Obtain a Certified Copy
As states update their technology and processes for accepting formation, foreign qualification and other documents, the state-approved versions of these documents can often look plain. Even though official, some business owners wish to have a certified copy of these documents. A certified copy is a true and exact copy of your company’s formation or other state filed document as issued by the state of formation.
Keeping the original of your formation documents or any other state-filed document with your company records records is important. If the original(s) are ever lost or misplaced, requesting a certified copy from the state of formation or qualification is advisable.
Additionally, a certified copy of your company’s formation documents is often needed in order to open a bank account or to foreign qualify your company to transact business in another state.
Pricing
A certified copy can be added to BizFilings' Standard or Basic Formation services or can be ordered as a stand-alone Certified Copy service as demonstrated below.
| Complete Formation Service |
Standard Formation Service |
Basic Formation Service |
Stand-alone Service |
| Included |
$35 + state fees |
$35 + state fees |
$35 + state fees |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is a certified copy?
A. A certified copy is a true and exact copy of your company’s formation documents or foreign qualification documents issued by the state of formation or foreign qualification.
Top of page
Q. How soon can I expect to receive my certified copy and how will it be shipped?
A. When a certified copy is included in or added to one of BizFilings Formation services, there are certain cases in which BizFilings must ship the certified copy separate from your state-approved formation documents. This is typically dependent on the state’s process for issuing certified copies. In these cases, the document will be shipped via FedEx overnight if a certified copy and overnight shipping is added onto the Standard or Basic Formation services. For Standard and Basic Formation services where overnight shipping is not selected, the certified copy will arrive via standard US Mail.
Please note, certified copies ordered as stand-alone items (not with one of our Formation service offerings), may take up to 4-6 weeks to obtain from the state.
Top of page
Q. What is a certified copy supposed to look like? Mine doesn’t look very official.
A. Many states allow for “fax filing” of the formation documents. In these cases, the formation documents are submitted to the state via fax, and the state returns the state-approved articles of incorporation (for corporations) or articles of organization (for LLCs) by fax. Fax-filed formation documents often look different than if the formation documents were returned by mail. Some people think that fax filed documents don’t look as official, but they are the original and true documents.
Top of page
Q. Is there a limit to the number of certified copies that can be obtained on behalf of my company?
A. No, there is no limit to the number of certified copies that can be obtained for your company.
Top of page
