How to Search for a Washington LLC
If you are looking for a Washington LLC, there are a few places you can look. The first is the Washington Secretary of State website.
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Overview
Go to the website of the Washington State Department of Revenue.
Click on the “Business Licensing Service” link near the bottom of the home page.
This will take you to the Business Licensing Service main page.
Click on the “Search Businesses” link in the center of the page.
This will take you to the Business Search page.
In the “Name” field, enter the name of the LLC you are searching for. You do not need to enter the LLC designation (“LLC”).
In the “City” field, enter the city where the LLC is located.
Leave the “County” field blank. The Business Search page will return results for all counties in Washington state.
Click on the “Search” button.
Click on the Business Licensing Service (BLS) link.
Click on the Business Licensing Service (BLS) link. You will be redirected to the BLS website. Scroll down to the Business Entity Search section and enter the required information. In the Entity Type field, select LLC. You can also enter the company name or registration number. If you don’t know this information, you can conduct a search by clicking on the Advanced Search link.
Click on the Business License Application.
To begin a Business License Application search, go to the Business License Application. If you are unsure of the business license you need, please use the Business License Wizard.
You will be taken to the Business License Application. Search for your business by entering:
-The business name
-The business address
-The business phone number
If you have any difficulty finding your business, please contact the Business Licensing Service at (360) 664-1600 or 1-800-452-1942.
Enter the business name in the Business Name field.
If you know the business name, enter it in the Business Name field. The business name must include at least one word. LLCs cannot be found by searching using partial business names.
From the Businesses menu, select Find a Business.
Enter the business name in the Business Name field. The business name must include at least one word. LLCs cannot be found by searching using partial business names.
From the Results page, you can:
-View basic information about the LLC, including registered agent and mailing address
-View filings and documents associated with the LLC
-View a list of officers and directors associated with the LLC
Enter the business address in the Business Address field.
If you enter an address, the search will return all business entities that have that address as either their principal office address or a mailing address. The search will also return businesses that have a registered agent at that address.
Enter the business type in the Business Type field.
From the Business Entity Search page, select the type of business entity you wish to search for from the Business Type field. You may search for businesses by entity type or filing number. To search by filing number, enter the full filing number in the Filing Number field. Entering only a partial filing number will return no results.
To search by business entity name, enter at least four characters of the business entity name in the First Name field. The more information you enter into the First Name field, the more refined your results will be. For example, if you enter “Smi” into the First Name field and select LLC from the Business Type field, you will see a list of all LLCs whose names begin with “Smi”. If you enter “Smith” into the First Name field, you will see a list of all businesses whose names begin with “Smith” including Smith & Company LLC and Smith Enterprises Corporation.
On the Business entity search page, enter the business name or UBI number of the business you want to look up, then click on the Search button. If you don’t know the UBI number, leave that field blank. If you are searching by business name, enter partial information to return a wider search result. For example, if you enter “seattle” in the business name field, businesses with “seattle” anywhere in their name will be returned in the search results.
Click on the business name in the search results.
The Department of Revenue’s Business Licensing Service (BLS) is the first stop to get your business registered and licensed in Washington state. We provide a one-stop-shop for many of the licenses, certifications, registrations, or permits required by state law.
To find out if the name you want is available for your LLC, search our Business Name Database. The database is updated nightly, so check back often.
Here are some tips for searching the database:
-Do a broad search first. For example, if you want to use the name “Washingtonians for Wildlife,” try searching just “Washingtonians” to see all businesses that include that word in their name. You can narrow your search later.
-If your first choice isn’t available, try a different spelling or different keywords. For example, if “Washingtonians for Wildlife” is taken, try “Wildlife Washingtonians” or “Friends of Washington Wildlife.”
-You can also try combining words or using abbreviations. For example, instead of “and” you could use the ampersand symbol (&), and instead of “United States” you could use “U.S.” or “USA.”
-If you still can’t find an available name, you can get help from a naming expert or check out our naming resources for more ideas.
Click on the Articles of Incorporation/Organization link.
You can access the Articles of Incorporation/Organization for a Washington LLC by clicking on the link for Business Entities on the Secretary of State’s website. From there, you will be able to search for the LLC by name or filing number. Once you have located the LLC, you can view the Articles of Incorporation/Organization and any other filings that have been made with the Secretary of State’s office.
Click on the PDF icon next to the Articles of Incorporation/Organization.
The quickest and easiest way to find out if a Washington LLC exists is to search the business entities database on the Washington Secretary of State’s website.
To perform a search, go to the business entities search page and enter the name of the LLC you are looking for in the “Name Contains” field. If you are unsure of the exact name, you can enter just a part of the name. For example, if you are looking for “John Doe LLC”, you can enter “John”, “Doe”, or “John Doe” in the search field.
You can also narrow your search by selecting “WA Limited Liability Company” in the entity type drop-down menu.
If there are results that match your search criteria, they will be listed on the results page. Click on the PDF icon next to the Articles of Incorporation/Organization to view details about the LLC, including information about the registered agent and principal office address.
Save the PDF to your computer.
To perform a Washington LLC search, go to the Secretary of State website and click on the Business Entities tab. From there, you will click on the UCC / Corporations / LLCs link. On the next page, click on the Corporation / LLC Search link. Enter the desired information and click on the Search button. The results will include a PDF of the filing. Save this document to your computer for future reference.

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