The California Secretary of State announced that, effective Tuesday, January 21, 2025, the following registration forms will be accessible and submitted only online through BIZFILE ONLINE. The PDF versions of these forms will no longer be available on the FORMS, SAMPLES AND FEES page.
• Formation – Articles of Organization (LLC-1)
• Application to Register a Foreign Limited Liability Company LLC-5)
• Certificate of Limited Partnership (LP-1)
• Application for Registration of Foreign Limited Partnership (LP-5)
• Articles of Incorporation – General Stock (ARTS-GS)
• Articles of Incorporation – Close (ARTS-CL)
• Articles of Incorporation – Professional (ARTS-PC)
• Statement and Designation by Foreign Corporation – Stock/Nonprofit (S&DC-S/N)
• Statement and Designation by Foreign Corporation – Professional (S&DC-PC)
• Articles of Incorporation – Nonprofit Mutual Benefit (ARTS-MU)
• Articles of Incorporation – Common Interest Development (ARTS-CID)
• Articles of Incorporation – Nonprofit Public Benefit (ARTS-PB-501)
• Articles of Incorporation – Nonprofit Religious (ARTS-RE)
Under the California Corporations Code, limited liability companies and limited partnership formation filings and registrations must be made on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State. Because the Secretary of State is looking to automate the filing process, the PDF forms won’t be available to print out and submit. The registration or filing must be made through BIZFILE ONLINE.
What about corporations? That’s a different story. The statute does not require using a form prescribed by the Secretary of State.
So, although the Secretary of State provides for online filing of articles of incorporation and doesn’t provide articles of incorporation as PDF for downloading, the Secretary of State will still accept custom-drafted articles of incorporation (and amendments and restatements) that are either uploaded via BIZFILE ONLINE or submitted in paper form over the counter.
That’s good news because, for many lawyers, the standard online forms are inadequate.
