Wyoming Certificate of Authority›Apply yourself
Applying for the Wyoming certificate without help
An entity can apply for its own Wyoming certificate of authority. The route is paper: an application, the agent's consent page, an original home certificate and $150 by check or money order, with up to fifteen business days after the date of receipt allowed for review.
The checklist
Start with the entity's name exactly as filed at home, its home state, the date it was organized, its mailing and principal office addresses, a Wyoming agent with a physical address, and the signer's details. Then add the home certificate and the payment.
Choose the form
An LLC uses the Foreign Limited Liability Company Application for Certificate of Authority. A profit corporation uses the Foreign Profit Corporation Application for Certificate of Authority. Both are mailed.
Check the name ending
An LLC name needs one of these: Limited Liability Company, LLC, L.L.C., Limited Company, LC, L.C., Ltd. Liability Company, Ltd. Liability Co., or Limited Liability Co. A name that cannot be used here is replaced by a fictitious name on the separate form.
Line up the agent
The agent is an individual who is at least eighteen, lives in Wyoming and keeps a business office at the registered office; a Wyoming business entity or a foreign entity authorized to do business there, with its office at the registered office and a written agreement with an individual to accept service; or a commercial registered agent registered with the Secretary of State. Pick one before you start, since the consent page needs the agent's signature. The registered office is a street address in Wyoming where the agent, or an individual with an agency relationship to the agent, is physically present to accept service.
Write the application
Enter the name of the company as organized; the state or country of its law; the date it was organized, which must match the certificate; its period of duration; its mailing address; its principal office address; the name and physical Wyoming address of its registered agent; its acceptance of the Wyoming constitution; and the date it began, or will begin, doing business in Wyoming. Copy the organization date from the certificate of existence.
Get the agent's consent
The consent is a Consent to Appointment by Registered Agent, signed by the agent, certifying the agent meets W.S. 17-28-101 through 17-28-111. The agent signs and dates it and adds a title, a daytime phone and an email address.
Order the certificate
Request an original certificate of existence or good standing, dated not more than sixty days before the filing in Wyoming and authenticated by the Secretary of State or other official who keeps company records where the company was formed. Wyoming wants the original, so a scan will not do. On filing day it may be at most 60 days old, so order it once the other pieces are done.
Sign, enclose and mail
A member, a manager or another authorized individual named in the operating agreement signs the application. Enclose a check or money order payable to Wyoming Secretary of State for $150 and mail the packet to Wyoming Secretary of State, Herschler Building East, Suite 101, 122 W 25th Street, Cheyenne.
Follow the review
Documents are reviewed in the order they arrive, and the state allows up to fifteen business days after the date of receipt. The Secretary of State's online business site lists the day it is working on.
After the certificate arrives
When the certificate comes back, keep it with the entity's records. Mark the license tax date, which falls on the first day of the month in which the entity registered or qualified, each year. The state sends courtesy emails 60, 30 and 10 days before the due date.
What a do-it-yourself filing costs
Wyoming's fee is $150. The home office sets the certificate fee, and an outside agent bills separately. No online discount exists, because the filing is not online.
Who does what in a self-filed packet
| Task | Who | Done by |
|---|---|---|
| Application | The company | An authorized individual signs |
| Consent page | The registered agent | The agent signs and dates it |
| Home certificate | The home office | An authenticated original |
| Fictitious name form | The company | Only if the name is unavailable |
| Payment | The company | A check or money order |
The money in a self-filed packet
Three payments sit behind one filing. The state takes $150. The home office takes its certificate fee: $50 in Delaware, $50 in Nevada. And the agent, if an outside one, takes its own charge.
Time budget
Plan around two clocks. The certificate's date matters on the day the packet is filed. The review itself can take up to 15 business days after receipt, and the entity should not start work in Wyoming and treat that wait as harmless, because the penalty counts years of business without a certificate.
Why packets stall
Reasons include a copied or outdated certificate, a mismatched organization date, a drop box as the agent's address, an unsigned consent page and a name without an LLC ending. An incomplete form is not processed.
If the entity has been operating in Wyoming
The application asks for the start date and carries a warning about back taxes and penalties. The statute's cost is all the fees and license taxes that would have been imposed had the company applied and received a certificate and then filed every report, with eighteen percent interest, plus a penalty of five thousand dollars, reasonable audit expenses and reasonable attorney fees. Applying does not cancel it. The late penalty page has the sums.
A sensible order of work
Choose the form and check the name first. Settle the agent. Fill in the application and send the consent page to the agent. Order the certificate last. When it arrives, enclose it, sign, add the payment and mail.
Copy everything
Make a complete copy of the packet before it goes, because the original certificate leaves with it. Keep the copy with the entity's formation papers, next to the agent's contact details.
Agent changes afterward
Naming a new agent and office costs $5. Report an agent change inside 30 days, because lateness is itself a ground for revocation.
Handing it to us
Handing it over costs $199 plus the state fee. We fill in the pages, name the last ordering day for the certificate, and check the packet before it is mailed.
Applying for a Wyoming certificate without help
Choose the form
LLC or profit corporation.
Check the name
An LLC ending, or the fictitious name form.
Line up the agent
Someone with a Wyoming street address who signs the consent page.
Request the home original
Dated within 60 days of filing.
Sign and enclose payment
$150, by check or money order.
Mail the packet
Then watch the processing day online.
Registered agent: first year included, then $149 a year
$199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Apply-yourself questions
Can I apply online?
No. The state takes the application by mail.
How long does review take?
Up to fifteen business days after the date of receipt.
Is a copy of the certificate acceptable?
No. Wyoming wants an original.
Whose signature is on the consent page?
The registered agent's.
What form of payment is accepted?
Check or money order payable to Wyoming Secretary of State.
What if my name is taken?
Attach the Use of Fictitious Name form.
What if I leave a field blank?
The office cannot process an incomplete form.
Cost breakdown
Get your Wyoming certificate
WY+ $150 to Wyoming
$199
- Your application and the agent's consent page, filled in from a short form of questions
- Notice of the last day to order your home certificate, so the paper is fresh at mailing
- A Wyoming agent address of ours, or your own choice of Wyoming agent
- Wyoming's certificate of authority, passed on once issued
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
$150 is the LLC rate. Corporations, nonprofits and partnerships pay their own application fees, shown on the fee page. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Sources
- Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division fee schedule
- Wyoming Secretary of State, foreign LLC application for certificate of authority and instructions
- W.S. 17-16-1503, application for certificate of authority
- Wyoming Secretary of State, should I apply for a certificate of authority
- Wyoming Secretary of State, foreign profit corporation application for certificate of authority
- Wyoming Secretary of State, business questions and answers
- W.S. 17-28-101, registered office and registered agent
- Delaware Division of Corporations fee schedule (PDF)
- Nevada Secretary of State, limited-liability company fee schedule
- Nevada Secretary of State, commercial recordings FAQ
- W.S. 17-16-1502, consequences of transacting business without authority
- W.S. 17-16-1530, grounds for revocation
Already operating in Wyoming?
Apply now. The state's penalty and back taxes are counted by year, and each year you wait adds to them.