Washington Foreign Qualification

Why You Need To Do It – Businesses will be required to complete the process if they exist outside Washington and have any plans on having any kind of physical presence within the state. This includes everything from opening a new storefront to just having a couple of employees acting as representatives for your business in the state.

When Should You Do It? – As soon as you make the decision to expand into Washington. The sooner you begin the process, the better. This helps you avoid any kind of delays or issues related to Washington foreign qualification. Generally, you will need to foreign qualify if your company falls under any of the following criteria:

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

There are several steps that must be taken to obtain Washington foreign qualification. These steps include the following.

1. Obtain Certificates – Washington requires both Corporations and LLCs to file a Foreign Registration Statement in order to register in the state. Additionally, you will also need to submit a Certificate of Existence from the company’s home state.

2. Collect And Submit Information – Provide your business information as requested by the state.

LLC

• LLC name
• Reservation name and number, if applicable
• Add Doing Business As (DBA) name, if the company name is not available in Washington
• Name of home state
• Entity type in home state
• Name and address of the registered agent
• Principal office address and mailing address
• Business phone number and email address (optional)
• Name of at least one governor
• Date of formation of the LLC
• Period of duration
• Nature of the business
• Date the company began doing business in Washington
• Effective date
• Authorized person name, title, and signature

Corporation

• Business name
• Reservation name and number, if applicable
• Add Doing Business As (DBA) name, if the company name is not available in Washington
• Name of home state
• Entity type in home state
• Name and address of the registered agent
• Principal office address and mailing address
• Business phone number and email address (optional)
• Name of at least one governor
• Date of formation
• Period of duration
• Nature of the business
• Date the company began doing business in Washington
• Effective date
• Authorized person name, title, and signature

3. Appoint Registered Agent – Your registered agent is responsible for handling all of the issues related to your business’ foreign qualification and its compliance. Most companies turn to third party providers like DoMyLLC to handle this so they can focus on other aspects of their business operations.

4. File The Application – Once you complete the forms, submit them to the Washington Secretary of State along with the filing fee. For both Corporations and LLCs, the fee is $180 when filed by mail and $200 when doing online filing.

5. Ongoing Maintenance – Washington requires that a company file an annual renewal with the Secretary of State every year. This is due on the last day of a business’ anniversary month and costs $71 for both corporations and LLCs.

Business leaders have a lot to worry about. We take care of the hard work involved in Washington foreign qualification so you can focus your attention solely on improving your business strategy. We provide:

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

We do everything so you don’t have to. If you’re ready to branch out your business into Washington, contact us today to get started easily.

Washington Office of Secretary of State
Phone Number:
360.725.0377

Address:
Washington Secretary of State
801 Capitol Way S PO Box 40234
Olympia, WA 98504-0234