New Jersey Corporation Foreign Registration in Alabama

To do business in Alabama, a corporation formed in New Jersey registers there on an online registration (no form number), with $184 in state fees. Alabama may ask for New Jersey's Standing Certificate ($25). We file it with the Secretary of State, Business Entities Division using your New Jersey records and act as your registered agent there for the first year.

New Jersey and Alabama side by side

	New Jersey formed here	Alabama registering here
Document	New Jersey Standing Certificate	Foreign Corporation Application for Registration (no form number)
State fee	$25	$184 at order (filing fee $150 plus charges collected at filing)
How it is handled	New Jersey: online as an electronic certificate, or by mail, fax or in person	Filed online with Alabama
Office	New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services (DORES), Department of the Treasury	Alabama Secretary of State, Business Entities Division
Official page	nj.gov	sos.alabama.gov
Yearly filing	Annual Report, $75, every year	Business Privilege Tax return (Form CPT), fee set by the state, every year
Due	Last day of the anniversary month of incorporation
Agent	Your New Jersey registered agent	Our Alabama registered agent

From New Jersey to Alabama, step by step

We prepare and file the registration
It names us as your Alabama registered agent, with your New Jersey name and formation date. If Alabama wants the New Jersey certificate, it is ordered first. Once Alabama approves it, the New Jersey company can do business there.

Your New Jersey name and Alabama's rules

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

Agents: Alabama and New Jersey

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

Yearly filings: Alabama and New Jersey

New Jersey wants the Annual Report every year ($75); Alabama wants the Business Privilege Tax return (Form CPT) every year. The new registration does not replace any home-state filing.

LLC or corporation, New Jersey to Alabama

An LLC formed in New Jersey files its own registration with Alabama ($184 in state fees, the same; no home-state certificate is needed). After that come New Jersey's Annual Report ($75) and Alabama's Form PPT — Alabama Business Privilege Tax Return and Annual Report. See the LLC filing.

Registering an Alabama company in New Jersey

A corporation formed in Alabama that registers with New Jersey files New Jersey's registration (no form number) with $100 in state fees, plus the Certificate of Existence ($25). See that filing.

Questions New Jersey owners ask about Alabama

Does my New Jersey company need to register in Alabama?

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

Is this a certificate of authority?

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

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

$383 at checkout; Alabama may also want New Jersey's Standing Certificate, at extra cost.

What are the yearly costs for New Jersey and Alabama?

Our registered agent renewal ($149 a year), New Jersey's report ($75) and Alabama's report (fee set by the state).

Does Alabama require a registered agent?

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

Will Alabama accept my New Jersey name?

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

Can I form a new Alabama corporation instead?

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

How do I withdraw from Alabama later?

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

Official sources

People also search

Corporation into Alabama, by home state (48)

New Jersey into other states (41)

The same move for an LLC