Please refer to the Notice of Change for important information regarding the expansion of and changes to expedited filing services effective September 15, 2008.

The Secretary of State offers preclearance and expedited filing services (as described below) for all documents filed with the Secretary of State pursuant to the California Corporations Code, the California Financial Code or the California Insurance Code.

• Preclearance service provides a customer with the opportunity to submit a business entity document in person to the Secretary of State's Sacramento office prior to filing to determine if the document conforms to law and to receive a preclearance response within a guaranteed time frame.

• Expedited filing service provides a customer with the opportunity to submit for filing a business entity document in person to the Secretary of State's Sacramento office and to receive a filing response within a guaranteed time frame.

On occasion, preclearance and expedited services may need to be suspended due to circumstances beyond our control. In the event of suspension of service, a notice will appear at the top of this page. The notice will be removed when the service is reinstated.

Expedited Document Filing Regulations: Effective September 15, 2008, the expedited filing service will be expanded to include a new optional class of service that provides for a guaranteed same-day response time.

A customer may submit a business entity document for preclearance prior to an intended filing date, requesting completion of preclearance in one of four of the above-specified time frames.

Preclearance requests must be delivered in person at the public counter in Sacramento, 1500 11th Street, Room 390, during regular business hours. Regular business hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding state holidays in which the Secretary of State's office is closed for business. Preclearance service is only available in the Sacramento office.

A document submitted to the Secretary of State for preclearance:

• shall contain the name of the business entity.

  NOTE: Preclearance approval does not guarantee name availability of a proposed corporation, limited liability company or limited partnership name at the time of filing. While not required, a request to reserve a proposed name for a period of 60 days, along with a $20.00 name reservation fee, can be included with the preclearance request and the applicable preclearance fee;

• may be submitted with designated blank spaces for information that does not affect the determination of the Secretary of State as to whether the eligible document will conform to law. Such information may include, but is not limited to, names of executing officers, required signatures, and dollar amounts; and

• will be reviewed and a preclearance response provided within the time frame requested, indicating whether the preclearance has been approved or denied. If the preclearance is denied, the preclearance response will state the reason(s) for the denial. A customer may request delivery of the preclearance response by one of the following means: customer pick up; email; fax; first class mail; or overnight courier (prepaid, pre-addressed overnight courier envelope must be included).

Preclearance requests must include:

• the document, in the form for which preclearance is sought (personally delivered to the Secretary of State's Sacramento office);
• the applicable preclearance fee (as described above);
• instructions as to the class of service requested and the preferred means of delivery of the preclearance response; and
• the name and telephone number of the customer to whom any questions regarding the document or service requested may be directed.

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A customer may submit a business entity document for expedited filing, requesting completion in one of two of the above-specified time frames.

Expedited filing requests must be delivered in person at the public counter in Sacramento, 1500 11th Street, Room 390, during regular business hours. Regular business hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding state holidays in which the Secretary of State's office is closed for business. The expedited filing service is only available in the Sacramento office.

A document submitted to the Secretary of State for expedited filing will be reviewed and a filing response will be provided within the time frame requested, indicating whether the document has been filed or rejected. A document must be precleared and approved to be eligible for Class A Service. If the document is rejected, the filing response will state the reason(s) for the rejection. A customer may request delivery of the filing confirmation or filing response by one of the following means: customer pick up; email; fax; first class mail; or overnight courier (prepaid, pre-addressed overnight courier envelope must be included).

• the document, containing required signatures (personally delivered to the Secretary of State's Sacramento office);
• two copies of the document;
• a copy of the approved preclearance response, if Class A Service is requested;
• the applicable filing fee;
• the applicable expedite fee (as described above). The expedite fee must be remitted by separate check and will be retained whether the document is filed or rejected;
• instructions as to the class of service requested and the preferred means of delivery of the filing confirmation or filing response; and
• the name and telephone number of the customer to whom any questions regarding the document or service requested may be directed.

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Download Preclearance and Expedited Filing Information