DC Letter of Good Standing: Requirements, Request, and Validity

To get a DC Certificate of Good Standing, submit a request through the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection’s CorpOnline portal and pay the $50 filing fee. If your entity is current on its biennial report, has a registered agent on file, and owes nothing significant to the District, the portal issues the PDF certificate for immediate download. The certificate confirms that your business entity is legally formed in the District and in compliance with the obligations the Mayor’s office verifies under D.C. Code § 29-102.08.

How to Request the Certificate

Go to corponline.dlcp.dc.gov. You’ll need two pieces of information: your entity’s exact legal name as it appears on your formation documents, and the entity file number assigned by the Corporations Division when you registered. If you can’t find the file number, look it up through the public records search on the DLCP website.¹

Be precise with the name. A missing comma or an abbreviated word that should be spelled out can keep the system from matching your record, so keep the original formation documents next to you while you file.

The filing fee is $50 for business corporations and statutory trusts.² Payment runs through the portal’s credit card checkout. Once payment clears and the system confirms your entity meets every requirement, you receive a PDF certificate immediately, carrying the official seal of the District of Columbia and the signature of the Superintendent of Corporations.³

Mail requests go to the Corporations Division at PO Box 92300, Washington, DC 20090, but they take substantially longer to process. If your deadline is tight, use the portal.

What DC Checks Before Issuing

D.C. Code § 29-102.08 spells out the conditions your entity must meet. The Corporations Division verifies all of them automatically when you submit:

Your articles of incorporation, articles of organization, or other public organic record are on file and in effect.
Your most recent biennial report has been delivered to the Mayor.
All fees and penalties owed to the District through the Corporations Division are paid in full.
No administrative dissolution proceeding is pending against the entity.

If any one of these fails, the request is denied.⁴

Fixing the Common Blockers Before You File

Biennial Report

A missed biennial report is the single most common reason a DC entity falls out of good standing. Under D.C. Code § 29-102.11, every domestic filing entity, limited liability partnership, and registered foreign entity has to file one. The first report is due by April 1 of the year after you register, and subsequent reports follow by April 1 every two years after that.⁵ Missing it triggers a late penalty, and continued noncompliance leads to administrative dissolution. File the overdue report through CorpOnline, pay the penalty, and your status should update.³

Registered Agent

Your entity must maintain a registered agent with a physical DC address at all times. D.C. Code § 29-104.04 allows a commercial registered agent, a noncommercial registered agent with a DC address, or an officer or employee at a DC business office.⁶ Letting the agent lapse is itself grounds for administrative dissolution. If you don’t want to list your own address, commercial registered agent services typically run $49 to $199 per year. The filing has to include the agent’s consent, so you can’t name someone without their knowledge.

Clean Hands

Before the District will issue most licenses, permits, or certificates, your entity must satisfy the Clean Hands requirement under D.C. Code § 47-2862. The threshold for business entities is $1,000: the District will deny your request if your entity owes more than that in outstanding fines, penalties, interest, or past-due taxes to the Office of Tax and Revenue or the Department of Employment Services. The lower $100 threshold applies only to DMV-related matters like parking fines, not to business certificates.⁷

The statute also blocks issuance if you have any unfiled DC tax returns, regardless of the amount owed, and unpaid water and sewer charges can trigger a denial too.⁷ Check your status through the Office of Tax and Revenue before you request the certificate. Clearing debts first saves you the $50 fee and a rejected application.⁸

How Long the Certificate Stays Current

The certificate reflects your entity’s status on the date it was issued. There is no expiration date printed on the document, but the parties who request it generally expect something recent. Most banks, lenders, and state registration offices accept a certificate that’s 60 to 90 days old. Some are stricter. If the requesting party hasn’t told you how fresh they need it, ask before you order so you don’t pay for it twice.

Because the certificate is a snapshot, anything that changes after issuance isn’t reflected. A certificate downloaded today still shows good standing as of today, even if your entity falls behind tomorrow.

If Your Entity Has Already Been Dissolved

If DC has already administratively dissolved your entity, you can’t get a Certificate of Good Standing until you reinstate. D.C. Code § 29-106.03 lets you apply for reinstatement once you’ve cured whatever caused the dissolution: all overdue biennial reports filed, a registered agent appointed if yours lapsed, and every fee and penalty paid, both the ones due at the time of dissolution and any that accumulated while the entity was inactive.⁹

The filing is Form GN-5 (Reinstatement of Domestic Filing Entity), which you can submit through CorpOnline or by mail. It asks for your entity name, the date of administrative dissolution, and confirmation that the grounds for dissolution have been cured.¹⁰ The reinstatement fee for a domestic business corporation is $300, on top of the back fees and penalties you owe.² The total climbs fast if the entity has been inactive across multiple biennial cycles. Once reinstated, your entity is treated as if the dissolution never happened, and you can then request a fresh Certificate of Good Standing.

Using the Certificate in Another Country

If you need the certificate for use abroad, you’ll likely need an apostille attached. The Office of Notary Commissions and Authentications (ONCA) within the Office of the Secretary handles this, at $15 per document.¹¹

For countries in the Hague Apostille Convention, the ONCA apostille makes the certificate acceptable directly in the destination country. For countries outside the Convention, the chain is longer: ONCA authentication, then U.S. Department of State authentication, then legalization at the destination country’s embassy or consulate.

You can submit documents in person at 899 North Capitol Street NE, Suite 8100, Washington, DC 20002. Walk-ins are accepted from 9 AM to 1 PM on weekdays. Mail-in submissions are also accepted but require a prepaid, self-addressed return envelope. ONCA’s authentication validates the signature or seal on the document, not the underlying content.¹¹

1
Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection – Corporate Registration
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Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. Corporations Division Fees – Business Corporation
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Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. Corporations Division – Business Registration FAQs
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 29-102.08 – Certificate of Good Standing or Registration
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 29-102.11 – Biennial Report for Mayor
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 29-104.04 – Designation of Registered Agent
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 47-2862 – Prohibition Against Issuance of License or Permit
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Office of Tax and Revenue. Certificate of Clean Hands
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 29-106.03 – Reinstatement
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Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. Reinstatement of Domestic Filing Entity
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Office of the Secretary. Authentications