Oklahoma Certificate of Authority / Get it yourself
Getting Oklahoma authority yourself: a self-service guide
You can get Oklahoma authority without a service: an LLC files Form 0081 with a home certificate and $300, and a corporation files Form 0012 with proof of existence and at least $300. This page covers both routes, the places they stall and what follows approval.
Which route are you on?
The LLC route is short: one form of seven items. The corporation route is longer: a sworn-style statement with share details, assets, liabilities and a capital forecast. Pick yours and ignore the other. A partnership should write to us before placing an order.
LLC route, in order
Check you are inside the duty
Compare your plans with the exclusions and the rental property rule.
Order the home certificate
Get an original, to be less than 60 days old when filed.
Line up an Oklahoma agent
A resident or qualified entity with a street address.
Fetch Form 0081
From the Secretary of State website with its procedures sheet.
Fill in the seven items
Then sign.
File and pay
By mail, in person or online, with $300.
The corporation route in brief
Request existence proof from the home-state office. Prepare assets and liabilities as of a date inside the last 6 months. Decide the capital figure. Complete Form 0012, have an officer execute and acknowledge it, and pay at least $300. The corporation form page has the full list.
Where an LLC filing stalls
The certificate ages out while you wait on the agent. The agent turns out to be unavailable in business hours. The name lacks an accepted ending. The signer is missing. The email on the form belongs to someone who has left.
Where a corporation filing stalls
The capital figure has to be set before filing, and the statement of assets and liabilities has to be dated within 6 months. The proof of existence can be no more than 6 months old. The name has to be distinguishable on the Oklahoma register.
What it costs
State fees only: $300 for an LLC, $300 or more for a corporation. Add the home certificate fee your home state charges, such as $50 for a Delaware short form. Card payments carry 4 percent, and same-day in-person delivery adds $25 for each document.
After approval
Keep the certificate with the company records and calendar the yearly filing. An LLC owes a $25 certificate each anniversary, and sixty days of silence ends its registration. A corporation owes its own anniversary certificate on capital.
Fixing a lapse
An LLC whose registration ended files SOS Form 145, with every missed certificate and fee attached. The application itself has no fee.
Gather list, LLC
Exact name and formation date. Home state. Home office or principal office address. Agent name and Oklahoma street address. Contact email. Signer. Home certificate dated within 60 days. Payment of $300.
Gather list, corporation
Exact name and state of incorporation. Proof of existence issued within 6 months. Assets and liabilities dated within 6 months. Authorized shares by class and par value. Oklahoma business description and capital figure. Executing officer. Payment of at least $300.
The order of work
First decide the entity track and read the form. Then ask the home state for the proof and the Oklahoma agent for a signature. Complete the form, check the name and sign. File when the proof arrives. The yearly calendar entry comes last.
Choosing the filing route
Mail, in person or online. Online avoids the post. In person is the only route with same-day handling, at $25 per document. Paying by card adds 4 percent on any route, so a check or money order is cheaper.
The procedures sheet
The companion sheet, SOS Form 0083, lays the filing out in numbered steps and closes with the list of statutory exceptions. It also says the Secretary of State cannot tell you whether your company falls inside an exception. Read it with the form in front of you.
A sample first-year timeline
First order the home certificate and settle the agent. Then complete the form and sign. Then file and wait for the certificate. Within the first year diary the anniversary date. If the LLC is also paying a Delaware tax or a Wyoming report, add those dates to the same calendar.
What a returned filing looks like
Filings are returned when a required piece is missing or wrong: an old certificate, a P.O. box agent, no accepted ending, no signature or a short fee. Fix the one defect, check the others once more and resend with the certificate still inside its window.
After you have the certificate
Keep it with the company records and share it where lenders, landlords or agencies ask. An LLC can order Oklahoma's own good standing certificate for $20 while it stays registered.
How to read the exclusions list yourself
Take each item in the statute list and ask whether your Oklahoma activity is only that. A bank account alone is excluded. A bank account plus an office and two employees is not. The test is the whole of your Oklahoma activity, not any one piece of it. The Secretary of State will not rule on your facts, so you or your lawyer must.
Choosing an agent without paying for one
If you live in Oklahoma, you can be your own agent, provided you keep a business office at a street address in the state that is open in regular hours. If you do not live there, you need someone who does, or a qualified business. If you name nobody, the Secretary of State acts and bills $40 each July 1.
Your first renewal
The first yearly certificate for an LLC falls due exactly one year after its registration date. It confirms the company is active, states where the business is run and costs $25. The reminder goes only to the email address on the form.
Costs you might overlook
Home-state certificate fees, the card surcharge of 4 percent, the same-day delivery fee of $25, Oklahoma's $20 good standing certificate when a bank wants one, and the registered agent's own fee.
What we take off your hands
The home certificate, the agent, the capital figure and the anniversary date are the parts of a self-filed application that need the most attention. Those are the parts we take over when you order.
Self-service or service?
If your facts are simple, filing yourself costs only the state fee. If the home certificate, the agent, the capital figure or the calendar worry you, order the filing and we handle them for $199.
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.
Self-service questions
Can I file without the home certificate?
No. An LLC must attach an original, and a corporation must attach proof of existence.
What payment methods are accepted?
Check or money order; a card also works in person or online, with a surcharge.
Where do I get the forms?
From the Secretary of State website, which lists them by entity type.
Can I file Form 0081 online?
Yes. Online is one of three routes.
Is professional help required?
Not for the form itself.
Who can be my agent?
An Oklahoma resident or a qualified entity with a street address in the state.
What do I get back?
The certificate and a copy of the filed form.
Our fee and Oklahoma's
Get your Oklahoma authority
Oklahoma
$199
$300 Oklahoma fee + $199
- The Oklahoma form for your entity, filled out from your answers
- A home-state certificate dated inside Oklahoma's 60-day limit for LLCs
- Oklahoma registered agent service from us, or your own pick
- Your Oklahoma certificate returned when issued
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Oklahoma's LLC fee is $300, shown apart from our own. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Official sources
- Oklahoma Secretary of State, filing fees
- SOS Form 0083, procedures for registering a foreign LLC
- Oklahoma Statutes Title 18, fees of the Secretary of State for LLCs
- SOS Form 0081, application for registration of a foreign LLC
- SOS Form 0012, certificate of qualification of a foreign corporation
- Oklahoma Statutes Title 18, filing and other service fees
- Oklahoma Secretary of State, business forms
- Oklahoma Statutes Title 18, foreign corporations, qualification
- Oklahoma Statutes Title 18, foreign LLC registration procedure
- Oklahoma LLC annual certificate form
- Delaware Division of Corporations fee schedule (PDF)
- Oklahoma Statutes Title 18, annual certificate of an LLC
- SOS Form 145, application for reinstatement
- Oklahoma Statutes Title 18, foreign LLC acts not constituting transacting business
Need Oklahoma authority for your company?
Tell us the entity kind and the right form is prepared.