The State of California requires that before transacting any interstate business within the state, a business entity must first qualify or register with the California Secretary of State (for purposes of this article, the term foreign means either out-of-country or out-of-state). Luckily for foreign businesses, it is quite easy to register to do business within California. The forms that a business must file to register in California differ depending on the type of business that is registering:
- Corporations should file a Statement and Designation by Foreign Corporation. These are different forms depending on whether it is a foreign general stock or nonprofit corporation, a foreign professional law or accountancy corporation or foreign insurer corporations. The Statement and Designation should also have attached to it a valid certificate of good standing by an authorized public official from the state where the corporation is incorporated.
- Limited Liability Companies should file an Application to Register and like corporations, it should also have attached to it a valid certificate of good standing by an authorized public official from the state where the LLC is organized.
- Limited Partnerships should file an Application to Register and like corporations and LLC’s, it should have attached to it a valid certificate of good standing by an authorized public official from the state where the limited partnership is organized.
- Limited Liability Partnerships should file an Application to Register and should also have attached a valid certificate of good standing by an authorized public official from the state where the LLP is organized.
The filing fees for registering a foreign business entity depend on the type of entity being registered. It is best to consult the California Secretary of State website for the most up to date filing fees.
If you have any questions about registering a foreign business entity within the State of California, please feel free to contact our office. At the VC Law Group, we offer flat fees for many of our corporate services, including registering out-of-state entities. For more information, please contact the VC Law Group via phone at (858) 519-7333 or email at info@thevclawgroup.com.