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

Maine calls the document a Certificate of Existence and charges $30.00 for business corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, and LLPs; nonprofits use $10.00. Interactive Corporate Services can issue an electronic certificate when available, while paper requests take longer. The certificate confirms Bureau status, not Maine tax compliance.

Open certificate service ↗

Certified records

Charter and filing copies

Maine charges $2.00 per page for plain copies and $5.00 per document for certification. The Bureau's miscellaneous-services page also lists expedited service at $50.00 within 24 hours or $100.00 immediately where available. The total for a certified copy is therefore the $5.00 certification charge plus the applicable copy pages and any expedite or delivery amount.

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.

Maine apostilles and authentications are handled through the Secretary of State's authentication/notarial services; start at https://www.maine.gov/sos/notaries/apostille-and-authentication. Submit a certified Maine record, destination-country information, and the current request and delivery instructions. The reviewed corporate pages did not establish one universal 2026 apostille fee or turnaround for every entity document, so verify the live office instructions.

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.