A certificate of good standing is an official document from your state confirming that your LLC legally exists and has met its state requirements — annual reports filed, fees paid, registered agent in place.
Depending on the state, the exact same document is called a letter of good standing, a certificate of status, a certificate of existence, or a certificate of fact. Different name, same thing: the state's confirmation that your company is real, active, and compliant.
Most LLC owners hear about this document for the first time when someone demands it — a bank, a payment processor, a lender, or another state. The good news: it's one of the cheapest, fastest documents in US business administration. In Wyoming it's literally free and downloadable in about a minute.
This guide covers what the certificate is, when you actually need one (and when you don't), what it costs state by state, and how to order it from anywhere in the world.
States name this certificate differently, which causes most of the confusion around it:
If a bank asks for a "letter of good standing" and your state issues a "certificate of status," that's the document they mean. Whatever your state calls it, it certifies the same facts: your LLC exists, it's active, and it's current on its state obligations.
You do not need a certificate of good standing to run your business day to day, and you don't need to keep one "on file." It's a snapshot document — requesters want a recently issued one, so you order it when asked, not in advance.
The situations where someone will ask:
If none of these apply to you right now, you don't need one right now. Plenty of LLCs operate for years without ever ordering a certificate — and that's fine.
A certificate of good standing doesn't technically expire, but nobody accepts an old one. Whoever requests it will specify how recent it must be — most commonly issued within the last 30, 60, or 90 days (six months at the most generous).
The practical rule: order the certificate when it's requested, not before. It costs $0–$50 and takes minutes to days to obtain, so there's nothing to gain from stockpiling one.
You order the certificate from the same office that formed your LLC — the Secretary of State (or its equivalent). Here's the process in the four states most non-residents use:
Wyoming deserves the highlight: the state issues certificates of good standing free of charge, online, instantly. Search your LLC on the Wyoming SoS business portal, open its record, and generate the certificate as a PDF. This is one of the small ways Wyoming stays the most non-resident-friendly formation state.
Florida issues the Certificate of Status through Sunbiz for $5 — you can also buy it as a $5 add-on when you first form the LLC.
Delaware's short form ($50) certifies good standing and covers almost every use case — banks, foreign qualification, lenders. The long form ($175) additionally lists the company's filing history and is only needed when someone specifically asks for it.
New Mexico's certificate costs $25 for LLCs and is generated through the state's online portal.
One prerequisite in every state: the certificate only issues if your LLC actually is in good standing. If you've missed an annual report or fee, fix that first — more on this below.
You can request a certificate of good standing from outside the United States without visiting a state office, but the ordering process and delivery method vary by state.
Wyoming provides a free certificate through its online business portal. Florida allows online ordering and emails the Certificate of Status as a PDF once payment has been processed. New Mexico certificate requests are handled through the Secretary of State’s online business portal.
Delaware is different. You can submit a certificate request electronically through the Delaware Division of Corporations, but the online service is for submission only. Delaware does not return official certificates by email or fax. The completed certificate is sent by regular USPS mail or by FedEx or UPS if you provide a valid courier account number. You must therefore allow for physical delivery when a Delaware certificate is required.
Two tips from the requests we see most often:
If you would rather not navigate the state portal or arrange physical delivery, StartFleet can obtain certificates of good standing as a standalone service. The document issued by the state is the same whether you order it yourself or use a service provider.
The certificate only reflects your underlying status — so the real work is staying compliant. For a typical non-resident-owned LLC, good standing rests on three things:
Our guide to annual compliance for non-resident-owned LLCs covers the full calendar, including the federal filings that have nothing to do with the state certificate.
If the state refuses to issue the certificate, your LLC has fallen out of compliance — usually a missed annual report or unpaid fee. The fix is almost always mechanical:
Falling out of good standing is common and fixable. Staying out of it is the dangerous part: a dissolved LLC can lose its liability protection and its name.
Not for everyday operations. It's required situationally — when a bank, lender, payment platform, buyer, or another state's foreign-qualification process asks for it. No law requires you to hold one otherwise.
Yes. "Letter of good standing" is the informal name for the same state-issued document. Certificate of status (Florida, California), certificate of existence (Tennessee, North Carolina), and certificate of fact — status (Texas) are also the same thing under different state names.
Between $0 and $50 for LLCs in most states: free in Wyoming, $5 in Florida, $25 in New Mexico, $50 in Delaware (short form).
The document itself doesn't expire, but requesters set their own freshness window — usually 30 to 90 days from the issue date. Order it when asked, not in advance.
In many states, yes—but online ordering does not always mean electronic delivery. Wyoming provides an instant, free PDF download, while Florida accepts online orders and delivers the Certificate of Status electronically. New Mexico accepts certificate requests through its online business portal.
Delaware allows you to submit the request online, but it does not deliver the completed certificate by email or fax. The official certificate is returned by USPS or by FedEx or UPS if you provide a courier account number.
You do not need to visit the United States to request a certificate, but processing times, delivery methods, and mailing requirements vary by state.
The state agency that registered your LLC — the Secretary of State in Wyoming, Delaware, and New Mexico; the Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) in Florida. The IRS has nothing to do with it: federal tax documents like the EIN verification letter (147C) are a separate system.
Rarely. A newly approved LLC is in good standing by default, and your stamped Articles of Organization usually satisfy early requests. Some banks still ask for a certificate of status during onboarding.
The state won't issue the certificate, and prolonged non-compliance leads to administrative dissolution. File the overdue report, pay the fees, reinstate if necessary, and the certificate becomes available again — often the same day.
A certificate of good standing is a cheap, on-demand document — not something to maintain, stockpile, or worry about. What deserves your attention is the status behind it: annual reports filed, fees paid, registered agent active. Keep those three things true and the certificate is always minutes away.
If you're forming your LLC now, our complete guide to US LLCs for non-residents covers the full journey — and StartFleet clients get compliance alerts so annual deadlines never sneak past, plus certificates of good standing on request whenever a bank asks. View plans →
Elena Rossi leads corporate operations and client support strategies at StartFleet. Drawing on years of direct industry experience in business incorporation, entity structuring, and ongoing regulatory compliance, she ensures that founders have the reliable, up-to-date information they need to scale safely. Elena is passionate about removing the friction from small business growth. In her free time, she is an avid home chef and amateur landscape photographer.
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