What is an Alabama Foreign Qualification?

In the United States, if you are registered in a state to do business, it doesn’t mean that you are allowed to carry same business in another state. In the state where you are doing business, is called a Domestic entity and the state where you want to transact your business you need to register as a Foreign Entity.

Who can create an Alabama Branch Office?

Any entity is registered other than Alabama with the Secretary of State, Division of Corporations or the other country as a Corporation, Limited Liability Company or Limited Partnerships is eligible to set a branch office in the State of Alabama to conduct business.

If you are registered as a domestic entity in some other state but want to operate a business in the state of Alabama, you must register with the Alabama Secretary of the State as a Foreign entity. This process is called Alabama Limited Liability foreign Qualification or Alabama Corporation foreign Qualification.

• The process of Alabama foreign entity qualification is similar to Domestic entity in Alabama.
  
• The formation documents are called articles of organization of a foreign entity.
  
• Manager and members have same roles in Alabama Foreign entity.

Do I need to reserve the name of Foreign Limited liability Company in Alabama?
All out of state entities need to reserve a company name before submitting an application to open a Branch office in the USA.

What if the name is already taken?

If your proposed name is already taken, you have the option to choose a DBA name. A DBA name is called trade name in Alabama.

What do you need to form a foreign corporation in Alabama?

• Choose the name of Alabama Foreign entity
  
• You can use the same name as you have in your Domestic entity however if the name is not available, choose another one.
• Choose a registered agent and address for your Forign entity in Alabama
• Every foreign entity in Alabama must have a registered agent to maintain legal correspondence.
• File an application for foreign entity registration
  

Other legal requirement may need to consider to maintain Alabama Out of State Entity:

• Apply for business licenses from the counties or cities where you are planning to start your business (if applicable for your business).
• Maintain Alabama Entity annual report

What is the expected time to open a branch office in Alabama?

It takes 15-20 days to form a foreign Limited Liability Company in Alabama

How does a foreign entity of Alabama files taxes?

A consolidated return of all branches or foreign entities will be filed with the Internal Revenue Center and each state return will be reported separately to the state.

EIN for a Foreign Entity

A new Employer Identification Number will not be filed at each foreign entity.

Foreign Entity Licenses

Each state will issue licenses and permit to the branch office.

Status report of the principal or original state entity

You may be requested to provide a certificate of good standing or a certified copy of the original state entity to verify that your company is already registered and in a good standing with the Secretary of State or Division of Corporations. A branch office cannot be created, if your entity is not in a good standing.