A business address in another state
Finding a virtual business address, state by state
A virtual address gives a business a street location where its mail is received, without anyone working there. Which state it sits in, what it is allowed to stand in for and how the mail reaches you all vary, so it is worth knowing what to look for before choosing one.
Search Virtual AddressWhat a state address is for
Before the search
What a virtual address can stand in for
An address does different jobs for different readers. The same street location can be fine for one of them and unsuitable for another, so the useful first step is knowing which job you need it to do.
- Under mail
Receiving business post
Letters and notices addressed to the business arrive somewhere other than the owner's home, and are scanned, forwarded or held.
- Under filings
Addresses on public records
Formation documents and annual reports ask for addresses. Whether a virtual address is accepted for a given field is a question for that state and that form.
- Under banking
What a bank asks to see
Banks and payment providers verify a business address in their own ways, and some read a mail-receiving address differently from an office.
- Under privacy
Keeping a home address off the page
An address printed on a website, an invoice or a public record is visible to anyone who looks. A separate address is one way to keep a house out of view.
Search Virtual AddressBefore choosing one
Reading the plate closely
What to check before you pick an address
The answers depend on the business and the service, so these are questions to put to any address you are considering rather than a verdict on one.
- See street or suite
Is it a street address or a box?
Some forms and some readers want a physical street location. Ask how the address is written and what it sits behind.
- See handling
What happens to an envelope?
Who opens it, whether it is scanned, how forwarding works and how long mail waits before it reaches you.
- See parcels
Packages and signatures
Couriers, large parcels and anything that needs a signature are often handled differently from ordinary letters.
- See state
Which state the address is in
Where a business is formed, where it operates and where its address sits can be three different places. Each one can matter to a different form.
Search Virtual AddressHow the options differ
Key to the map
The kinds of address people mean
Several different arrangements get called a virtual address. They overlap, and a single service may offer more than one of them.
Search Virtual AddressGazetteer
Gazetteer of subjects
Where the questions lead
Each subject below sits next to the others it is usually asked alongside.
- Virtual addresses by state
- What changes from one state to the next. See also filings.
- Mail scanning and forwarding
- How post gets from a mailroom to wherever you are. See also parcels.
- Registered agents
- Why receiving legal notices is its own role. See also filings.
- Addresses on formation filings
- Which address goes where on a state form. See also registered agents.
- Business banking
- What a bank looks for in a business address. See also verification.
- Home address privacy
- Keeping a house off invoices, websites and records. See also public records.
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