Online Lobbyist Registration – A Tutorial
On-line Registration – Create an Account
In order to register electronically with the Secretary of the Commonwealth
(and to file disclosure statements online), you must create an online account.
Creating this secure account means you choose a personal log-in ID and password
that will allow only you to modify your lobbyist registration (or disclosure
statement) information.
Account Setup
To create an account, select the lobbyist user account link (www.vipnet.org/lobbyist/cgi-bin/lobbyist_new.cgi) on the Lobbyist page. This will bring you to the Lobbyist User Setup screen where you type a user ID and user password to use with your Secretary of the Commonwealth online account.
Once you have entered a user ID, user password, your full name,
and your e-mail address, select the "Setup Account" button. Once the
system has set up your account, you will receive a confirmation screen showing
your account login information and giving you the option of going directly to
the online registration feature or the online disclosure statement filing feature.
Your new account user ID and user password will give you electronic access to
do both filings online.
Once you have created a lobbyist user account with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, you may access the Online Lobbyist Registration feature by either selecting the "Online Registration" button at the bottom of your confirmation screen or by selecting the registration link from the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Lobbyist page. Either of these links will bring you to the Lobbyist Registration page.
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Online Lobbyist Registration – How To
Online lobbyist registration with the Secretary of the Commonwealth consists of three main steps:
- Completing an electronic registration statement
- Submitting and paying for the statement with a credit card
transaction
- Signing and mailing a registration signature form to the
Secretary of the Commonwealth
*Please make sure you have completed all three steps for each registration
form you want to file. You will not be registered with the Secretary of the
Commonwealth until all three steps are completed.
Lobbyist Registration Page
If you are a new user to the system, the registration page will reflect that
you have no registration forms in your account. This page will reflect only
the registration forms that are completed through your online account. You will
not see any registrations that were previously filed manually with the Secretary
of the Commonwealth.
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Step 1: Completing an Electronic Registration Form
To file a single registration form or multiple registration forms with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, select the "Add New Registration Statement" button. This button will link you to an online version of the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Lobbyist Registration form. Complete the electronic form by typing in the appropriate information and using the <TAB> key to move to the next field.
Once you have completed the form, select the "Proceed" button at the bottom of the form. This will add this registration statement to your account in order for you to modify it later and/or file it with the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
*Reminder: You will not be registered with the Secretary of the Commonwealth until you follow the steps to submit the form, pay the associated fee by credit card, and mail to the Secretary of the Commonwealth your online lobbyist registration signature form.
Filing Multiple Registrations
If you have multiple registration forms to complete, you may add them by selecting the "Add New Registration Statement" button again. If much of the information on your second registration statement is the same as on your first, you may find your original statement on your list of Registration Statements and select the "Duplicate" button to its right. This will create a duplicate version of your original filing and allow you to change any information on the new form before you save it as the second statement on your registration statement list. These steps may be repeated to add as many registration forms as you need to file.
Modifying or Deleting a Registration
You may modify any of the information on a registration form you have completed but not yet filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth. To modify a registration statement, select the "Modify" button the right of the statement listing from the Registration Statements list. This will open the electronic version of the form that you originally completed. On this form, you are able to change any of the information you originally entered in the form fields. Once you are finished modifying the statement, select the "Proceed" button at the bottom of the form and the edited version will replace its original in your Registration Statements list.
You may also delete any registration statement from your account that has not been filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth. To delete a registration statement from your list, select the "Delete" button to the right of the statement you wish to delete. The system will bring up a pop-up window asking you to confirm that you wish to delete the statement. Selecting "Yes" in the pop-up window will allow the system to delete that statement from your account.
Viewing Your Registration Statement
You may view and print a copy of your registration statement in the official registration statment format once you have completed the electronic registration form before and after it has been filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth. To view a statement, select the "View" button to the right of the statement in your list that you wish to view. This will bring up a PDF version of your statement which you may view and/or print for your records. In order to view this document, you must have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat, it can be downloaded for free now or from the Lobbyist Registration page.
Download the free Adobe
Acrobat Reader 
to view .pdf files.
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Step 2: Submitting and Paying for Registration Online with a Credit Card
Once you completed all of your online registration statements, you may submit and pay for them individually by credit card or you may elect to pay for all of them with one credit card transaction.
To pay for a registration statement individually, locate the statement on your Registration Statements list and select the "Submit/Pay" button to its right. This will bring you to the online credit card payment screen.
To pay for multiple registration statements with one credit card transaction, select the button at the bottom of your Registration Statements list marked "Send/Pay Multiple Registrations." This button will link you to a list of all of your completed lobbyist registration statements. From this list, you may check the statements you wish to file and pay for at that time. Once you have checked all of the registration statements you want to file, select the "Send/Pay Selected Registrations" button which will link you to the online credit card payment screen.
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Lobbyist Registration Payment Screen
The lobbyist registration payment screen will allow you to type in your credit card information to pay for your registration statement(s). At the top of the screen, you will be given a transaction number with which you may later track your payment transaction. You are also given the amount that will be charged to your credit card account. Below this, you will need to type in your credit card number (Visa or MasterCard only), the expiration date, and the cardholder's name and address. When you have finished typing all of this information, you may submit and pay for your registration(s) by selecting the button labeled "Pay Now!"
*Please Note: The credit card information that you submit will be encrypted for your protection.
Once you have submitted and paid for your registration statements,
you will receive a confirmation screen that lists the transaction number, amount
billed to your credit card, the last four digits of your credit card number
and the date of the transaction. A copy of this confirmation page may be printed
for your records by using the print function of your Web browser.
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Step 3: Signing and Mailing a Registration Signature Form
Below your payment information, the confirmation screen also provides you a reminder that you must sign and submit the online lobbyist registration signature form to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. A copy of the signature form may be obtained by selecting the link here or by selecting the link provided in the reminder paragraph. This signature form is a PDF file and in order to print it, you will need a copy of Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer.
Download the free Adobe
Acrobat Reader to
view .pdf files.
Online Confirmation of Registration Filing
Once you have submitted and paid for your online lobbyist registration, your Registration Statements list will display the message "Filed with SOC on DATE FILED" until the Secretary of the Commonwealth has received both your electronic registration statement and your mailed-in registration signature form. Once the Secretary of the Commonwealth has received both forms, your Registration Statements list will display the messages "Filed with SOC on DATE FILED" and "SOC rec'd signature form on DATE RECEIVED."
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