{"id":42599,"date":"2020-01-14T17:00:30","date_gmt":"2020-01-14T09:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.3ecpa.com.sg\/?p=42599"},"modified":"2026-06-08T19:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T11:54:21","slug":"a-foreigners-guide-to-start-a-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.3ecpa.com.sg\/blog\/a-foreigners-guide-to-start-a-business\/","title":{"rendered":"A Foreigner\u2019s Guide to Start a Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

A Foreigner\u2019s Guide to Start a Business in Singapore – Basic Steps<\/h2>\n

Foreigners can incorporate a business in Singapore<\/strong><\/a> with 100% ownership rights, benefiting from one of Asia’s most streamlined digital registration environments governed by ACRA with minimal bureaucratic barriers.<\/p>\n

Three structural options define how foreign entrepreneurs establish local presence. A Private Limited Company provides personal asset protection and full local credibility as the most widely chosen structure. A branch office suits businesses expanding an already established overseas entity into Singapore. A representative office allows market exploration without generating direct revenue.<\/p>\n

Core requirements include appointing at least one locally resident director, preparing notarized identification documents, and completing registration through the ACRA BizFile+ portal with total government fees of SGD 315.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pick a Company Name<\/h3>\n

\"AThese processes are regulated by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA)<\/a>. The first order of business would be to pick a company name<\/a>. There are a few points to note when picking your company name. Since Singapore doesn\u2019t allow for two companies to have the same name, so you\u2019ll have to create a unique word or word combination. Take note, when picking a name, do not use generic words or words that refer to types of businesses. This is because generic words or the adding of a definite article to your business name won\u2019t distinguish it from an existing one and using words that describe types of businesses would result in the ACRA sending your application to the government authorities that regulate them for review. This isn\u2019t the end of the world as the company\u2019s legal name may differ from its trading name. Though one should make sure that the chosen trading name doesn\u2019t have any copyright or trademark issue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Choose Your Business Activity Code<\/h3>\n

Following this, the next one should choose your business activity code(s). This is known as the SSIC code<\/a>. Since you\u2019ve decided to start a company, you should already know what kind of business you\u2019ll be doing. Therefore, during company incorporation, you would be required to pick and submit an SSIC code. This is the identity of a business entity. These simple numbers are an indicator as to the nature of the business of your company as well as what field it is in. There isn\u2019t a need to worry yourself over which code to pick. You can pick a secondary one and you can also change the SSIC code at any point in time after the incorporation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Assemble a Team for Your Company<\/h3>\n

Now it is time to assemble the team! A company requires shareholder(s), director(s) and the company secretary<\/a> to operate. Shareholders may be comprised of individuals and companies. For the incorporation of a private Singaporean company<\/a>, one needs not more than 50 shareholders. Foreign citizens and entities can hold shares too. By law, if a foreigner wishes to be a director of a company in Singapore, there must be at least one local director. The local director must either be a citizen or a permanent resident. EntrePass holders are also eligible. A Nominee Director<\/a> may be appointed in the event you are unable to find a suitable candidate. He will not be engaged in the decision-making as he merely there to fulfil the requirements. This is commonly practised in Singapore. Next would be the company secretary. This is an officer who tracks changes in your company\u2019s structure and top management. Besides that, the company secretary is also in charge of compiling papers and reports to the government about your business. By law, a secretary must be appointed within 6 months after incorporation but, you could hire one right away to have the officer manage your incorporation papers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Registered Address of Your Company<\/h3>\n

The registered address<\/a> comes next. Every company in Singapore must have a registered address. It must be an office mailbox that is checked regularly. On top of that, a registered office needs to be open for at least 5 hours every business day. There are mailboxes for rent. These are run by certain companies that collect your correspondence, scan it and then delivers it to you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Delegate Filing to Authorised Filing Agent<\/h3>\n

Next would be to delegate the filing to an authorised filing agent as is demanded by the State. A filing agent is a firm that collects your papers, fills out the necessary forms and then proceeds to send them to the ACRA.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paid-up Capital<\/h3>\n

The final step would be the capital. In order to incorporate a company in Singapore, paid-up capital is required. In most cases, 1 Singapore Dollar is sufficient. It doesn\u2019t have to be in Singapore Dollars, foreign currency is also accepted. The sum of the capital may be increased and the currency used initially may also be changed at any time after incorporation of the company.<\/p>\n

Those are the basic steps and timeline a foreigner could refer to if they intend to incorporate a company in Singapore.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_title=”Author Card”][vc_column][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1730870221717{background-color: #126742 !important;border-radius: 5px !important;border-color: #EEEEEE !important;}”][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

\"Abigail<\/p>\n

\n

Abigail Yu<\/p>\n

Author<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Abigail Yu oversees executive leadership at 3E Accounting Group, leading operations, IT solutions, public relations, and digital marketing to drive business success. She holds an honors degree in Communication and New Media from the National University of Singapore and is highly skilled in crisis management, financial communication, and corporate communications.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”Connect Now” style=”flat” color=”white” align=”left” css=”.vc_custom_1761909145069{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fabigail-yu%2F”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””] A Foreigner\u2019s Guide to Start a Business in Singapore – Basic Steps Foreigners can incorporate a business in Singapore with 100% ownership rights, benefiting from one of Asia’s most streamlined digital registration environments governed by ACRA with minimal bureaucratic barriers. Three structural options define how foreign entrepreneurs establish local presence. A Private Limited…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":42622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-blog","category-15","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.3ecpa.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.3ecpa.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.3ecpa.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.3ecpa.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.3ecpa.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42599"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.3ecpa.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106287,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.3ecpa.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42599\/revisions\/106287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.3ecpa.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.3ecpa.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.3ecpa.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.3ecpa.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}