Business Registration Manual

Reinstatement and Requalification

If a North Carolina business entity fails to perform any of the duties described in statute, it may be administratively dissolved. Once an entity is administratively dissolved, it may apply to the Secretary of State for reinstatement by submitting an application and correcting all reasons that led to the dissolution or else proving to the Secretary that the grounds do not exist.

When a domestic (NC) entity is dissolved, it’s called administrative dissolution. When a foreign (out-of-state) entity is dissolved, it’s called administrative revocation.

Reinstatement and requalification are the processes for reinstating a business that has been previously dissolved or revoked.

What’s the difference between reinstatement and requalification?

Reinstatement is for domestic (NC-only) entities, and requalification is for foreign (out-of- state) entities. It’s essentially the same process for each with minor differences. Follow our online reinstatement/requalification process described in this manual or mail in your reinstatement/requalification documents and fees.

Note: Note: If the ground for administrative dissolution was failure to file an annual report timely, and you want to mail in the application, you need to search for your company name and download a pre-populated annual report. You must file an annual report and pay the applicable filing fee for each year that is missing. This means you may need to file several separate annual reports.