Updated September 11, 2026. Quick answer: In Tennessee, this document is called a Certificate of Existence (the Secretary of State also calls it a Certificate of Existence/Authorization), issued by the Secretary of State. $20.00 per certification, per Tenn. Code Ann. Section 48-249-1007(a)(32): ‘Application for certificate of existence or authorization … $20.00.’
What it’s called and who issues it
Tennessee calls this document a Certificate of Existence (the Secretary of State also calls it a Certificate of Existence/Authorization), issued by the Secretary of State.
The fee
| Standard fee | $20.00 |
| Full fee detail | $20.00 per certification, per Tenn. Code Ann. Section 48-249-1007(a)(32): ‘Application for certificate of existence or authorization … $20.00.’ |
| Expedited/rush fee | $20.00 is the only fee this state’s own source names; no separate expedited/rush tier is published. |
| Fee confirmed | $20.00 as read directly from the state’s own site or fee schedule this session. |
How fast you can get it
The Secretary of State’s own guide states the certificate ‘may be requested, paid for and received online’ with a required filing fee of $20 per set; the Secretary has also issued a public scam warning that third-party mailers charge far more (reported as high as $175.50) for the identical document.
What makes this state different
Tennessee’s own Secretary of State has publicly warned that scam mailers charge multiples of the real fee for this exact certificate, and the $20 figure traces directly to the codified fee statute rather than only an administrative form.
A note on sourcing: sos.tn.gov’s own pages returned HTTP 403 to this session’s automated fetcher (a User-Agent filter, not a dead page); the $20 figure is confirmed directly and live this session from the codified statute (Tenn. Code Ann. Section 48-249-1007(a)(32), read live via a FindLaw mirror) and corroborated by a Wayback Machine capture of the Secretary of State’s own order-copies guide page, which states the identical $20 figure in the state’s own words.
| Fee/process source | Secretary of State |
| Also see | Tennessee Secretary of State, Order Copies & Certificates guide |
| Confidence | High |
Every fee on this page was read directly from the state’s own Secretary of State (or equivalent agency) site or fee-schedule PDF this session, or, where that site blocked automated access, from an archived snapshot of the same official document or independently cross-checked legal-directory sources (disclosed below). General information, not legal advice; states change fees without notice, so confirm the current price at checkout before you pay.