Updated September 12, 2026. Quick answer: In Washington, this document is called a Certificate of Existence, issued by the Secretary of State (Corporations & Charities Division). $20.00 for a Certificate of Existence/Good Standing, per the Secretary of State’s own current ‘Fee Schedules & Priority Services’ page: ‘Certificate of Existence/Good Standing $20.’ The same $20 figure for the short-form certificate is also codified at WAC 434-112-085(7)(j): ‘Certificate of existence – short form/certificate of good standing … Twenty dollars.’
What it’s called and who issues it
Washington calls this document a Certificate of Existence, issued by the Secretary of State (Corporations & Charities Division).
The fee
| Standard fee | $20.00 |
| Full fee detail | $20.00 for a Certificate of Existence/Good Standing, per the Secretary of State’s own current ‘Fee Schedules & Priority Services’ page: ‘Certificate of Existence/Good Standing $20.’ The same $20 figure for the short-form certificate is also codified at WAC 434-112-085(7)(j): ‘Certificate of existence – short form/certificate of good standing … Twenty dollars.’ |
| Expedited/rush fee | The Secretary of State’s own ‘Fee Schedules & Priority Services’ page publishes no expedited or same-day price for a certificate request: its ‘Certificates & Records’ section lists the $20 certificate fee and standard processing of 7 to 10 business days, and no rush pricing at all. Washington’s codified rule sets the division’s special-service fees separately: WAC 434-112-080(3) sets a $100 expedited service fee, completed within three working days of submission, and WAC 434-112-080(1) a $150 same-day front-counter service fee at the Tumwater or Cheney office, each charged in addition to the applicable fee. This session could not confirm on the agency’s own site that either fee is assessed on a certificate order, so no rush total is published here; confirm the current charge with the division before you pay. |
| Fee confirmed | $20.00 as read directly from the state’s own site or fee schedule this session. |
How fast you can get it
Requests go through the Secretary of State’s mail or in-person channels; standard processing is typically 7 to 10 business days from receipt, subject to longer times at high volume. This session found no confirmed instant self-serve online purchase option on the agency’s own site; its online CCFS filing portal is a JavaScript application this session could not read directly, so no claim is made about it either way.
What makes this state different
Washington is one of the few states with a published same-day, walk-in option: the Secretary of State’s Tumwater and Cheney offices run same-day front-counter service, for which WAC 434-112-080(1) sets a $150 service fee charged in addition to the applicable fee, instead of the standard 7-to-10-business-day mail turnaround. The agency’s published fee schedule does not price same-day service for certificate requests specifically, so confirm the total with the division before you order.
A note on sourcing: The $20 standard fee is read directly from the Secretary of State’s own current ‘Fee Schedules & Priority Services’ page, fetched live this session. Washington’s codified administrative rule, WAC 434-112-085(7), lists two certificate tiers for Title 23B entities – ‘short form/certificate of good standing’ at $20 and ‘long form’ at $30 – while the live current fee-schedule page lists both ‘Certificate of Existence/Good Standing’ and ‘Certificate of Existence/Long Form’ at $20, with no $30 tier anywhere on it. This page reports the live current page’s $20 figure as the standard fee (the schedule a reader would actually be charged from today) and discloses the rule text’s un-reconciled $30 long-form line rather than silently picking one. RCW 23.95.260 confirms fees for this certificate are set by Secretary of State rule, not fixed in statute – consistent with a codified rule figure lagging an administratively updated current schedule rather than the two sources describing different documents.
| Fee/process source | Secretary of State (Corporations & Charities Division) |
| Also see | WAC 434-112-085 (certificate fees) |
| 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.