Alabama

Foreign registration · no form number

Maine Corporation Foreign Registration in Alabama

Alabama registers a corporation from Maine as a foreign corporation on an online registration (no form number), with $184 in state fees. Alabama may ask for Maine's Certificate of Existence ($30). We file it with the Secretary of State, Business Entities Division from your Maine records, then serve as your registered agent there for year one.

Maine and Alabama side by side

	Maine formed here	Alabama registering here
Document	Maine Certificate of Existence	Foreign Corporation Application for Registration (no form number)
State fee	$30	$184 at order (filing fee $150 plus charges collected at filing)
How it is handled	Maine: online, downloaded from the company's information summary page	Filed online with Alabama
Office	Maine Secretary of State, Division of Corporations, UCC and Commissions	Alabama Secretary of State, Business Entities Division
Official page	apps3.web.maine.gov	sos.alabama.gov
Yearly filing	Annual Report, $85, every year	Business Privilege Tax return (Form CPT), fee set by the state, every year
Due	June 1
Agent	Your Maine registered agent	Our Alabama registered agent

How Maine companies register with Alabama

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

Your Maine name and Alabama's rules

If another Alabama company uses the Maine name, an alternate name is allowed. Alabama can hold a name for $25 before you file.

Your Alabama agent and the Maine one

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

Yearly filings: Alabama and Maine

Maine wants the Annual Report every year ($85); Alabama wants the Business Privilege Tax return (Form CPT) every year. Both states' filings stay current side by side.

LLC or corporation, Maine to Alabama

An LLC formed in Maine files its own registration with Alabama ($184 in state fees, the same; no home-state certificate is needed). After that come Maine's Annual Report ($85) and Alabama's Form PPT — Alabama Business Privilege Tax Return and Annual Report. See the LLC filing.

The other way: Alabama into Maine

A corporation formed in Alabama that registers with Maine files Form MBCA-12 with $250 in state fees and a $50 required expedite. See that filing.

Questions Maine owners ask about Alabama

Does my Maine company need to register in Alabama?

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

Is this a certificate of authority?

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

How much does it cost to register a Maine corporation in Alabama?

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

What are the yearly costs for Maine and Alabama?

Our registered agent renewal ($149 a year), Maine's report ($85) and Alabama's report (fee set by the state).

Does Alabama require a registered agent?

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

Will Alabama accept my Maine name?

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

Can I form a new Alabama corporation instead?

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

How do I withdraw from Alabama later?

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

Official sources

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The same move for an LLC