Kentucky Corporation Foreign Registration in Alabama

Alabama registers a corporation from Kentucky as a foreign corporation on an online registration (no form number), with $184 in state fees. Alabama may ask for Kentucky's Certificate of Existence ($10). We file it with the Secretary of State, Business Entities Division using your Kentucky records and act as your registered agent there for the first year.

Kentucky and Alabama side by side

	Kentucky formed here	Alabama registering here
Document	Kentucky Certificate of Existence	Foreign Corporation Application for Registration (no form number)
State fee	$10	$184 at order (filing fee $150 plus charges collected at filing)
How it is handled	Kentucky: online as a printable certificate, or by mail or fax	Filed online with Alabama
Office	Kentucky Secretary of State, Division of Business Filings	Alabama Secretary of State, Business Entities Division
Official page	web.sos.ky.gov	sos.alabama.gov
Yearly filing	Annual Report, $15, every year	Business Privilege Tax return (Form CPT), fee set by the state, every year
Due	On or before June 30
Agent	Your Kentucky registered agent	Our Alabama registered agent

From Kentucky to Alabama, step by step

We prepare and file the registration
It names us as your Alabama registered agent, with your Kentucky name and formation date. If Alabama wants the Kentucky certificate, it is ordered first. After approval, your Kentucky corporation is registered with Alabama.

Your Kentucky name and Alabama's rules

If Alabama's records show it taken, you can use an alternate name for the Kentucky company. Alabama can hold a name for $25 before you file.

Agents: Alabama and Kentucky

Kentucky and Alabama both call it a registered agent. Your current registered agent stays for Kentucky; ours takes Alabama's papers and notices.

Yearly filings: Alabama and Kentucky

Kentucky wants the Annual Report every year ($15); Alabama wants the Business Privilege Tax return (Form CPT) every year. Both states' filings stay current side by side.

LLC or corporation, Kentucky to Alabama

An LLC formed in Kentucky files its own registration with Alabama ($184 in state fees, the same; no home-state certificate is needed). After that come Kentucky's Annual Report ($15) and Alabama's Form PPT — Alabama Business Privilege Tax Return and Annual Report. See the LLC filing.

The other way: Alabama into Kentucky

A corporation formed in Alabama that registers with Kentucky files Form FBE with $90 in state fees; no Alabama certificate is needed. See that filing.

Questions Kentucky owners ask about Alabama

Does my Kentucky company need to register in Alabama?

Yes, once a Kentucky business operates there; Alabama registers it as a foreign corporation.

Is this a certificate of authority?

Alabama calls it registration for Kentucky corporations; other states say certificate of authority.

How much does the Alabama registration cost?

$383 at checkout; Alabama may also want Kentucky's Certificate of Existence, at extra cost.

What are the yearly costs for Kentucky and Alabama?

Our registered agent renewal ($149 a year), Kentucky's report ($15) and Alabama's report (fee set by the state).

Does Alabama require a registered agent?

Yes: the Kentucky registered agent stays, and ours covers Alabama for year one, with a street address there.

Will Alabama accept my Kentucky name?

Yes, if no company there has it; if one does, it uses an alternate name there and keeps its Kentucky name at home.

Can I form a new Alabama corporation instead?

Yes, but Kentucky keeps the original, so you run two companies: the new one files Alabama's Business Privilege Tax return (Form CPT), and the original keeps Kentucky's Annual Report.

How do I withdraw from Alabama later?

Kentucky companies leave by filing a Foreign Corporation Certificate of Withdrawal; until then, Alabama's report stays due alongside Kentucky's filings.

Official sources

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The same move for an LLC