Rhode Island Business Entity Search: RI SOS Corporate Database and LLC Lookup

RI SOS Corporate Database: By Name, Officer, Purpose or NAICS

The Department of State’s Corporate Database (its browser tab reads RI Business Portal) offers eight searches: by entity name (corporations, LPs, LLPs, LLCs and non-resident landlords), by an individual’s name (“Officer, Director, etc.”), by 9-digit Identification Number, by 12-digit Filing Number, by agent, by business address, by purpose or by NAICS code. A name search needs “at least the first two letters” and runs as Begins with, the default, or as Soundex, Full text or Exact match. UCC filings, trademarks and trade names each have their own search.

Only the name search separates the Active and Inactive databases; every other search covers both. A revoked company stays in Active for its first year, so read the Inactive status column. To look up an LLC in Rhode Island, search the name and open the record: the Entity Summary gives the type, date of organization, resident agent, whether members or managers run it and any managers’ names, then View filings lists every annual report and filing with a free PDF. For a corporation, the record lists officers and directors with their addresses.

Former Names Appear as Separate Rows

Old names and fictitious names come back as their own rows under the company’s ID number, so one company can fill several lines. This page’s tool lists each company once, under its current name, and shows its fictitious names under Other names once the record is open. It holds no former names: to trace a company by an old name, use the Corporate Database, where Hasbro Bradley, Inc. still leads to ID 000015908.

The Rhode Island ID Number: Nine Digits, Zeros Included

“The identification number is 9 digits long. If the ID number is less than 9 digits long then zeros must be added at the beginning of the number.” The state’s own search refuses 15908; the search on this page adds the zeros and opens 000015908.

The 12-digit Filing Number belongs to a single filing, never to the company. Record links carry the ID in a parameter named FEIN, but it is the state’s number, not the federal EIN; no Rhode Island record publishes an EIN. For another route, see finding a business’s EIN. Neighboring numbers belong to different companies (000015904 is another Hasbro entity), so confirm the name that opens.

Active Does Not Mean Good Standing in Rhode Island

“If the ‘Inactive Status’ field on the entity results page is blank, your entity is ACTIVE.” Good standing takes one more check: the entity must have filed its most recent annual report, which shows under View filings.

LLCs, corporations and partnerships file the annual report from February 1 to May 1, starting the year after they register, for $50 plus a $2.50 online fee; a $25 penalty applies on June 1. The report “does not contain financial or ownership information.” A courtesy reminder goes to the registered agent each January, and if it comes back undeliverable, revocation proceedings begin. More on filing it in the Rhode Island LLC annual report guide.

Revocation Notice, Revoked, Forfeited: What Each Status Means

A Revocation Notice status means a 60-day notice went out for a missing report, fee, tax or agent; Revoked means the entity didn’t respond; Forfeited is reserved for unpaid tax. “A revocation is not an official dissolution”: a revoked company keeps owing annual reports and at least $400 a year to the Division of Taxation.

Reinstatement takes two agencies, in order. First, a Letter of Good Standing from the Division of Taxation ($50, which can take several weeks); then the forms, the penalties and that letter go to the Department of State in one package, or the reinstatement is rejected; processing takes 2 to 4 business days. No confirmation is sent: the word Revoked disappears from the Inactive status column.

Officers Yes, Owners No: Who a Rhode Island Record Names

Owner information “is not recorded with any state agency and is kept as part of the private records of each entity.” A Rhode Island record names a corporation’s officers and directors and an LLC’s managers, and the individual name search finds them free, but the state keeps no list of an LLC’s members.

Every entity needs a registered agent (a resident agent, for an LLC) who lives in Rhode Island or is an entity qualified there, at a street address; post office boxes and mailbox services are not allowed. “Agent Resigned: Y” or “Address Maintained: N” on a record means the entity may have no working agent, a ground for revocation (after 30 days, for an LLC). The Fraud Protection Notification Service emails an owner whenever something is filed on their entity.

Rhode Island DBA Search Moved to the State

Trade names (DBAs) used to be filed at each of Rhode Island’s 39 city and town halls; the municipalities transferred their records to the Department of State before January 1, 2026. They are searched in a separate Trade Name Database, by name, owner, city or town, or NAICS code, not in the Corporate Database.

A trade name costs $20, is valid in one city or town, and must be renewed every year between September 1 and November 30, free, or it is cancelled. Companies trading under another name file a fictitious name statement instead ($50, $20 for a nonprofit), valid statewide with no yearly renewal, and it appears on the company’s record.

Rhode Island Name Rules, With the State’s Own Examples

The test is whether a name is “distinguishable upon the record,” checked against Active records only. The Department lists what does not make a name different: a plural (City Girl vs. City Girls), an obvious misspelling (Cat vs. Kat), an abbreviation (RI Appraisers vs. Rhode Island Appraisers), a different entity ending, punctuation, spaces, or numerals versus words (2 Brothers, II Brothers, Two Brothers).

A name search on the Corporate Database “is not statutorily required or binding”; the Department decides only when the filing arrives. Reserving a name costs $50 and lasts 120 days, and a revoked company’s name becomes available if the revocation isn’t withdrawn within a year. Forming a Rhode Island LLC costs $150; a broader name check also covers trademarks and domains.

$22 Status Certificate, $50 Tax Letter

A Certificate of Status or Certificate of Good Standing costs $22 online (two business days) or $20 at the counter, issued immediately; nonprofits pay $7 online. It “does not verify that a business has satisfied its tax obligations”; that is the Division of Taxation’s Letter of Good Standing, $50.

Certificates carry a validation number below the state seal, which the Department’s Certificate Number Verification tool confirms. Every report must be filed before a good standing certificate issues. Professional licenses are checked on each licensing agency’s site, such as the Department of Business Regulation, not in the Corporate Database; retailers and employers register with the Division of Taxation.