DCRA's Corporations Division serves as the Office of Corporate Registrar for the District of Columbia. The Corporations Division registers all entities, domestic (DC) or foreign (non-District) that conduct business in the District of Columbia.

This is the first step in business regulatory compliance. This registration is separate and must be done before entity applies for a business license, permit, tax registration or any other registration within the District.

If you would like to operate in the District of Columbia as a nonprofit and for-profit corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, general cooperative association, limited cooperative association, statutory trust and general partnership you must register with Corporations Division of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.
The following is the list of entities by type that are subject to mandatory registration:

• Limited Liability Companies
• Business Corporations
• Professional Corporations
• Nonprofit Corporations
• Limited Partnerships including Limited Liability Limited Partnerships
• Limited Liability Partnerships
• General Partnerships*
• General Cooperative Associations
• Limited Cooperative Associations
• Statutory Trusts

General Partnerships may but are not required to register.

The following online services are available for Corporate Filings:

Data Search, Name Reservation Filing, Report Filing, Trade Name Registration, Status Certificate Request and Domestic and Foreign Qualification and formation Filings.

Online Filing

Go to CorpOnline site at https://corp.dcra.dc.gov, create a profile, access the online services main page (use Internet Explorer 8, Chrome, Firefox or Safari) and proceed. Online filers must pay by credit card. Once filing is submitted, print the last confirmation page for your records.

The Corporations Division Program Manager serves as a Superintendent of Corporations and in that capacity acts as the Mayor’s Agent for Service of Process for businesses that are defunct, or fail to maintain an agent in the District or are operating in the District.

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers for the Most Frequently Asked Questions are available here.

How much will the filing costs? View fees for all services.

Where do we mail our filings? View payment and mailing address information.

Service of Process

The Corporations Division Program Manager serves as a Superintendent of Corporations and in that capacity acts as the Mayor’s Agent for Service of Process for businesses that are defunct, or fail to maintain an agent in the District or are operating in the District. For more information about the Service of Process, please, click here.