Philadelphia Virtual Office for Out-of-State Companies

If your company is based outside Pennsylvania but wants a Philadelphia presence, a virtual office gives you a real street address in Center City without committing to a lease. You get a business address you can use on correspondence, a place for mail and packages to land, and optional services like live phone answering. What it does not do is replace a Pennsylvania registered office. Those are two separate things, and the distinction matters before you file anything with the state.

What a Philadelphia Virtual Office Actually Includes

Same Day Virtual's Philadelphia virtual offices are located at real street addresses in office buildings, not P.O. boxes. Current Center City addresses include 121 S. Broad St. on the 15th Floor, and two locations near Rittenhouse Square: 1521 Locust Street and 1435 Walnut Street. Each comes with a private mailbox number.

Every piece of mail and every package is logged to your online portal the day it arrives, with a photo of the envelope. From there, you decide what happens next. Options for each item include:

• Open and scan the contents so you can read them in your portal
• Forward the item to your preferred address
• Hold it for pickup by appointment
• Shred it

Forwarding combines multiple items into a single shipment when possible, and costs actual postage plus 30%, along with a per-shipment handling fee. If you need frequent access to what's inside envelopes, mail scanning plans start at a low monthly rate and go up based on how many pages you need each month.

For out-of-state founders who can't be in Philadelphia regularly, that combination covers most day-to-day mail situations without anyone needing to be physically present.

You can also authorize up to three additional people to pick up mail on your behalf. Each person completes their own USPS Form 1583 and goes through an ID check independently. Plans are month to month, so there's no long-term commitment required to establish the address.

The Registered Office Question

Pennsylvania requires business associations registered with the Department of State to maintain a registered office that is an actual street address in the state, or to have a contract with a Commercial Registered Office Provider (CROP). The Department of State has stated that a post office box address alone is not acceptable for this purpose.

A virtual office mailing address is not the same as a registered office and is not a CROP. If your company is registering or has already registered to do business in Pennsylvania, you need to satisfy the registered office requirement separately. This is general information, not legal advice; rules change, so check the current official source or consult a Pennsylvania attorney or registered agent service to confirm what applies to your situation.

That said, an out-of-state company can have legitimate uses for a Philadelphia address that have nothing to do with the registered office requirement. Client correspondence, vendor accounts, and a local phone number answered by a live person are all practical reasons to establish a city presence before or alongside any formal state registration.

Mail Setup: USPS Form 1583

Because a virtual office operates as a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA), every person who wants to receive mail at the address must complete a USPS Form 1583. As of May 1, 2024, your signature on that form must be confirmed in person, by live audio and video with the CMRA, or acknowledged before a notary public. You'll also need to present a current primary and secondary form of identification. For the accepted ID types, check the current version of Form 1583 itself or ask Same Day Virtual directly, since acceptable documents can change.

Meeting Space When You're in Town

If you do travel to Philadelphia, Rittenhouse Square virtual office locations at 1521 Locust Street and 1435 Walnut Street offer access to meeting rooms and day offices booked by the hour. When you book, you receive arrival and access instructions with your confirmation. This can be useful for client meetings or working sessions without paying for permanent office space. The 121 S. Broad St. location also offers meeting rooms on the same hour-by-hour basis.

Putting It Together

For an out-of-state company, a Philadelphia virtual office is a practical tool for establishing a local address, managing business mail remotely, and accessing meeting space when needed. The address is a real suite in a real building, and the mail management system is designed for people who aren't on-site day to day.

Just go in clear-eyed about what it covers. A virtual mailing address handles correspondence and presence. Pennsylvania's registered office requirement is a separate legal matter that you should verify with the state's Department of State or a qualified professional. Once you have both sorted, you have the building blocks of a real Philadelphia operation without the overhead of a traditional office.