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Do you own and operate a corporation or limited liability company that you’d like to expand into an additional state?
If so, you’ll need to file a foreign qualification for your business. While the name sometimes leads people to mistakenly believe this filing qualifies your corporation or LLC to transact business in another country, it actually just means that you can conduct business in a different state.
There are quite a few companies offering foreign qualification services these days, as many of the same companies that offer affordable incorporation services also offer this similar service. Much like with business entity formations, it can be surprising how much pricing models can vary from company to company. The companies with the cheapest formation services aren’t always the same ones offering reasonably priced foreign qualifications, making it even trickier to find the right company.
The foreign qualification process is quite similar to the business formation process in many states, although the fact that each state creates its own rules and regulations can complicate things a bit. With the companies discussed in this guide, foreign qualification becomes very easy.
All you’ll need to do is provide your chosen company with some important information about your business, usually including things like your principal business address, your business location within your new state, the nature of your business, the names and addresses of your owners, etc.
The variations in pricing from company to company are quite extreme with foreign qualifications, especially considering that most of them offer the same core service with very few additional features. In fact, we found otherwise-reputable companies charging in excess of $300 for foreign qualifications, while one competitor offers this exact same service for less than $100.
Let’s take a look at the best foreign qualification services available online today, and discuss which one might be the best fit for your business!
Charging just $99, they’re the only company we’re aware of that offers to prepare and file your foreign qualification for less than $100 — some competitors charge more than three times this much!
One of the biggest advantages MyCompanyWorks has over the competition (other than pricing) is its strong customer feedback. We found more than 3,700 reviews of their services scattered across the web, and nearly all of them were positive.
Furthermore, MyCompanyWorks has one of the most responsive customer support teams in the industry. Some competitors will make you wait days before responding to your support inquiries, but not MyCompanyWorks! They pledge to return most phone calls and emails within 20 minutes if you contact them during business hours.
Coming in at a highly reasonable $149 price point is IncFile, a company with more than 800,000 customers served that maintains positive customer feedback. IncFile has 34,000+ reviews available online, and it’s difficult to find more than just a few negative opinions of their services.
One drawback of IncFile is their hit-or-miss customer support. While IncFile’s phone support is usually pretty good, their email support is a disaster. We’ve sent them several messages through their online contact form that have gone unanswered.
If you also need to form an LLC or corporation, IncFile is a good choice due to their free business formation offer.
InCorp has a similar pricing model to IncFile, except for the fact that InCorp adds $18 on top for shipping. If you’re looking for registered agent service for your corporation or LLC along with foreign qualification, InCorp is a good option, as they have solid pricing for registered agent service. With their volume discounts, you can get a registered agent for as little as $87 per year.
While InCorp’s customer feedback is more often positive than negative, they also receive more critical reviews than the other companies we’ve talked about in this guide.
Northwest Registered Agent has the highest pricing model in this guide, with a $225 rate for foreign qualifications. However, this package includes a year of registered agent service, helping to justify that higher price point.
Most competitors use a “call center” type of support system, and some outsource their support to other countries. That’s certainly not the case with Northwest Registered Agent, as their highly trained representatives can answer even your toughest questions. We’re also big fans of how they protect your privacy, writing their own code and running their own servers to ensure no third party gains access to your information.
While Northwest doesn’t have as many reviews as some competitors, they do have around 400 reviews that are mostly high quality.
SunDoc Filings matches MyCompanyWorks’ pricing model for foreign qualifications, but there’s a crucial catch. This company does not offer document preparation services. (For what it’s worth, SunDoc Filings’ website does note that they “can help” with preparing your documents, but there’s no information about how much help or how much it would cost.)
Instead, SunDoc Filings only submits your documents to the state. Why would you use a service like this when you still have to do much of the legwork yourself? One word: efficiency.
If you’re foreign qualifying in California — the world’s fifth-largest economy and a state with nearly twice as many businesses as any other state — SunDoc Filings has an advantage over every other company in this guide due to its location in Sacramento. This enables SunDoc Filings staff to make three daily visits to the California Secretary of State’s office and provide customers with same-day processing in this state.
With 3,000+ reviews available online, and very few negative reviews in sight, it’s clear that customer feedback is a plus for SunDoc Filings. Finally, the 100% satisfaction guarantee they offer is a welcome safety net in case anything goes awry with your foreign qualification.
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Disclaimer: The content on this page is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or accounting advice. If you have specific questions about any of these topics, seek the counsel of a licensed professional.
Written by Team ZenBusiness
ZenBusiness has helped people start, run, and grow over 700,000 dream companies. The editorial team at ZenBusiness has over 20 years of collective small business publishing experience and is composed of business formation experts who are dedicated to empowering and educating entrepreneurs about owning a company.
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