If I incorporate an LLC in CA do I need to wait the 2 months processing time before starting operations?

Disclaimer: The materials provided below are informational and should not be relied upon as legal advice. See my response to your previous question. If you have an urgency, you can pay the additional fee to file your Articles of Incorporation on a rush basis. Be sure to consult your own attorney to protect your legal rights.

Very often the LLC is filed well before the documents are returned. Once it shows up on the website of the Secretary of State you are safe about continuing the formation process.

If you are located in California and doing business in California, then if you do incorporate in Delaware, you will still need to take the additional steps of registering as a foreign corporation doing business in California, and getting assigned a California business identification #, etc. You will also then be subject to the yearly renewal fees (plus the costs associated with having a registered agent) in Delaware, as well as having to pay similar costs, including the annual "franchise tax" in California (which I believe is $800 a year). So - if time is really of the essence and you can get officially incorporated faster in another state, then it may be worthwhile, but you will likely immediately have to take steps to register in California anyhow, and the overall increase in costs may be prohibitive.

Reserve the name of the LLC with the Secretary of State, this is faster. Then you may file the Articles of Organization and know they will not be rejected for the name. Although it may take weeks or months to get the Articles back, the LLC exist on the date the Articles are filed, which is the date you file them not the date they are processed. They will be stamped with the file date. You may have a problem opening a bank account or doing other business if a copy of the filed articles are needed, but other business should be fine. You should also execute the other LLC documents after the filing date, like the Operating Agreement, etc.

The simplest answer is to contact a process server in Sacramento who regularly files papers with the Sec of State. An internet search will give you several to choose from. Then you email or fax the docs to the process server along with evidence of your checks -- one for the sec state, one for the process server. He may wait until he receives your checks. He then takes your docs down to the sec of state's office and files them over the counter. The delay should only be a few days, and the sec-state website will tell you how many.