Nevada Corporation Resident Agent – How To Qualify?

September 20, 2004
By Richard Smith

Whether or not a corporation maintains a physical presence in the State of Nevada, any corporation incorporated in Nevada is legally required to nominate and maintain a Nevada Corporation Resident Agent. The purpose for having such a resident agent is in order to take delivery of any official documentation the state itself may wish to deliver on the corporate entity; or in order to be served with any lawsuit that may be served on the entity.

As can be seen then, the reason for having an agent is not to necessarily benefit the corporation, indeed it highly unlikely that this will be the case. Nor, as a legal entity, is a corporation likely to be able to take delivery of any physical documentation. So, how do you qualify to be a resident agent in Nevada State? In short, you need to:

• be a resident of the state, or be located in the state;
• maintain a physical address in the state (in which regard, a P.O. Box is not sufficient);
• be of legal age (if an individual);
• maintain a physical service business office, which must also have normal office hours; and
• sign a Certificate of Acceptance on the Articles of Incorporation of the corporate entity.

Although a number of service providers offer their services to act as agent for those entities incorporated in the state but who do not have an actual business presence in the state, ideally your agent should be an officer of your corporation – such as a director or employee – residing in the state. If such an arrangement is not possibly, due to the official nature of the documentation that your agent may receive from time to time, it is important that you select the services of an agent you know to be trustworthy and who will ensure that they forward documentation on to you in a timely manner.

In its crudest form, the resident agent can be viewed as being the corporation’s nominated postal delivery boy to take physical possession of any official documentation. In nominated someone to carry out this role, consumers and state officials can rest assured that any culpable corporate entity cannot hide behind a defense that it has not actually taken delivery of any documentation served on it.