A Certificate of Existence is issued for a domestic entity that is currently in good standing on the records of the Iowa Secretary of State. 

To print a Certificate of Existence, you will search our database for your entity. If searching by the name, the results list will pop up and you will need to click on the business number to access your Business Entity Summary. If you search your business by the business number in the second box, it will take you straight to your summary.

On the summary, above the business name, will be a link titled “Print Certificate of Existence.” The page that comes up will have you choose a payment method; as soon as the payment goes through, you will be brought to a receipt page and the link for the Certificate to print will be on this page. Do not close out of the page until you have printed your Existence. 

NOTICE: If you are a foreign entity registered in Iowa, you will be able to obtain a Certificate of Authorization/Registration through this process. This will notate that the entity is authorized to transact business within the state of Iowa. If you are wanting a Certificate of Existence, you will need to contact the state/country of incorporation to obtain the original Existence. 

If you are needing to obtain an original certificate issued within office, you can send correspondence requesting an original Certificate of Existence with the $5 fee, as well as the address to return the certificate to. 

If you are looking to verify a certificate number, you can use the Certificate Validation Tool