A person who wants to be registered as a Registered Filing Agent (FA) must submit an online application form in Bizfile, which includes making a declaration that he/she meets the “fit and proper” requirements to be registered. The person will also need to appoint at least one registered Qualified Individual (QI).

Similarly, a person who wishes to renew his/her registration as a FA must also submit an online renewal application with ACRA, not earlier than 60 days before the registration expiry date.

Steps to register and renew registration as a FA:

  1. a representative of the FA [applicant (if sole-proprietor), partner (if partnership), director (if company)] has to take the following steps:
    1. For NEW application, please perform the registration on Bizfile here
    2. For RENEWAL application, please renew the registration on Bizfile here
  2. go through the instructions for the application carefully, complete and submit the form;
  3. pay a non-refundable application fee of $400 for a 2-year registration period;
  4. the transaction will be routed for endorsement from the QIs only after payment (note: no endorsement is needed if the QI is the same and only person in the FA). 

Each registration or renewal of registration will be valid for a period of 2 years. 

What happens if a FA fails to renew its registration?

If a FA fails to renew its registration, its FA status will be updated to 'Registration expired and has not been renewed' and the FA will not be allowed to file transactions on behalf of its clients with ACRA. However, the FA will have up to 60 calendar days from the date of expiry to renew its registration. Upon renewal, all appointed QIs, employees and clients in their client list will remain tagged to the FA and they may proceed to perform filing for their clients immediately. If the FA does not renew its registration within this period, its registration will be cancelled and a fresh application for registration (including application fee) will be required if it wants to be registered as a FA again.

What happens after an application for registration or renewal as a filing agent has been approved by ACRA?

Each registered FA will be assigned a unique FA Number for the purpose of carrying out any transaction with the Registrar using Bizfile. To perform filing on behalf of clients using the FA Number, the lodger will have to choose the "Corporate Service Providers" Profile after CorpPass login.

Did you find this page useful?
back to top