{"data":{"id":"us-nc/n.c.-gen.-stat.-55-15-03","jurisdiction":"us-nc","citation":"N.C. Gen. Stat. § 55-15-03","heading":"Application for certificate of authority.","body":"(a)\tA foreign corporation may apply for a certificate of authority to transact business in this State by delivering an application to the Secretary of State for filing. The application must set forth:\n(1)\tThe name of the foreign corporation or, if its name is unavailable for use in this State, a corporate name that satisfies the requirements of Article 3 of Chapter 55D of the General Statutes;\n(2)\tThe name of the state or country under whose law it is incorporated;\n(3)\tIts date of incorporation and period of duration;\n(4)\tThe street address, and the mailing address if different from the street address, of its principal office if any, and the county in which the principal office, if any, is located;\n(5)\tThe street address, and the mailing address if different from the street address, of its registered office in this State, the county in which the registered office is located, and the name of its registered agent at that office; and\n(6)\tThe names and usual business addresses of its current officers.\n(b)\tThe foreign corporation shall deliver with the completed application a certificate of existence (or a document of similar import) duly authenticated by the secretary of state or other official having custody of corporate records in the state or country under whose law it is incorporated.\n(c)\tIf the Secretary of State finds that the application conforms to law he shall, when all fees have been tendered as prescribed in this Chapter:\n(1)\tEndorse on the application and an exact or conformed copy thereof the word \"filed\" and the hour, day, month, and year of the filing thereof;\n(2)\tFile in his office the application and the certificate of existence (or document of similar import as described in subsection (b) of this section);\n(3)\tIssue a certificate of authority to transact business in this State to which he shall affix the exact or conformed copy of the application; and\n(4)\tSend to the foreign corporation or its representative the certificate of authority, together with the exact or conformed copy of the application affixed thereto. (1901, c. 2, s. 57; 1903, c. 766; Rev., s. 1194; 1915, c. 263; C.S., s. 1181; 1935, c. 44; 1939, c. 57; G.S., s. 55-118; 1953, c. 1152; 1955, c. 1371, s. 1; 1957, c. 979, s. 8; 1969, c. 751, s. 41; 1989, c. 265, s. 1; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 1024, ss. 12.1(b), 12.21; 2001-358, s. 17; 2001-387, ss. 27A, 169(a), 173, 175(a); 2001-413, s. 6.)","path":["Chapter 55. North Carolina Business Corporation Act.","Article 15. Foreign Corporations.","Part 1. Certificate of Authority."],"source_url":"https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_55/GS_55-15-03.html","current_through":"S.L. 2026-30","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T18:05:57Z","sha256":"d08be7f1e27f0a424c0fdd8e3b498347315c3749398d50fc3f0092ae97d834d4","source_id":"us-nc","stale":false,"prev":"us-nc/n.c.-gen.-stat.-55-15-02","next":"us-nc/n.c.-gen.-stat.-55-15-04"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}