Company Bylaws for Algeria

Company Bylaws in an Algerian File: What Notaries Read and Why

An Algerian notary who handles a deed involving your U.S. company, such as founding or investing in an Algerian company, granting a power of attorney or buying property, wants to see how your company is governed. Algerian companies set this out in their statuts. For a U.S. corporation, the governance rules sit in the bylaws. For an LLC, they sit in the operating agreement.

What the notary looks for

The notary isn’t reading your bylaws for general interest. They check three things. First, who has authority to sign for the company, and in what capacity. Second, whether the decision being made, such as an Algerian investment or a power of attorney, needs board or shareholder approval. Third, whether the people who signed your resolution and documents had the power to do so. Point the notary to the relevant articles in your cover letter, and the review goes much faster.

Why bylaws need a secretary’s certificate

Your articles of incorporation are kept by the state, so a certified state copy proves them. Bylaws are internal: no government office holds a copy. To make them certifiable, your corporate secretary signs a short certificate stating that the attached bylaws are a true, complete and current copy, and signs it in person before a U.S. notary. For an LLC, a manager or member certifies the operating agreement the same way. That notarized certificate is what the apostille confirms.

The apostille for Algeria

Algeria applies the Hague Apostille Convention from July 9, 2026. The certified bylaws now need only an apostille from the Secretary of State of the notary’s state. Before that date, they also had to go to the U.S. Department of State and the Embassy of Algeria, steps that are no longer required.

Full bylaws or an extract?

Bylaws sometimes contain information a company prefers not to share widely. Some Algerian notaries will accept a certified extract of the relevant articles, for example on signing authority and board powers, instead of the complete document. Ask the notary before preparing the file. If they need the full bylaws, send the current amended and restated version with all pages kept together.

Sending the complete “statuts”

For most Algerian files, the certified bylaws travel with the state-certified articles of incorporation, a recent good standing certificate, a certificate of incumbency and the board resolution. Together they answer the notary’s questions about existence, governance and authority in one submission. Your Algerian notary arranges the official Arabic or French translation.