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The Business Services Division of the New Mexico Secretary of State keeps the state's register of corporations, LLCs, nonprofits, cooperatives, partnerships and foreign businesses. Its search lives inside the online business portal, where the office lists "search public business information" next to its filing services. The same portal is where certificates, copies and reports are ordered.
Running a New Mexico LLC and corporation search on the portal
Open the portal at enterprise.sos.nm.gov and choose the business search. Enter the name of the company, or its business ID if you have one from a filing or certificate. Two things set New Mexico apart from many states:
- Everything is online. The office says all business filings have moved to an online process and paper filings are no longer accepted for any business application. To file, you create or log in to a portal account, then open the Forms tab on the left.
- Use a desktop. The Secretary of State warns that the portal is best used on a desktop or tablet and is not set up for phones.
If your search finds nothing, try fewer words and drop the ending such as LLC or Inc. Our LLC lookup guide has more ways to narrow a name search across states. Walk-in help with business services is offered Monday to Thursday only, while phone and online services stay open on Fridays.
What a New Mexico record tells you
New Mexico sorts every business as domestic or foreign. In the Secretary of State's own words, a domestic business lists New Mexico as its home state, and a foreign business lists a home state or country outside New Mexico.
The phrase to look for is good standing and compliance. A business is not in good standing and compliance when it has failed to file reports, has not kept a New Mexico registered agent with a physical address, or has not paid fees required by law. A corporation that stops trading can instead apply for suspension, which places it in an inactive status for five years with no reports due. If a record looks out of date, our page on business entity status explains how to read status words.
Every new business filing comes with a Registered Agent Statement of Acceptance, a form the office lists on its resources page. The agent can be an individual or a corporation authorized to do business in New Mexico, and it accepts legal papers for the entity.
Names in New Mexico
LLC names are governed by the Limited Liability Company Act, sections 53-19-1 to 53-19-74 NMSA 1978, and business corporations by chapters 53-11 to 53-18. The statutes page links to each act. The Secretary of State offers a name reservation for LLCs, corporations and foreign LLCs, and says it is not required if you file your formation document straight away. The reservation is filed in the portal like every other business form. Before you pick a name, run it through the portal search and read our guide on how to check LLC name availability.
Reports and good standing
New Mexico corporations file reports with the Secretary of State: an initial report, a biennial report, supplemental reports and a final report are all listed as portal filings for a domestic profit corporation. The office also lets corporations upload an IRS extension for the corporate report. All corporations must file, even when they are not trading, unless they have been suspended.
On cost, a Secretary of State press release about the biennial report due date put the regular filing fee at $25. It said corporations that filed late were charged a $200 late penalty on top of that fee. The release is older, so check the current fee in the portal before you file.
For proof that a business is current, New Mexico issues a Certificate of Good Standing and Compliance. Request and pay for it in the portal and you can print it at once. A written request by letter can take up to 10 business days, and you can get same day service in person in Santa Fe. A business must be in good standing to receive one. See our certificate of good standing guide for how the certificate is used.
Trade names and bulk data
The Secretary of State handles fictitious names itself and posts an Application for Fictitious Name on its resources page. For bulk data, no business entity download was found. The office's public information data page covers campaign finance records, financial disclosures and random examination reports, not business filings.
DBA and assumed names in New Mexico
We found no statewide DBA search for New Mexico on the pages we could read. The Secretary of State's resources page lists an Application for Fictitious Name. The form behind it is a certified copy of a corporate resolution. A corporation uses it to adopt a fictitious name for New Mexico when its true name was turned down by a state agency. It is not a general DBA form for LLCs or sole proprietors.
That leaves open where an ordinary trade name is recorded. We did not read a county clerk page, and we found no fee or renewal rule, so we do not state any. Ask the clerk of the county where you do business, and ask the Secretary of State's Business Services Division if your business is a foreign entity.
An LLC that wants to trade under another name does not need the DBA to exist. The LLC is formed by its articles of organization, and the DBA is only a second name. Our DBA vs LLC guide explains the difference, and how to file a DBA lists the usual steps. For county records in other states, see the DBA search guide. Test any name first with the LLC name search guide.
A DBA is a name filing, not a license. Tax registration is a separate step. See New Mexico business license.
Starting a company here? Read our guide on how to start an LLC in New Mexico and the New Mexico registered agent rules.
Also see our guides to the New Mexico business license.