Virginia Business Entity Search

Official agency: Virginia State Corporation Commission, Clerk’s Office (Clerk’s Information System)

Open Official Government SearchOpens cis.scc.virginia.gov in a new tab. This is the official government site, not EntityLocator.

Direct links on the official site

MatchingStarts With, Exact Match or Contains.
Entity Name, Entity ID, Filing Number
Principal NameChoose Individual (First Name and Last Name) or Entity.
Registered Agent NameChoose Individual (First Name and Last Name) or Entity.
Designee NameFirst Name and Last Name.
Advanced optionsEntity Type, Document Type, Jurisdiction Type (All, Virginia, Foreign), Entity Status (All, Pending Active, Active, Inactive, Pending Inactive), Name Type, Industry Code and Date of Formation (Start and End).
Name Type filterFictitious Name, Legal Name, Previous Legal Name, Reserved Name, Designated Name, Registered Name, Former Name or Former Designated Name.
Address searchTick Principal Office Address or Registered Office Address. An address search requires an Address plus a City or Zip Code.

Open the full CIS business search using the button above. If it sends you to a cookie screen, accept cookies to continue. The site would not proceed when cookies were rejected.
Enter an Entity Name and choose Starts With, Exact Match or Contains, or enter an Entity ID if you know it. The page asks you to use one primary search field.
Optionally expand Advanced Search Options to narrow by entity type, status, jurisdiction, formation dates or another filter. Several advanced fields can be combined.
Select Search. A reCAPTCHA component is on the page; it did not show a challenge in our test, but one could appear.
Read the results with the Name Type column in mind, then select the linked Entity ID of the entity you want.
Review Entity Information, then the Registered Agent and Principal Office sections.
Select Filing History to see filings, with View Details links for documents. The record also has buttons for RA History, Name History, Previous Registrations, Protected Series and Garnishment Designees, which we did not fully review.

The results table has the columns Entity ID, Entity Name, Name Type, Entity Type, Series LLC, Principal Office Address, RA Name and Status. A search for a well-known company name returned 163 rows across seven pages, including legal and fictitious names, so check Name Type before treating a row as an entity’s legal name.
A record can show the entity name, ID, type, status, Series LLC indicator, reason for status, Formation Date, Status Date, VA Qualification Date, period of duration, industry code and jurisdiction.
It can also show Annual Report Due Date, Charter Fee, Registration Fee Due Date, the registered agent’s type, locality, qualification, name and registered office address, and the principal office address.
Not every field is filled in. In the foreign LLC we reviewed, Formation Date was N/A and a separate VA Qualification Date was shown. Don’t substitute one for the other.
Filing History has the columns Received Date, Effective Date, Filing Number, Microfilm Number, Document Type, Status, Amendment Type, Source, Page Count and View.
Results can be exported to Word, Excel, CSV and PDF. The displayed limits were 5,000 records for Word and 15,000 for PDF. We did not download an export.

Basic search, record details and filing history were viewed without login or payment. The CIS recommends a current browser on a PC and does not recommend mobile use.
Noncertified online images are free. Official guidance says images are generally available for documents filed on or after January 1, 1997, and that rejected or withdrawn submissions are not available to the public online.
Certificates and certified copies are separate services. Instant online certificates are $6 each, and online certified copies are $6 per request with no page charge.
Paper copies are free for 25 or fewer pages, $10 for 26 to 50 pages and $20 for 51 or more. Paper certification adds $6 per document. These charges do not apply to viewing online images.
Filing and annual registration fees are separate transactions.
A status of Active is not proof of licensing, reputation or unrestricted authority to perform a regulated activity.
The separate name-availability service wasn’t tested. A normal search result does not establish a name is available or approved.

Sources reviewed: November 4, 2026. Official sites change; always confirm current details on the government site.

Research for this guide used the official Virginia CIS in a web browser. A name search, one entity record and its filing history were tested.