A foreign company branch can be registered via BizFile upon the approval of its name.
The person registering the foreign company is advised to engage a professional firm (e.g. lawyers, accountants, chartered secretaries) or a service bureau to assist him or her in the preparation and filing of the application for registration.
Is there any requirement to register a Foreign Company?
The Companies Act requires a foreign company to appoint two local agents from Singapore to act on behalf of the company. The agents must be “ordinarily resident” (the usual place of stay of a person) in Singapore.
For ACRA’s purposes, if a person can provide a local residential address and prove that he is staying in Singapore on a long-term arrangement (i.e. legally remain in Singapore for a long period), ACRA may accept that he is an ordinarily resident here.
Registration fees
| Name Approval Fee |
S$15 |
| Registration Fee for Foreign Company with share capital |
S$300 |
| Registration Fee for Foreign Company without share capital |
S$1,200 |
Processing Time
A foreign company is usually incorporated within 15 minutes after the registration fee is paid.
However, it may take between 14 days to 2 months if the application needs to be referred to other authorities for approval or review. For example, if the intention of the foreign company is to carry out activities involving the setting up of a private school, the application will be referred to the Ministry of Education.