Texas Business Search
SOSPortal, formerly discussed as SOSDirect
Quick answer. SOSDirect is the name many people still use for the Texas Secretary of State’s online business system. The agency’s current description is SOSPortal, available 24/7, with a $1 statutory fee for each search. You search by entity name or file number and open the file number to see the record or order copies.
Official office
Texas Secretary of State, Corporations Section
Phone: (512) 463-5555
Secretary of State, 400 W. 15th Street, Austin, TX 78701. Mail: P.O. Box 13697, Austin, TX 78711-3697.
SOSPortal is online 24/7. The Secretary of State states a $1 statutory fee for each search.
Steps
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Go to the Secretary of State’s portal page
Start at the SOSPortal information page. It states the $1 fee and lists CorpInfo@sos.texas.gov for business filings. Do not pay a site that merely puts “SOSDirect” in the domain and then resells the same record.
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Follow Search and Order Records
The business-filings user guide says to select Search and Order Records, open a new search, choose file number or entity name, and click the file number in the results. Copies and certificates are on the tabs of that record, not on a separate mystery form.
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Expect to pay the dollar
The fee is described as statutorily authorized, per search. It is small, and it is real. The Comptroller status search is the free sibling, and it answers a different question.
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Order SOS certificates from the SOS
Copies and certificates of fact can be ordered in SOSPortal, by email to corpcert@sos.texas.gov, or by mail to the Certifying Team, P.O. Box 13697, Austin, TX 78711-3697. The Secretary of State says original certificates are generated electronically, in black and white, with an electronic signature, and can be checked in the certificate validation service using the document number at the bottom.
What SOSPortal is not
It is not the Comptroller’s franchise-tax system, not a county clerk’s assumed-name index for an individual, and not the UCC filing desk. The portal page gives UCC_Assist@sos.texas.gov as the UCC contact, separate from CorpInfo. If your question is a financing statement, you are in the wrong menu.
Common mistakes
- Refreshing an old SOSDirect login URL from a 2015 bookmark and deciding the office is closed. Use the current sos.texas.gov portal page.
- Treating a $1 search receipt as a certificate of fact.
- Emailing formation questions to the UCC address, or the reverse.
Questions
Is SOSDirect still the Texas business search?
People still say SOSDirect. The Secretary of State describes the current system as SOSPortal and states a $1 fee per search. Start from sos.texas.gov/corp/sosda so you are on the official page.
Can I search at night?
The Secretary of State says SOSPortal is available 24/7. Phone help at (512) 463-5555 follows office hours.
How do I know a certificate PDF is real?
The Secretary of State says certificates are electronic, black and white, and signed electronically. Use the document number at the bottom in the certificate validation service if anyone questions it.