered, not emailed.
Items 5 to 8: where the company is and that it exists
Item 5 asks where the company actually operates from, as a street address and not a PO box, with a separate mailing address if mail goes elsewhere. Items 6 and 7 name the home jurisdiction and the formation date. Item 8 stands in for the home-state certificate other states ask for: the signer vouches that the LLC is validly existing under home-state law. Because that promise is personal, look up your home-state record before signing, and fix any lapse first.
Items 9 and 10: who accepts legal papers
Item 9 names the registered agent for service of process, who the form says must be physically located in Alabama. Item 10 gives the agent's Alabama street address, again with no PO box, and an Alabama mailing address if mail is handled elsewhere. The statute also wants the agent's own business office at that address, and the address must be somewhere a process server can hand papers over (Ala. Code 10A-1-5.31(c)). The registered agent page covers who qualifies.
Items 11 and 12: LLC type and the start date
Item 11 is a short check box. A nonprofit LLC, a series LLC or a nonprofit series LLC marks the matching line. Item 12 wants the day Alabama business started or will start, and the form says a date must be provided. The date does double duty: if business began long before the registration, the Secretary of State can bill the late fee for each year of delinquency (Ala. Code 10A-1-7.23). Give the true date.
Paying and mailing the application
The Alabama fee is $150. Mail the two originals to P.O. Box 5616, Montgomery, Alabama 36103, or deliver them to 770 Washington Avenue, Suite 580, Montgomery, Alabama 36104. Payment is by check, money order or card. Make the check payable to the Alabama Secretary of State, one check per filing. If a card fails to authorize, the entity is not registered, and if a check is dishonored the filing leaves the index and a $30 fee applies. The paper slip says card payments carry a charge of 3 percent of the total plus $2. A request to hold the filed copy for pickup is possible, but enclosing a stamped envelope is the way to get a receipt.
Why applications get returned
- The form was handwritten rather than typed, or emailed instead of mailed.
- The name on the form differs from the name on the reservation certificate.
- No reservation certificate was attached.
- The agent's address is a PO box, a mailbox store or a virtual office.
- Only one original was sent when two are required.
- The business start date in item 12 was left out.
- One check was written to cover several filings.
If a filing comes back, correct the point and send it again; the reservation certificate stays valid as long as it has not lapsed.
After the application is filed
The Secretary of State's acknowledgment is conclusive evidence that the LLC may transact business in Alabama under the name it filed (Ala. Code 10A-1-7.05(b)). The registration lasts until it ends, is withdrawn or is revoked. Then the obligations begin: the Department of Revenue's initial privilege tax return, due two and a half months after the entity registers with the Secretary of State, an amendment if a stated fact changes, and an agent update if the agent moves. See the yearly tax page and the registration guide.
Filing the Alabama LLC application
Reserve the name
Use the foreign entity name reservation form, $25.
Type the form
Complete all twelve items. Do not handwrite it.
Sign it
A person authorized to sign adds a typed name and title, a date and a signature.
Assemble the package
Two originals, the reservation certificate, a check or card slip for $150, and a stamped return envelope.
Send it
By mail or courier to Montgomery, or file online.
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.
LLC application questions
Does Alabama number this form?
No. The Alabama forms carry titles rather than numbers, so the Foreign LLC Application for Registration is the name to look for.
Do I send one copy or two?
Two. Typed, in 2 copies.
Do I need a certificate of good standing?
Not with this form. The signer attests that the LLC is in valid existence at home.
Who signs?
Any individual with authority to sign for the LLC, whose typed name and title appear under the signature.
What is the survey page?
It is a voluntary questionnaire about small, minority-owned and woman-owned business status required by a 2021 law. The form says to check the boxes that apply or tick the box for preferring not to respond.
Is a series LLC eligible?
Yes. Item 11 has a box for series LLCs and nonprofit series LLCs.
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 registrationCheckout 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.
Where these facts come from
- Alabama Secretary of State, LLC filings
- Alabama Secretary of State fee schedule
- Alabama Secretary of State, Foreign LLC Application for Registration (form PDF)
- Alabama Secretary of State, Foreign Corporation (business or nonprofit) Application for Registration (form PDF)
- Alabama Secretary of State, foreign corporations
- Code of Alabama 10A-1-5.11 (application for reservation of name)
- Code of Alabama 10A-1-7.07 (entity name)
- Code of Alabama, section 10A-1-7.01
- Name reservation request form for foreign entities
- Code of Alabama 10A-1-5.31 (registered agent and registered office)
- Code of Alabama, section 10A-1-7.23
- Code of Alabama 10A-1-7.05 (effect of registration)
- Alabama Department of Revenue, the initial business privilege tax return
Doing business in Alabama from another state?
Order online and we reserve the name, prepare the application and file it in Montgomery.