California certificate of good standing
Find the official ordering service and document fees for California. Your recipient may ask for a certificate of status or existence, a certified filing copy, or an apostille; check which document it needs before ordering.
Open official certificate service ↗California certificate fees and delivery
California issues a Certificate of Status through BizFile Online. The SOS's standard certificate fee is generally $25.00, with expedited and special-handling charges where requested. Online orders can be produced electronically when eligible; paper or certified delivery adds handling and mailing time. The certificate confirms the SOS record and does not certify California tax compliance unless a separate FTB document is obtained.
Certified copies of filed documents
California certified-copy charges vary by document type and page count. The requester orders through BizFile Online or the SOS business-records process and should expect a certification charge plus copy/page charges under the current schedule; the reviewed official pages did not establish one universal flat-plus-per-page amount for every entity record. Select certified copies when a bank, court, foreign authority, or apostille destination requires them.
California apostilles and authentication
California apostilles are handled by the Secretary of State's Apostille and Authentication unit. The official business-entities forms page and authentication instructions route the request: https://www.sos.ca.gov/notary/authentication. Submit the original certified California public record, payment, destination country, and return/pickup instructions. Fees and counter/mail processing times depend on service method and current schedule; the apostille authenticates the signature/seal, not the document's business facts.
Which document should you order?
- Proof of current registry standing
- Ask for the state’s certificate of status, existence, or good standing. It is different from a public search result and may not establish tax clearance.
- Proof of what was filed
- Order a certified copy of the specific formation document, amendment, or other filing requested.
- A document for use abroad
- Ask the receiving authority whether it requires an apostille or another form of authentication, and whether it accepts electronic documents.
Check the record before ordering
Confirm the legal name, entity number, and recipient’s required issue date. A missed report or other delinquency may need to be resolved before a certificate can be issued.