Mississippi Certificate of Authority

In this Article:

• How to Get a Certificate of Authority in Mississippi 
• Registering Your Company Name in Mississippi
• When do you Need a Mississippi Certificate of Authority?
• Mississippi Annual Report Requirements

Related: Get a Mississippi Registered Agent

If you wish to do business in Mississippi with your out-of-state company, you typically need to apply for a Mississippi Certificate of Authority.

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

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 a Mississippi Certificate of Authority:

Existing LLCs and Corporations have the same document requirements in this state when applying for Mississippi Foreign Qualification:

• In Mississippi, a Certificate of Good Standing from the company’s home state is required, dated within 60 days.
  Note: this document is also referred to as a Certificate of Existence in some states.

A application for your Mississippi Certificate of Authority must be submitted along with a fee of $250 for LLCs or $500 for corporations. An additional online processing fee may also be imposed by the state. This fee is typically nominal (approximately $8 for an LLC or $13 for a corporation) but may vary

In addition, you must appoint and maintain a Mississippi 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 Mississippi Secretary of State directly. We do charge our own fee for this service, in addition to state fees. The exact fee can vary based upon whether your company is already filed and whether you need us to obtain additional documents to meet the state’s requirements. Contact us for an exact quote.

Registering Your Company Name in Mississippi

As part of the application process to do business with an out-of-state LLC, corporation or other entity in Mississippi, you will have to register your company name. Typically, your name must be both unique to Mississippi and compliant with the state statutes regarding entity names.

If your name is not available (i.e. there is already a company using the same name in the state), you are generally allowed to use a fictitious name, also known as a Doing Business As, or DBA. This will not affect the name of your company in your home state.

Often, states set forth their own specific rules and restrictions on what a company can be named in that state. For example, Mississippi's LLC statutes note that LLC names may not contain the words  “bank,” “banker,” “bankers,” “banking,” “trust company,” “insurance,” “trust,” “corporation,” or other terms that do not accurately represent them.

How Do I Know If I Need a Mississippi Certificate of Authority?

To do business in the state of Mississippi after being incorporated elsewhere, our clients often need to obtain Foreign Qualification. Typically, “doing business” is defined by activities such as maintaining a physical office or having employees in the state.

Keep in mind that even if a Mississippi Certificate of Authority is not required for a specific activity, a bank, vendor or another party can still require one in order to establish a relationship.

Mississippi Annual Requirements

Once you've acquired Mississippi Foreign Qualification, you will be required to file an annual report in order to keep your company in good standing status with the state. For LLCs, there is a fee of $250 to file this report. For corporations, the fee is just $22.

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