Virginia Foreign Qualification

Why You Need To Do It – A corporation or LLC will have to foreign qualify if it wishes to have any kind of physical presence in Virginia. This includes opening a warehouse, storefront, or office and even applies to businesses that are planning on having just a single representative working in the state.

When Should You Do It? – As soon as you decide that you’re going to do business in Virginia, you should start the process of foreign qualification. This ensures that you aren’t impacted negatively by any potential delays. Generally, you will need to receive Virginia foreign qualification if your company falls under any of the following criteria:

• Has a physical presence in Virginia
• Buying a property there
• Have remote employees
• Accepts orders in Virginia
• Owns a bank account in Virginia

There are a few basic steps that businesses must take in order to obtain Virginia foreign qualification.

1. Obtain Certificates – Virginia requires that you file an Application for a Certificate of Registration for LLCs and an Application for a Certificate of Authority for corporations. You can download these forms from the Secretary of State website. Businesses must also include a certified, original copy of the articles of organization for LLCs and articles of incorporation for corporations. These must include all amendments and mergers. These must have been authenticated within the previous 12 months.

2. Collect And Submit Information – The forms will request a variety of information about your business.

LLC

• LLC name registered in the home state
• A designated name if the original is in use
• Name of the home state
• Date of formation of the LLC
• Duration of the LLC
• Principal office street address
• Name and address of the registered agent in Virginia
• An authorized signature

Corporation

• Business name
• A designated name if the original is in use
• Name of the home state
• Date of formation of the corporation
• Duration of the business
• Principal office street address
• Name and address of the registered agent in Virginia
• Names and addresses of officers and directors
• Number of shares the corporation is authorized to use
• Authorized signer name and title

3. Appoint Registered Agent – Your registered agent is the person responsible for handling the processes involved in foreign qualification as well as maintaining compliance. To simplify their workload, most businesses turn to a third party organization like DoMyLLC to handle this for them.

4. File The Application – Once you complete the forms, submit them to the Virginia State Corporation Commission along with a filing fee of $100 for an LLC and $75 minimum for a Corporation with less than 25,000 shares of stock.

5. Ongoing Maintenance – Virginia requires certain businesses to submit an annual report to the State Corporation Commission each year. Corporations must file their report by the last day of their anniversary month each year along with a filing fee of between $100 and $1700 depending on shares. LLCs have no annual report to file but must complete annual registration, which includes a $50 fee.

Business leaders have a lot to focus their energy on. We take the burden and stress of Virginia foreign qualification off your shoulders. We do the entire process for you so you have more time and energy to focus elsewhere. We provide:

•     Name availability check
•     Full registration and filing service
•     Dedicated account manager
•     Ongoing support

If you wish to start operations in Virginia, contact us today to get the help you deserve.

Virginia Office of Secretary of State
Phone Number:
(804) 371-9733

Address:
Virginia State Corporation Commission
1300 East Main Street – PO Box 1197
Richmond, VA 23218