California Foreign Corporation Registration
Foreign Corporation in CA
If you are a corporation located in another state and want to conduct business in California, you will need a Certificate of Authority from the state of California. You can get one by submitting paperwork as a foreign corporation with the California Secretary of State, Corporations Division. Once filed, the state of California will return a completed certificate of authority to you. A foreign California corporation is not to be confused with an out-of-country corporation. Any corporation not actually formed (created) in the state of California is considered to be a foreign corporation.
We charge for the state filing fees plus $100 to prepare and file the foreign California corporation Certificate of Authority form with the California Secretary of State, Corporations Division. We also will find the paperwork needed from your home state of incorporation to submit your paperwork.
If you want to submit the paperwork yourself: you just need to sign up for our registered agent service in California and the foreign corporation form is in your online account immediately. As an added bonus, we’ve included some filing tips on how to submit your paperwork with the state. You are required to have an California registered agent anyway, so we try to make the process simple and easy for you, whether you want us to submit your papers or you want to do the filing yourself.
How do I sign up?
Simply sign up for registered agent service first. Next, you can look at the foreign corporation form in your account online and also at the included filing tips. If you don’t want to do the filing yourself, you can click the “Add services” tab in your account, and add our filing services for the state filing fees plus $100. At all times, you can check the real time status of our work in progress. Once we are finished with your foreign corporation registration in California, we always store the filing to your online account, email you a copy, and mail you the original filed documents.