What Is a Foreign Corporation?

A corporation conducting business in one state when incorporated or chartered in another is considered a foreign corporation.

If your corporation will conduct business in any state or states

Qualification or registration requirements. Every state requires some sort of registration or qualification for foreign corporations. Qualification requirements for foreign corporations vary from state to state, and are regulated by the state's Secretary of State.

The form required to be filed by foreign corporations is commonly called the Foreign Corporation Certificate, or the Statement and Designation by Foreign Corporation, and is mainly a way to provide information about your corporation to a different state from another state. Most of these statements require the name of the corporation, the state of corporation, the address of the principal office in the state of incorporation, and the foreign state, the name and address of the agent for service of process, and must be dated and signed by a corporate officer.