Valpro Attorney Services handles eligible business filings, document submissions and retrieval of available business records through the California Secretary of State. Our office is in Sacramento, the same city as the Secretary of State's public counter. Send a Service Request with the entity name and the filing or record you need.
What we handle
- Business filings and document submissions for corporations, LLCs and partnerships, prepared by you and submitted for you
- Certificates of status (good standing) for a corporation, LLC or limited partnership
- Certified copies of filed documents, such as articles, amendments and statements of information
- Plain copies of entity records for due diligence or litigation
- Paper record requests for entity types the online search doesn't cover, such as limited liability partnerships and general partnerships
- UCC filings and tax liens
- Apostille and authentication of documents
- Substituted service through the Secretary of State when a court has ordered it
You prepare and sign the filing. We don't give legal or tax advice about what to file.
Records the Secretary of State keeps
The Secretary of State's free Business Search on bizfile Online gives access to over 17 million corporation, LLC and limited partnership images. The data includes:
- Entity name, number, status and formation or registration date
- Street and mailing addresses
- Name and address of the agent for service of process
- Officers, directors, members or managers, and their addresses
- The due date of the next Statement of Information
Certificates of status, certified copies and plain copies for corporations, LLCs and limited partnerships are available through bizfile Online. Other entity types, including registered general partnerships and limited liability partnerships, are requested in person or by mail with the Secretary of State's Business Entities records request form. Source: Secretary of State information requests page, checked October 2026.
When is a Statement of Information due?
A corporation files its first Statement of Information within 90 days of filing its original articles and then every year during its filing period. An LLC files its first within 90 days of filing its articles or registering, then every 2 years.
| Entity | First statement | After that | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporation | Within 90 days of filing its original articles | Annually, during its filing period | Corp. Code § 1502(a) |
| LLC | Within 90 days of filing its articles or registering | Every 2 years, during its filing period | Corp. Code § 17702.09(a) |
A corporation's statement must designate an agent for service of process: a California resident or a corporate agent that has filed a certificate under Corp. Code § 1505. Checked October 2026.
When can a business be served through the Secretary of State?
When a corporation's agent has resigned, can't be found at the listed address with reasonable diligence, or was never named, a court can order service by hand delivery to the Secretary of State (Corp. Code § 1702 for California corporations, § 2111 for foreign ones). Service is complete on the 10th day after delivery.
The Secretary of State accepts this only by hand, at its public counter at 1500 11th Street, 3rd Floor, Room 390, Sacramento, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding state holidays. It isn't accepted by mail or at the Los Angeles office. Bring the process, a copy of the court order and the $50 fee (Gov. Code § 12197). Source: SOS service of process page, checked October 2026.
For the methods that come before a court order, read serving a business in California.
What do I send for a Secretary of State filing?
- The exact entity name and Secretary of State file number, if you have it
- The filing you need submitted, as a signed PDF, or the record you need pulled
- Certified or plain copies, and how many
- For substituted service: the process and the signed court order
Send up to 5 PDFs with the Service Request, or email Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com. Between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays a reply should come within 5–10 minutes. If it doesn't, call or email again.
Choose Rush or Standard on the Service Request, and call 855-582-5776 to confirm timing for anything tied to a deadline. Every update comes by email, in the same thread as your confirmation; reply to it any time to ask where the filing stands.
Need a court record instead? See document retrieval or Court Filings.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change; check the Secretary of State's site or ask an attorney about your case.