A. Anyone may apply to the Commission to furnish a certificate of good standing for a domestic or foreign corporation.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 13.1-809

  • Commission: means the State Corporation Commission of Virginia. See Virginia Code 13.1-803
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • domestic corporation: means a corporation not authorized by law to issue shares, irrespective of the nature of the business to be transacted, organized under this chapter or existing pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth on January 1, 1986, or that, by virtue of articles of incorporation, amendment, or merger, has become a domestic corporation of the Commonwealth, even though also being a corporation organized under laws other than the laws of the Commonwealth or that has become a domestic corporation of the Commonwealth pursuant to Article 11. See Virginia Code 13.1-803
  • Entity: includes any domestic or foreign corporation; any domestic or foreign stock corporation; any domestic or foreign unincorporated entity; any estate or trust; and any state, the United States, and any foreign government. See Virginia Code 13.1-803
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Foreign corporation: means a corporation not authorized by law to issue shares, organized under laws other than the laws of the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 13.1-803
  • Interest: means either or both of the following rights under the organic law of a foreign or domestic unincorporated entity:

    1. See Virginia Code 13.1-803

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
  • Transact business: includes the conduct of affairs by any corporation that is not organized for profit. See Virginia Code 13.1-803

B. The certificate of good standing shall state that the corporation is in good standing in the Commonwealth and shall set forth:

1. The domestic corporation‘s corporate name or the foreign corporation‘s corporate name and, if applicable, the designated name adopted for use in the Commonwealth;

2. That (i) the domestic corporation is duly incorporated under the law of the Commonwealth, the date of its incorporation, which is the original date of incorporation or formation of the domesticated or converted corporation if the corporation was domesticated from a foreign jurisdiction or was converted from a domestic eligible entity, and the period of its duration if less than perpetual or (ii) the foreign corporation is authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth; and

3. If requested, a list of all certificates relating to articles filed with the Commission that have been issued by the Commission with respect to such corporation and their respective effective dates.

C. A domestic corporation or a foreign corporation authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth shall be deemed to be in good standing if:

1. All fees, fines, penalties, and interest assessed, imposed, charged, or to be collected by the Commission pursuant to this chapter have been paid;

2. An annual report required by § 13.1-936 has been delivered to and accepted by the Commission; and

3. No certificate of dissolution, certificate of withdrawal, or order of reinstatement prohibiting the domestic corporation from engaging in business until it changes its corporate name has been issued or such certificate or prohibition has not become effective or no longer is in effect.

D. The certificate may state any other facts of record in the office of the clerk of the Commission that may be requested by the applicant.

E. Subject to any qualification stated in the certificate, a certificate of good standing issued by the Commission may be relied upon as conclusive evidence that the domestic or foreign corporation is in good standing in the Commonwealth.

1985, c. 522; 1988, c. 405; 1993, c. 60; 2006, c. 663; 2007, c. 925; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 487.