Apply In Person:

1. To Request an Article of Incorporation, the applicant has to approach the U.S. DEPARTMENT of STATE Secretary's office — BUREAU of CONSULAR AFFAIRS link
2. An application form will be provided to the applicant by the concerned officer.
3. The applicant has to fill in all the necessary details in the application form. (Incomplete applications are not accepted)
4. Make sure that the applicant has attached all the necessary documents that are mentioned in the “Required Documents” section of this page.
5. The applicant has to attach the photocopies of the required documents along with the application form while submitting.
6. Submit all the documents with the completed form to the concerned officer.
7. The fee for this procedure has to be paid as per the authority’s request.
8. After receiving the application, the concerned authority will check the submitted application and document set. If all are in place, the application will be accepted.
9. Then the application will be processed further. All the updates on the application status will be sent via SMS to the applicant’s mobile number.
10. Once the process gets completed, the applicant gets a call from the office regarding the application.
11. The applicant will get the requested article from the office through mail.
12. If required for any changes, the applicant has to visit the office to complete the process.
13. This entire process can be completed within 30 days or as per the timeline advised by the respective department authority.

• Application form
• Passport size photographs
• Identity proof (Driving license, National ID card) (two types of proof document required)
• Address proof (marriage license, citizenship card, etc) (two types of proof document required)
• Business license
• Fee receipt
• Any other documents (If required)

Bureau of Consular Affairs
U.S. Department of State
600 19th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Link

• Any business person who intends to Request an Article of Incorporation is eligible to make this application.

• The fee for this procedure has to be paid as per the authority’s request.

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Please attach documents that can be used by people. e.g. links

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

• This entire process can be completed within 30 days or as per the timeline advised by the respective department authority.

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.gIn the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

• Applicants must complete the application form before submitting it. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
• Applicants must provide genuine information while applying for this procedure.

• Name of corporation
• Name and address of the registered agent
• Type of corporate structure (e.g., profit corporation, non-profit corporation, non-stock corporation, professional corporation, etc.)
• Names and addresses of the initial board of directors
• Number and type of authorized shares
• Duration of the corporation
• Name, signature, and address of the incorporator, who is the person in charge of setting up a corporation

• Articles of incorporation are a set of formal documents filed with a government body to legally document the creation of a corporation.
• Articles of incorporation generally contain pertinent information such as the firm’s name, street address, agent for service of process, and the amount and type of stock to be issued. The articles of incorporation are used to legally form the corporation.

• By filing articles of incorporation, a company can officially become incorporated. Once incorporated, the company may receive favourable tax benefits and have the ability to raise capital by issuing stock. In addition, the owners of the corporation have different liability over company debts once a corporation is formed.

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

Link

• The purpose of the articles of incorporation is to legally form a corporation. The filing submits information to a state agency, and the state agency officially determines whether the corporation can be recognized as a formal company. Once incorporated, the business may receive a number of different benefits (mentioned below) via its status as a corporation.