How to Operate a Delaware Company in South Carolina

When business owners decide to incorporate, Delaware is often the popular choice. For many years Delaware has been known for having the strongest corporate law structure.

In other words, Delaware erects the biggest wall between a business and the owners behind the business.

This strong corporate veil is an advantage of both the Delaware LLC and the Delaware corporation. When incorporating in Delaware, your business is domestic to Delaware and foreign to every other state.

The process by which your home state gives your business the authority to operate in that state using a Delaware company is called Foreign Qualification. If you would like to operate a Delaware company in South Carolina, you must complete the process of Foreign Qualification in order to register your business as a foreign entity there.

South Carolina, like many other states, has an application process and a fee, and also requires a Delaware Certificate of Good Standing in order to prove that your company is in compliance. The Certificate can be no older than 30 days.

South Carolina also compels the business to have a Registered Agent with a physical address within the state of South Carolina in order to receive any service of process or annual notices. Many times, Delaware business owners work with their Delaware Registered Agent in order to facilitate this process.

We can help you foreign qualify in South Carolina and act as your South Carolina Registered Agent. Our Foreign Qualification filing department will ensure your documents are filed correctly and quickly.

South Carolina requires that a director sign the paperwork (for a Delaware corporation) and a manager or member signs (for a Delaware LLC). The state also requests the physical business address on the application. We can prepare the documents, obtain your company’s Delaware Certificate of Good Standing and send the forms to you for your signature.

Once the forms are signed and returned to us, we will file with South Carolina and send you a Certificate of Authority once the application is approved.

Once corporation or LLC is registered as a foreign entity in South Carolina, please keep in mind that your business will be responsible for maintaining both Delaware’s and South Carolina’s compliance and annual reports. The notices are typically sent to the Registered Agent’s address.

Since South Carolina’s corporate compliance report is generally similar to a tax return, many business owners tend to work with their accountant.

For more information on registering your Delaware business so it may operate as a foreign entity in South Carolina, please call us at 1-800-345-2677, Ext. 6130 or email us.