Wisconsin Corporation Foreign Registration in Alabama

A corporation formed in Wisconsin that wants to do business in Alabama files an online registration (no form number), with $184 in state fees. Alabama may ask for Wisconsin's Certificate of Status ($10). We file it with the Secretary of State, Business Entities Division from your Wisconsin records, then serve as your registered agent there for year one.

What Wisconsin and Alabama each ask for

	Wisconsin formed here	Alabama registering here
Document	Wisconsin Certificate of Status	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	Wisconsin: online, emailed as soon as it is requested	Filed online with Alabama
Office	Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, Division of Corporate and Consumer Services	Alabama Secretary of State, Business Entities Division
Official page	dfi.wi.gov	sos.alabama.gov
Yearly filing	Domestic Business Corporation Annual Report, $25, every year	Business Privilege Tax return (Form CPT), fee set by the state, every year
Due	End of the calendar quarter containing the anniversary of the articles' effective date
Agent	Your Wisconsin registered agent	Our Alabama registered agent

How Wisconsin companies register with Alabama

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

Your Wisconsin name and Alabama's rules

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

Your Alabama agent and the Wisconsin one

Wisconsin and Alabama both call it a registered agent. Alabama papers come to us; Wisconsin's agent is unchanged.

Yearly filings: Alabama and Wisconsin

Wisconsin wants the Domestic Business Corporation Annual Report every year ($25); Alabama wants the Business Privilege Tax return (Form CPT) every year. The new registration does not replace any home-state filing.

LLC or corporation, Wisconsin to Alabama

An LLC formed in Wisconsin files its own registration with Alabama ($184 in state fees, the same; no home-state certificate is needed). After that come Wisconsin's Annual Report (Form 5 / CORP5) ($25) and Alabama's Form PPT — Alabama Business Privilege Tax Return and Annual Report. See the LLC filing.

The other way: Alabama into Wisconsin

A corporation formed in Alabama that registers with Wisconsin files Form 21 with $100 in state fees, plus the Certificate of Existence ($25) dated within 60 days. See that filing.

Questions Wisconsin owners ask about Alabama

Does my Wisconsin company need to register in Alabama?

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

Is this a certificate of authority?

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

How much does the Alabama registration cost?

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

What are the yearly costs for Wisconsin and Alabama?

Our registered agent renewal ($149 a year), Wisconsin's report ($25) and Alabama's report (fee set by the state).

Does Alabama require a registered agent?

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

Will Alabama accept my Wisconsin name?

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

Can I form a new Alabama corporation instead?

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

How do I withdraw from Alabama later?

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

Official sources

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The same move for an LLC