Michigan Business Search: A New Registry Portal, a Historic Card File and Fee Waivers for Veterans

Written by SearchSystems.net from Michigan's own systems: the Michigan Corporations Division pages, the division page on the waiver of fees for veterans, the division corporation pages, the division filing fee schedule, the MiBusiness Registry Portal page, the Corporations Division frequently asked questions, section 445.1 of the Michigan Compiled Laws on assumed names, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.

The four searches, and when to use each

The business entity search answers the ordinary question of whether a company exists and what its record says. The mark and insignia search is separate, covering trademarks, service marks and insignia registered with the state rather than federally. The certificate verification search works backwards from a document: it takes a certificate issued by the division and confirms that it is genuine, which is the tool to reach for when a certificate arrives as part of a transaction.

And the historic card file search covers the records kept before the current database, so a researcher tracing a Michigan company that existed decades ago, or tracing what became of one, should try it before concluding that nothing was ever filed.

Back to the topics

What expedited service costs

Michigan prices urgency in six steps, each charged in addition to the filing fee for the document itself. A one hour same day service costs a thousand dollars. A two hour same day service costs five hundred. Same day service costs two hundred dollars for documents relating to an existing entity, or a hundred dollars for formation and qualification documents. Twenty four hour service costs a hundred dollars for existing entity documents, or fifty dollars for formation and qualification documents.

The pattern rewards forming a new company quickly and charges more for rushing a change to an existing one, which is worth knowing when a closing date depends on an amendment rather than an incorporation.

Back to the topics

What a Michigan certificate costs, and what the copies cost

The filing fee schedule prices the certificates by what they say. A certificate of good standing for a corporation or a limited liability company costs ten dollars, as does a certificate of not canceled for a limited partnership and a certificate of status for an LLC. A certificate of fact listing every document filed for an entity costs fifty dollars, and any other certificate of fact twenty. Expedited service adds a quarter to the certificate fee, so the ten dollar certificate becomes twelve fifty.

The division questions page says a good standing certificate is requested from the entity record in the registry portal and sent to the email address on the MiLogin for Business account of the person who ordered it.

Copies follow a page count. A certified copy of the original documents and all amendments, or of annual reports and statements, has a minimum fee of sixteen dollars for the first six pages and a dollar for each further page, and an uncertified copy six dollars for the first six pages and a dollar a page after that. Expedited copies cost a quarter more, with the certified minimum rising to twenty dollars and the per page charge to a dollar twenty five.

Back to the topics

Annual reports, annual statements and the two year rule

A Michigan corporation files an annual report every year after the year it was formed, and the fee schedule makes lateness expensive by the month. A profit or professional corporation report received on time, by May 15, costs twenty five dollars; one received between May 16 and May 31 costs thirty five, in June forty five, in July fifty five, in August sixty five, and from September 1 the maximum of seventy five. A nonprofit corporation pays twenty dollars, with its date falling on October 1.

The questions page gives the sanction: a corporation can be dissolved for failing to file annual reports for two years, so a corporate record showing two missed reports is a record on its way to dissolution.

A limited liability company files an annual statement instead, due February 15, at twenty five dollars, or seventy five for a professional limited liability company with a fifty dollar late fee after February 15. A company formed or qualified after September 30 skips the February 15 that follows. An LLC that misses its statements is shown with an AR standing of Not Good rather than dissolved, and it cannot even file its own certificate of dissolution until it restores: the restoration filing costs fifty dollars plus twenty five for each missing year, or for a professional LLC one hundred twenty five for each prior year.

Back to the topics

Fee waivers for veterans

The waiver page explains why some Michigan records show filings made at no charge. Where a majority of the shares of a corporation, or of the membership interests of a limited liability company, are held by honorably discharged veterans, the division waives the fee on most documents, including annual reports and statements, though never a late filing penalty, and for a nonprofit only the initial articles are covered. Two of the published waiver forms cover orders rather than filings, so a veteran owned company can also have the charge for a certificate or a certified copy waived.

Each document needs its own signed statement of the veterans who hold the majority and the percentage each holds, together with evidence of veteran status.

Back to the topics

Filing fees around the edges

Several small fees shape what a Michigan record looks like. Reserving a name costs ten dollars, as does a certificate of assumed name and a certificate of renewal of an assumed name, which is where a Michigan trading name is registered. A certificate of change of registered office or resident agent costs five dollars, as does a certificate of appointment of a resident agent, so the agent details on a record are cheap to keep current and a stale agent address is a sign of neglect rather than of cost.

A certificate of conversion costs fifty dollars. The division publishes the full schedule, which also covers the share based fees that apply when a corporation increases its authorized shares.

Back to the topics

Assumed names at the state and at the county clerk

An entity that trades under a name other than its legal name files a certificate of assumed name with the division: ten dollars for a corporation, whether a new certificate, a renewal or a termination, and twenty five dollars for a limited liability company. Those names appear on the entity record in the business entity search, so a company trading under a brand can be found through either name. An individual or partnership trading under an assumed name files somewhere else entirely.

Under section 445.1 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, the certificate goes in duplicate to the clerk of each county where the business is conducted or has an office, giving the assumed name and the real full name and address of the owner, for a six dollar fee, and the clerk certifies and returns the duplicate. A sole proprietor is therefore found at the county clerk, not in the state portal.

The division pages also carry a standing scam notice: the department will never ask for card numbers or other personal information by phone, text, email or post, it has identified communications impersonating its staff, and it asks that such messages go unanswered and be reported to LARA-Safety@michigan.gov.

Back to the topics

Questions about looking up a Michigan business

Back to the topics

Related Michigan records

Michigan's other records guides on this site are the Michigan public records law guide for the Freedom of Information Act, the Michigan court records guide for the trial court records, the Michigan property records guide for the county registers of deeds, and the Michigan county pages for every county office.