Missouri Foreign Qualification

Why You Need To Do It – It’s important to foreign qualify in order to stay legally compliant when doing business in Missouri. This is required when any kind of physical presence exists for your business, ranging from a storefront to a representative working alone in the state.

When Should You Do It? – As soon as you decide that your business will operate in Missouri. The sooner you begin, the less likely it is that you will be impacted by any delays that could come up. Generally, you will need to receive Missouri foreign qualification if your company falls under any of the following criteria:

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

There are several steps that a business must take in order to obtain its Missouri foreign qualification. These include the following.

1. Obtain Certificates – Start by requesting a Certificate of Good Standing or Existence from your company’s home state. Then, you must complete the Application for Registration of a Foreign Limited Liability Company or the Application for a Certificate of Authority for a Foreign-For-Profit Corporation. You can download these forms from the Missouri Secretary of State website.

2. Collect And Submit Information – The document requests a wide range of information about your business.

LLC

• LLC name
• A different name if the original name is unavailable
• Name of the home state
• The date of the LLC formation
• The purpose and nature of the business your LLC will do in Missouri
• Name and address of LLC’s registered agent in Missouri
• The registered or principal office street address of the LLC
• Information about the series LLC, if applicable
• An authorized signature

Corporation

• Corporation name
• A different name if the original name is unavailable
• The date of incorporation
• The period of duration
• Name of the home state
• Address of principal place of business
• Name and physical address of registered agent and office in Missouri
• The nature of the business your company will perform in Missouri
• Names and business addresses of board of officers and directors
• A return address
• An authorized signature

3. Appoint Registered Agent – Your registered agent will be responsible for handling the majority of issues related to your foreign qualification and compliance. They receive documents from the state and pass them along to the company they represent. Most businesses elect to use a third party provider like DoMyLLC for this so they can save themselves a lot of time, energy, and hassle.

4. File The Application – Once you complete the process, file the application along with the filing fee of $105 for an LLC. Corporations must pay $155.

5. Ongoing Maintenance – Missouri requires any business to complete annual reporting in order to maintain their compliance. This is due each year within 3 months of the anniversary of the initial foreign qualification. The fee for annual report filing is $45 if done by mail and $20 if done online.

Our team understands that your business takes a lot of time. We do all the work involved in Missouri foreign qualification, letting you have more time to work on leading your business into the future instead of on filing more forms. We offer:

•     Full filing and registration service
•     Name availability checks
•     Ongoing customer support
•     Dedicated account managers

We’re here to help. If you’re ready to branch out into Missouri, contact us today to let us take care of foreign qualification for you.

Missouri Office of Secretary of State
Phone Number:
(573) 751-4153

Address:
Missouri Corporations Division
PO Box 778
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0778