Minimum Legal Requirements to Register a Singapore Company for a Foreigner
1. Minimum Age Requirement
- To own a company in Singapore, you must be a legal adult, at least 18 years old.
- Anyone who meets this age requirement is eligible to start a company in Singapore.
- The only people exempt from this, despite meeting the legal age limit, are: bankrupt individuals, legally convicted individuals
2. Resident Director
- The director of the company must be Singaporean and available in the country.
- Anyone that is Singaporean resident or holds the eligible employment pass qualifies.
- You must have at least a resident or local director when registering a company.
- If you aren’t based in Singapore, you may need a professional service provider to help provide local nominee director services to you.
3. Local Address
- To register a company in Singapore, the company will need to have a local address.
- The address will need to be a physical location, not a virtual one or a P.O box.
- This will serve as the registered office address of the company’s business operations in Singapore.
4. Company Secretary
- The company is required to have at least one company secretary during registration.
- The company secretary must be a Singapore resident, or have a Singapore address or work pass.
- The secretary must be hired in Singapore.
5. Minimum Capital Requirement
- There is a minimum capital requirement of S$1 or its equivalent in international currencies.
- This doesn’t mean you will need only S$1 to run your company.
- You will need to have enough money to fund the initial business operations until the company becomes financially independent.
6. Physical Presence
- You do not need to be physically present to register a company in Singapore.
- However, if you prefer to be, you can achieve this by obtaining a work pass and relocating to Singapore.
- Alternatively, you can appoint a nominee resident director to stand in your stead.
Registration Process for Foreigners for a Singapore Company
1. Choosing a company type
- The rest of the registration process will usually depend on the type of company you are creating.
- There are three business types you can create, namely: Sole proprietorship, Limited Liability Partnership, Private Limited Company.
2. Defining the company's business operations
- The type of business you intend to conduct.
3. Filing the registration with ACRA
- The registration process is done online at the ACRA portal once all requirements have been met.
- You must prove all requirements have been met before the company can be registered.
- Documents like the approved company name, among others, will be needed in this stage.
4. Detailing the company members
- You will be required to provide the local registered office address and the details of the resident director and secretary.
- Identification of all registered members of the company, including shareholders, will also be needed.
Can a Foreigner Own 100% Equity of a Singapore Company?
The answer is Yes.
- A foreigner can own up to 100% equity of a Singapore company.
- The ownership of equity of a Singapore company may be subject to certain legal requirements like minimum age.
- You don’t have to be in Singapore to own and run the company.
Cost of Registering a Company in Singapore
Registering a Company as a foreigner
- The registration of your company must be handled by an approved service provider.
- The total cost of registration is difficult to estimate most times, as it involves several processes.
- Each process in the registration carries a different cost, with licenses costing you as well.
Main administrative fees
- You will spend approximately S$315 on ACRA registration.
- The first S$15 is to reserve the name of your company, subject to approval.
- You have 60 days reservation for the company name you have chosen.
- If you wish to extend the registration, that costs extra.
- The main ACRA registration fee costs S$300.
- Once ACRA confirms your registration, you will be notified via email with a business profile.
Additional administrative fees
- To complete your set of statutory documents, a certificate of incorporation should also be purchased, for an additional cost.
- The costs for documentation, a registered office address, company secretary fees and local director service fees should also be taken into consideration.
- Taxes and other fees will also be necessary and cost different amounts, depending on other factors like company type.
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