United States - Apply for a Good Standing Certificate

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Procedure

Apply In Person:

1. To Apply for a Good Standing Certificate, the applicant has to approach the U.S. DEPARTMENT of STATE Secretary's office 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 request 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.

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Required Documents

• 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)

Office Locations & Contacts

U.S. Department of State
600 19th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Call 1-877-487-2778
Email [email protected]
Contact link
Website link

Eligibility

• Any business person who intends to Apply for a Good Standing Certificate is eligible to make this application.

Fees

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

Validity

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

Documents to Use

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

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

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

Related Videos

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'.

Instructions

• 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.

Required Information

• 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

Need for the Document

• A certificate of good standing verifies that a corporation or LLC was formed legally, has been properly maintained and is still active. It should not be confused with a certificate of tax status or tax compliance, which shows that an entity is up to date on all its state tax filings and payments.

Information which might help

• In most states, registered business entities such as corporations, partnerships, LLCs and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are eligible to request a certificate of good standing. Before requesting a certificate, businesses should be up to date on their annual reports and fees and registered agent designation.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

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

External Links

Link

Others

For the purposes of daily business, owners do not need to worry about having a letter of good standing on hand. But there will likely come a time during the life of an entity when it will be necessary to procure a certificate. Common reasons you might need a certificate of good standing include:

• Opening a business bank account
• Applying for business loans
• Soliciting funds from potential investors
• Registering to do business in a different state
• Contracting with another company
• Transferring or selling a business