Foreign companies or entrepreneurs planning on Singapore company incorporation can
effectively complete the entire business registration process within a day or two. This is without even visiting Singapore even once. Usually setting up a company in the country is quite a straightforward affair and as long as foreign business owners follow a few dos and donts, there will be no hindrances in completing the company registration procedures.
Dos
Some of the simple things you need to do are as follows:
1) Talk to a professional incorporation service provider in Singapore and ask them exactly what documents are required for company registration. Arrange for these documents in advance and do not wait for authorities to ask for more information. Provide everything that is necessary in the beginning itself.
2) Do look for a registered business address in Singapore before company incorporation. This is a mandatory statutory requirement and all companies in the country must have a locally registered address. This must be an actual business address in Singapore and not just a PO Box.
3) Do engage the services of a professional company secretary as well as a nominee director before proceeding to company incorporation. This is also mandatory as per the Singapore company laws and both the company secretary and the nominee director must be local residents of the country. Do not try to register a company and try to tell the authorities that someone from the head office will relocate to Singapore after incorporation to act as the local director. There needs to be a local resident director present before applying for company registration.
4) It is advisable to do some research on whether the company name you propose for the Singapore business is already in existence or whether it is trademarked by another firm. If the company name you choose is already in use, then your entire application would be rejected.
Donts
Some of the things you must avoid are as follows:
1) Do not try to do the registration of your Singapore Company yourself. As per local laws, a resident incorporation service provider must apply for company registration on your behalf. Basically foreign owners are not allowed to self-register their companies in the country.
2) Do not overlook any of the mandatory statutory requirements for company setup. Even though the requirements are minimal, missing any of them will lead to rejection of the company incorporation application.
3) Do not make the mistake of assuming that your staff from the head office will be able to relocate to Singapore once the new company has been setup. Each staff you need to relocate must apply for their respective employment passes and meet the minimum eligibility criteria.