Alaska Certificate of Authority

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Related: Get an Alaska Registered Agent

If your company was not incorporated in Alaska, but you wish to do business there, you need to apply for an Alaska Certificate of Authority.

Alaska Foreign Qualification allows a company formed in Delaware or any other state to legally transact business in Alaska.

Please note: information on this page is accurate to the best of our knowledge. However, requirements and costs can be changed by states at any time and Harvard Business Services cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

How to Get an Alaska Certificate of Authority:

Alaska requires an application to be submitted along with a fee of $350 for both LLCs and corporations, although the specific form required is different. Foreign LLCs and corporations are typically not required to provide any documentation from the home state.

Alaska’s Certificate of Authority application forms are somewhat unique in that they require, for both LLCs and corporations, disclosure of the names, addresses, and ownership percentage of anyone owning 5% or more of the company.

Lastly, you must appoint and maintain an Alaska Registered Agent at all times. We can provide this service for just $99 per year.

Harvard Business Services can assist with your application so you don’t have to deal with the Alaska Secretary of State directly. Our fee for this service is $179 (in addition to state fees). We can also obtain the necessary documents for you if you don’t already have them.

How Do I Know If I Need an Alaska Certificate of Authority?

If you plan to do business in the state of Alaska, but your company was not formed in Alaska, you will often need to obtain Alaska Foreign Qualification. Typically, “doing business” is defined by activities such as maintaining a physical office or having employees in the State.

Alaska identifies some specific items that are excluded from their definition of transacting business. You won't need an Alaska Certificate of Authority to do any of these:

  1. maintaining, defending, or settling an action, suit, or administrative or arbitration proceeding, or the settlement of claims or disputes;
  2. holding meetings of directors or shareholders of the corporation, or carrying on other activities concerning the internal affairs of the corporation;
  3. maintaining bank accounts;
  4. maintaining an office or agency for the transfer, exchange, and registration of securities of the corporation, or appointing and maintaining a trustee or depositary for the securities of the corporation;
  5. making sales through independent contractors;
  6. soliciting or procuring orders by mail, through employees, agents, or otherwise, if the orders require acceptance outside the state before becoming binding contracts;
  7. creating, as borrower or lender, or acquiring indebtedness or mortgages or other security interests in real or personal property;
  8. securing or collecting debts, or enforcing rights in property securing debts;
  9. transacting business in interstate commerce;
  10. conducting an isolated transaction completed within a period of 30 days not in the course of a number of repeated transactions of like nature.

This is not an exhaustive list. Additional information can be found in section 10.06.718 of Alaska’s corporate statutes.

Keep in mind that even if an Alaska Certificate of Authority for a specific activity, a bank, vendor or another party can still require one in order to establish a relationship.

Alaska Annual Requirements

Once registered as a foreign entity in Alaska, an initial report is due within six months. Then, you will be required to file a biennial (every two years) report with a fee of $200 to the state to stay in compliance. This applies to both LLCs and corporations.

Please note that this annual requirement is independent from requirements you may have in Delaware or other states.

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