Foreign registration · no form number

Maine Corporation Foreign Registration in North Dakota

To do business in North Dakota, a corporation formed in Maine registers there on an online registration (no form number), with $145 in state fees. North Dakota may ask for Maine's Certificate of Existence ($30). We file it with the Secretary of State from your Maine records, then serve as your registered agent there for year one.

What Maine and North Dakota each ask for

	Maine formed here	North Dakota registering here
Document	Maine Certificate of Existence	Foreign Business Corporation Certificate of Authority Application (no form number)
State fee	$30	$145 at order
How it is handled	Maine: online, downloaded from the company's information summary page	Filed online with North Dakota
Office	Maine Secretary of State, Division of Corporations, UCC and Commissions	North Dakota Secretary of State
Official page	apps3.web.maine.gov	sos.nd.gov
Yearly filing	Annual Report, $85, every year	Annual Report, $25, every year
Due	June 1	May 15
Late yearly filing	$50 late fee	$20 late fee
Agent	Your Maine registered agent	Our North Dakota registered agent

How Maine companies register with North Dakota

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

Will your Maine name work for North Dakota?

North Dakota accepts your Maine name if it includes company, corporation, incorporated, limited, or an abbreviation of one of them. We check your exact Maine name against North Dakota's records before filing.

Your North Dakota agent and the Maine one

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

Yearly filings: North Dakota and Maine

Each year your corporation files Maine's Annual Report ($85) and North Dakota's Annual Report ($25). With our $149 registered agent renewal, Maine plus North Dakota comes to $259 a year. The new registration does not replace any home-state filing.

LLC or corporation, Maine to North Dakota

An LLC formed in Maine files its own registration with North Dakota ($135 in state fees, plus the Certificate of Existence ($30)). After that come Maine's Annual Report ($85) and North Dakota's Annual Report ($50). See the LLC filing.

The other way: North Dakota into Maine

A corporation formed in North Dakota 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 North Dakota

Does my Maine company need to register in North Dakota?

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

Is this a certificate of authority?

Yes: North Dakota issues one to Maine corporations once the filing is approved.

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

$344 at checkout; North Dakota may also want Maine's Certificate of Existence, at extra cost.

What are the yearly costs for Maine and North Dakota?

$259 a year: our $149 registered agent renewal, $85 to Maine and $25 to North Dakota for the yearly reports.

What if I don't register with North Dakota?

A Maine company cannot sue in court there until it registers.

Does North Dakota require a registered agent?

Yes: the Maine registered agent stays, and ours covers North Dakota for year one.

Will North Dakota accept my Maine name?

Yes, if no company there already uses it and it includes company, corporation, incorporated, limited, or an abbreviation of one of them.

Can I form a new North Dakota corporation instead?

Yes, but Maine keeps the original, so you run two companies: the new one files North Dakota's Annual Report ($25), and the original keeps Maine's Annual Report.

Official sources

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The same move for an LLC