Register Your Wyoming Foreign Corporation
A Wyoming foreign corporation is a company incorporated outside of Wyoming that is now registered to do business inside of Wyoming. To register a foreign corporation in Wyoming, you must file a Foreign Profit Corporation Application for Certificate of Authority form with the Wyoming Secretary of State. You can submit this document by mail or in person. The fee to file this application is $150.
Our guide below breaks down the steps to register your foreign corporation. Don’t want to read the guide? We can help you file and get your company up and running in Wyoming.
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The process of getting your out-of-state business registered legally in Wyoming to do business is called foreign qualification. Foreign qualification is what officially tells the Wyoming Secretary of State you are conducting business in its jurisdiction and are willing to play by their rules (meaning taxes and laws).
Wyoming doesn’t have you submit a copy of your original Articles of Incorporation or new ones at all. And you don’t have to get a different EIN for your foreign corporation in Wyoming at all. Essentially, you’re not creating a new business but expanding your existing company.
Here’s everything you need to do to conduct business as a foreign corporation in Wyoming.
1. Name Your Wyoming Corporation
Before submitting your application to become a Wyoming foreign corporation, you’ll need to make sure your company’s name is available within the state. You can do a free name search on the Secretary of State’s website to make sure your desired business name is available.
Don’t worry if your corporation’s name is not available. Apply for a Wyoming trade name by filing out and attaching the Foreign Profit Corporation Use of Fictitious Name form ($60) to your Foreign Profit Corporation Application for Certificate of Authority.
Concerned your business name won’t be available for future foreign registrations? Consider applying for a federal trademark for your business name to ensure it’s available in all fifty states.
2. Designate a Registered Agent
Wyoming foreign corporations must have a registered agent that is based in the state. A registered agent is an individual or business designated to accept legal mail for your business. In Wyoming, there is an additional form included with your application called a Consent to Appointment by Registered Agent. Your Wyoming registered agent will need to sign this form.
If you want a reliable registered agent that’ll get your important documents to you fast, Northwest offers Wyoming registered agent service for $125.
3. Start Your Business Identity
Once your business is legal in the new state, you’ll want to be ready to make sales. Forming your business identity, or the way you present yourself to your potential clients, can prepare customers for your upcoming products and services.
Maybe you’ve never started getting your business out there. Now’s a great chance to start a business website or get a custom business email address.
Maybe you already have a digital presence, but now you want to make it easier for out-of-state people to find you, and start building awareness and a trustworthy reputation in your new territory. Consider getting a phone service that has the local area code or a local business address to use on documents where possible. Either way, make sure your business has a way to market itself in the new state, especially if you are not opening a brick-and-mortar.
4. Get Certificate of Existence
The Wyoming Secretary of State requires all out-of-state corporations filing for foreign qualification to attach an original certificate of existence or good standing from their corporation’s formation state. You’ll submit this certificate with your Foreign Profit Corporation Application for Certificate of Authority. The certificate of existence you submit to Wyoming must be no more than 60 days old.
5. Submit Foreign Profit Corporation Application for Certificate of Authority
To submit your Wyoming Foreign Profit Corporation Application for Certificate of Authority, you’ll need to pay the $150 filing fee and include a certificate of existence.
You’ll need to provide the following information on your application:
- Corporation name or Wyoming fictitious name
- Original state of incorporation
- Date of formation
- Age of corporation
- Principal office address
- Corporate mailing address
- Registered agent address and name
- Names and addresses of directors and officers
- Registered agent consent form
Wyoming only accepts paper copies for foreign corporate registration. This means you can only deliver your application in person or by mail.
Mail or in person:
Wyoming Secretary of State
Herschler Building East, Suite 101
122 W 25th Street
Cheyenne, WY 82002-0020
Wyoming only accepts mailed or in person filings. It generally takes about 15 days for the state to process your paperwork. If filing by mail you’ll need to account for the additional time it will take for the mail to reach the Secretary of State’s office.
6. File Wyoming Reports and Taxes
Your foreign corporation will now have Wyoming taxes and reports to file independent of the ones you file in your home state. Lucky for you, Wyoming doesn’t have any corporate income tax you’ll need to worry about.
- Annual Report and Licenses Tax: The Wyoming Annual Report and License Tax is a combined filing you must submit each year. The first part of the process is the annual report and the second part is for calculating your license tax. You will verify or update your company’s information like addresses and director changes. In the second part, you must list corporate assets located in Wyoming.
Northwest Can Register Your Wyoming Foreign Corporation
If doing things on your own sounds overwhelming, boring, or generally like not a good use of your time, we’re ready to help. Our foreign qualification package is $225 + Wyoming fees. This includes:
- Registering your business as a Wyoming Foreign Corporation. We’ll file your paperwork and let you know when it’s approved.
- Serving as your business’ Wyoming Registered Agent. We can be your RA in as many states as you want to expand into.
- Launching your business identity. We’ll get you a digital presence, including a business email address, phone service, and mail forwarding. Plus, we’ll put together a custom website with a domain, web hosting, and security in place. These will all be free for 90 days. After that, most services are $9/month.
- Sending reminders for your Wyoming annual report. We can even file this for you. We’ll send you a reminder about the report 90 days before they’re due, and you can either have us file for you or opt out of the service.
Wyoming Foreign Corporation FAQs
To amend your Foreign Profit Corporation Application for Certificate of Authority, you’ll file the Foreign Profit Corporation Application for Amended Certificate of Authority in Wyoming. The fee is $60. An original certificate of existence from your corporation’s formation state is required with your amendment application.
Wyoming state statutes don’t firmly define doing business, but in general, any out-of-state corporation with property in the state or making taxable sales to Wyoming residents should register as a foreign corporation.
For more information, check out our resource on what it means to do business in another state.
Yes. And the Wyoming registered agent signature must be an original.
The Chairman of the Board, President, or another of the officers must sign the form.
County filing or publication is not necessary for foreign corporations, unless specifically required by the county in which your registered agent resides.
Yes. We can register your corporation in Wyoming and help with all the weird filing the state has for only $225 + state fees. You can also add additional services, like premium mail forwarding and a custom website our experts can help you make, for a free trial.