TL; DR (too long, didn’t read):
All foreigners can open a Hong Kong company (regardless of nationality, just your clients’ location or your own location is important).
Your company needs at least
- one shareholder and one directors (can be the same person). You can be the person or you can hire a nominee for this.
- one secretary from Hong Kong
- a registered office in Hong Kong
Introduction
Like every year, we summarize the steps for opening a Hong Kong company and what has changed or what you need to pay attention to.
If you do not want to waste time reading and instead want to take quick action, feel free to book a consultation call with us.
Register a Hong Kong company: Prerequisites
- You have no clients/customers from sanctioned countries (Ukraine, Russia, Iran etc.)
- You do not live in sanctioned countries (Ukraine etc.)
- You have a passport with at least 6 months validity.
- You have a proof of residence (bank statement is enough) that is no older than 3 months
You can let us precheck your documents in our consultation calls before registration of a Hong Kong company.
Register a Hong Kong company: Step 1 – Company Type
There are four company types in Hong Kong (similar to LLC versus corporation in the US).
- Private Limited Company
- Public Limited Company
- Sole Proprietorship
- Partnership
The most common type for foreigner is the private limited company.
We also recommend the private limited company to our clients because of:
- the owners can take all the benefits, just like the two-tier-tax system or the tax exemption with 0% on corporate income
- facilitates business with China (especially for e-commerce owners with products from China)
- limited liability to owners, so your private asset is protected from your business risks
The others are scenarios that rarely happen, e.g.
a public limited company is a company that wants to be listed on the stock exchange or sole proprietorship is mostly for doctors in Hong Kong (not recommended for foreigners with an online business).
Further reading:
Read more about the different company types on the official government website.
Register a Hong Kong company: Step 2 – Company Name
After you have chosen a company type, it is time to choose a company name.
You need make sure your company name has not been taken yet.
How to check availability:
- Click here
- Click “Search > Company Name Search” (no login needed)
- Choose “Public Search”.
- Enter your proposed company name (English and/or Chinese).
- The system will show you whether that name — or something similar — is already taken.
Pay attention to these details when choosing a company name:
- Your company name must end with “Limited” (e.g., Sunrise Consulting Limited).
- You cannot use a name identical or too similar to an existing one.
- Avoid words suggesting government affiliation (“Department,” “Authority,” “Commission,” etc.) or those that may be offensive.
- You can use both Latin and Chinese letters, but not a mix (i.e., can’t have Latin and Chinese characters in one name).
Register a Hong Kong company: Step 3 – Prepare documents
It is time to carefully prepare your documents before taking any further steps.
The required documents are:
- passport with 6 months validity
- An address proof which is no older than 3 months and not from a sanctioned country (bank statements are acceptable)
That is it – simple and straightforward.
If you are a digital nomad, you may have more specific problems with address proof – so we made this video for you to watch:
Register a Hong Kong company: Step 4 – Choose a registration service provider
Based on Hong Kong law, you cannot register a company as a foreigner without assistance of a local company or person who has the proper license to do so.
For this, you have two option for a registration service provider:
- agency firm (e.g Osome vs Sleek etc.)
- accounting firm like us
The first group can legally open incorporation firms, but they cannot legally conduct audit and tax reporting (every Hong Kong company needs this annually). Usually they outsource this to accounting firms (CPAs).
But you can also just go directly to accounting and CPA firms.
The cost will be lower as there is no middleman involved who needs to make money and also the service will be better as you directly communicate with the accountant.
If you like to see how this works for you, you can talk to our CPAs by booking call.
A service provider should also offer
- a secretary service
- a virtual address
for you.
You cannot open a Hong Kong company without these two. Make sure these two are always part of the package and pricing to avoid surprises.
Further reading:
Read more about the difference between accounting firms and agencies.
From here on usually the service provider (if they are good), will handle everything else.
We will still go through the steps so you know what happens ahead of time.
Register a Hong Kong company: Step 5 – Prepare answers to your company structure
Your company service provider will probably ask a few questions to know how to set up the firm for you.
It is best that you prepare yourself for the questions in advance:
- How many shareholders/director should the company have?
- Do you yourself want to be shareholder/director or do you want to choose a nominee? Latter can mean higher fees.
- Do you want the Hong Kong company be a shareholder of another company (holding company) or vice versa?
- What should be the share structure (number of share, per value)?
- How much do you want to have as a capital investment? Minimum is HK$1.
- What is your business nature?
- Which countries do you sell to?
- Are your customers other businesses or individuals?
- Do you sell products or services?
- Do you have an existing customer base?
- Do you have a website or social media channel how you win clients?
- Does your business fulfill the requirements for a 0% offshore company? (will become important later, but good to know for you if that can be a dealbreaker)
If you feel confused about any questions, feel free to reach out to us.
Further reading:
Read more how a Hong Kong company can work as a holding company and why some digital nomads use this trick.
Register a Hong Kong company: Step 6 – Prepare incorporation paperwork
You or your service provider need to fill in the incorporation files.
For a company limited this means:
- NNC1 form
- Notice to Business Registration Office (IRBR1)
- Address of Association
Further reading:
Download the forms here if you want to see them in advance.
Register a Hong Kong company: Step 7 – Waiting time
After you have filled in the registration form and those have been submitted (usually through an online platform), you usually get an answer within one day or two depending whether the authorities have any further questions.
Register a Hong Kong company: Step 8 – Successful registration
After successful registration, you will receive:
- your business certificate
- your certificate of incorporation
Register a Hong Kong company: Step 9 – Next steps
After the registration is done, the more tedious parts get started:
- Opening a bank account
- Opening a payment gateway (Stripe etc.)
- Preparing for annual compliance (profit tax return, audit etc.)
Book a consultation call with us for us to check how we can help you.
Further reading:Read more about the annual compliance tasks for a Hong Kong business owner.
