Order the proof your next transaction will ask for.

A certificate of status, a certified charter copy, and an apostille each prove something different. Select the document that matches the receiving party’s requirement.

Certificate of status

Good standing / existence

Alabama calls the document a Certificate of Existence or Certificate of Compliance. The current SOS fee schedule lists $25.00 for a Certificate of Existence. Online services can produce a printable certificate; paper requests are submitted through the Business Entities forms and may require mailing time. A certificate is issued only if the entity satisfies the SOS requirements; tax compliance may be separately relevant.

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Certified records

Charter and filing copies

The Alabama fee schedule lists $10.00 for certification of documents and $2.00 per page for copies. A requester should submit the document-copy request identifying the entity and document, pay the applicable copy and certification charges, and request certified treatment when the copy will be used as an official or court record.

Ask the recipient whether it needs a plain copy, a certified copy, a long-form certificate, or a certificate of authority.

Choose the evidence

The document request should follow the transaction.

A certificate of good standing or existence typically confirms that the entity appears active or current in the state registry at the time the certificate is issued. It may be needed to open a bank account, qualify in another state, satisfy a lender, complete a merger, or support a commercial contract.

A certified copy reproduces a filed public instrument with the agency’s certification. This is the appropriate request when the receiving party needs to review the entity’s formation document, a charter amendment, a conversion, a merger, or a dissolution instrument.

Neither document should be casually described as tax clearance. A state registry certificate may not establish that the entity has paid franchise, income, employment, sales, use, local, or industry-specific taxes.

International use

Apostille path, without the guesswork.

Apostilles are handled through Alabama's document-authentication service rather than the corporate-search portal. Verified corporate research did not establish a single current 2026 fee and processing SLA for every submission type; use the SOS authentication page and follow its original/certified-document, payment, mailing, and pickup instructions: https://www.sos.alabama.gov/authenticate-documents. An apostille authenticates the public official's signature for a Hague Convention destination; it does not certify the truth of the company's underlying contents.

01 · Confirm destination

Ask the receiving authority whether it requires an apostille, authentication, legalization, translation, or a recently issued certificate.

02 · Certify first

Many state authentication offices require a qualifying certified document before they can authenticate the signature or seal.

03 · Preserve the chain

Keep the original certificate, apostille, receipt, delivery record, and any translation together in the transaction file.

Before you pay for a document

Confirm the exact legal name and entity ID in the live public record.
Check whether the status is active and whether a delinquent report must be filed first.
Identify the required date window; some recipients will reject an older certificate.
Choose electronic delivery only if the recipient accepts a digital document.
Confirm whether the document must be certified, notarized, apostilled, or translated.

When the transaction is material, order the document directly from the designated agency or through its official system. Commercial document vendors may add a service fee for an item that the state makes available directly.