
Ask HN: Is there any country that allows foreigner setup their company online? - alansparrow
Hello,
I am living in South Korea and I am a foreigner. The procedures to setup a company in SK are quite complicated for me. I just want to have a legal entity to run my online business (SaaS), I would like to ask if there is any country that allows me to register a company online (with simple procedures). Thank you very much!<p>P&#x2F;s: This question is inspired by this one: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=8870593<p>So thank the author ;)<p>I&#x27;ve heard a lot about some weird countries like: Luxembourg, British Virgin Islands.. where many paper  companies are made for different reasons (tax evasion, law...), so I think anyone can register a company there with ease?
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mtmail
The UK limited allows that. There are many online services (law firms?) will
help you for less than $100 USD. One of the first results I found
[http://www.ltdcompany.co.uk/company-formation/starting-a-
ltd...](http://www.ltdcompany.co.uk/company-formation/starting-a-ltd-company/)

~~~
mariusandra
You can easily set up a UK company online, but you won't be able to get a UK
bank account.

However I was able to get my local bank to open an account for us when I
presented stamped legal documents sent from the UK.

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danieltillett
Could you provide more details on what was involved? Was your local bank a
branch of a UK bank? Are you located within the EU? What legal documents did
you need stamped? Who were they stamped by and how much did it cost?

~~~
mariusandra
I opened an account with www.lhv.ee - a bank in Estonia (EU), which is my home
country.

We started a company, then ordered the incorporation documents, and then had
them sent back to be apostilled. Then we forwarded them to the bank. I had
also been in the bank office before to sign some paperwork and see what was
possible.

Starting a company was 200£. Apostilling the document was 30£. The cost of
opening the bank account was 500€. Add some postage fees.

Starting the company:
[http://www.companiesmadesimple.com/page1512en.html?namesearc...](http://www.companiesmadesimple.com/page1512en.html?namesearch=no)
Getting the certificate of incorporation from them mailed. Apostilling
documents: [https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised](https://www.gov.uk/get-
document-legalised) Bank we used: [https://www.lhv.ee/](https://www.lhv.ee/)

~~~
danieltillett
Thanks for all this. I suspect it is impossible to do outside of the eu.

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jreimers
Estonia is trying to make this possible with their e-Estonia initiative
[https://e-estonia.com/component/e-business-
register/](https://e-estonia.com/component/e-business-register/)

~~~
skrebbel
The way it was explained to me is that you need to physically travel to
Estonia once, to become an Estonian e-resident. From then on, you can deal
with the Estonian government exclusively via the internet. You get access to a
very large amount of the services they provide to their real citizens. Not
all, of course, but starting a business is on the list.

~~~
mb_72
Currently, yes, you need to travel to Estonia:
[https://e-estonia.com/e-residents/apply-2/](https://e-estonia.com/e-residents/apply-2/)
... but from mid-year it should be possible to become an e-resident via an
application to an Estonian consulate without needing to travel to Estonia
itself.

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LukeB_UK
In the UK you can do it via Companies House for £15:
[https://ewf.companieshouse.gov.uk/runpage?page=welcome](https://ewf.companieshouse.gov.uk/runpage?page=welcome)

Edit: Not sure about for foreigners though.

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bprieto
Yes, you can, both EU residents and out of EU residents.

But you need an official address in UK (registered address) for your company,
where Government can send you official mail. There are companies that give you
this service, so it's not a big problem.

~~~
alansparrow
"There are companies that give you this service, so it's not a big problem.",
can you list some companies who provide this kind of service?

~~~
Major_Grooves
I registered my UK company while I was living in Germany. I used these guys
for my registered company address:
[https://www.smallfirmsservices.com/Default.aspx](https://www.smallfirmsservices.com/Default.aspx)

I used their cheapest service (£80/year) for which you get the company
address, and they will only forward mail from HMRC and Companies House -
anything else gets returned to sender.

We still use them, even though we have a trading address now.

~~~
zzzcpan
How easy it was to get a bank account?

~~~
Major_Grooves
It was ok for me as I already had a UK domestic account and a UK address I
could use, but I think from outside the UK this would be very difficult. I
suspect your best bet would be HSBC as they operate an "international" model
(supposedly).

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silver1
Read this fantastic blog ....matches your situation : it gives you info about
everything (how to incorporate in USA, Physical address, Opening a bank
account, cost etc.) .... GOOD LUCK!

[http://blog.freshdesk.com/how-to-incorporate-a-us-
corporatio...](http://blog.freshdesk.com/how-to-incorporate-a-us-corporation-
from-outs/)

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rahimnathwani
You are asking about setting up the company, but you will want to consider
other factors as well:

\- Where can you open a bank account for the company?

\- What are the annual and periodic filing requirements (and fees) in regards
to ongoing company registration (e.g. the Company Annual Return in the UK)?

\- What are the tax filing requirements and tax rates for your situation?

\- Do you annual company accounts need to be filed? Do these accounts need to
be audited by a professional accountancy firm? Are there any exemptions from
this requirement?

\- What are your own country's laws re: determining the domicile of a
corporate entity, for the purposes of calculating tax?

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gabemart
I believe you can set up a company in Hong Kong online as a foreigner.
Additionally, I believe that there is no corporate tax for Hong Kong companies
that have no business presence or operations within Hong Kong.

~~~
alansparrow
Does that mean I don't have to flight to Hong Kong and file application there?
All I need to do is submit some documents online? It would be nice if you can
give some more information (ex: website, etc..)

~~~
gabemart
I'm afraid I'm totally unqualified to give any more information than can be
found by searching the web.

It looks like you can do everything online and most applications are processed
within one hour [1]. The minimum cost for a one-year registration looks like
it's around 600 USD equivalent. My source for the statement about corporation
tax is from PWC [2].

[1] [http://www.investhk.gov.hk/setting-up-your-business/hong-
kon...](http://www.investhk.gov.hk/setting-up-your-business/hong-kong-company-
incorporation.html)

[2]
[http://www.pwchk.com/home/eng/tax_hk_corptax.html](http://www.pwchk.com/home/eng/tax_hk_corptax.html)

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rgbrenner
I don't know SK law.. but would this really simplify things? Does SK allow
foreign corporations to operate in SK without any paperwork? Seems unlikely.

~~~
alansparrow
My business is a SaaS company so basically I can provide service globally, not
necessarily just in SK.

~~~
alansparrow
@rgbrenner: Thank you but I am a student and study visa is not qualified for
setting up a company. Otherwise, you have to invest ~100,000 USD to get a
business visa then you can setup your company OR you have to spend time
working in SK, gain some point from other activities (Korean language,
community service..) to be qualified for a F2 visa (which is eligible for
setting up a company). In my opinion, a very complicated system for foreigners
who want to do business in SK.

~~~
charlesdm
Where are you from? One option could be to incorporate a company, and appoint
your mother or father as a director.

Not completely legal, but if you're testing a market (and not making any
money) I doubt anyone will care.

I think that's a much 'safer' way than setting up a company in some obscure
jurisdiction (e.g. Estonia, Lux) where you don't speak the language.

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justincormack
You also need to make sure that having a foreign company will meet your
requirements for why you want to have a limited company, under local law.

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mynewcompany
Starting the company in the US is actually the easy part; getting a bank
account and/or merchant account can add complications. We've created a
checklist here:
[http://www.mynewcompany.com/international.htm](http://www.mynewcompany.com/international.htm)

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danieltillett
It is relatively easy to set up a company online in many countries, the
difficulty is opening a bank account.

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lotsofmangos
UK, Isle of Man or Estonia.

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_rahuls
Can I register my startup in UK without even going there with just £15. This
sounds interesting but are there any complications or hidden stuffs that I
should be aware of?

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womitt
Our UK Ltd was registered in a day by evabookkeeping.co.uk after we've sent
the documents, and we don't have anybody in our company living in UK.

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joeyspn
I bookmarked this the other day. Check it out...

[http://www.1click2startacompany.com/](http://www.1click2startacompany.com/)

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known
Ireland does allow
[https://core.cro.ie/Main/index.jsp](https://core.cro.ie/Main/index.jsp)

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bikamonki
Why do you need the company???

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comrade1
Are you American? Have you tried contacting someone at the u.s. Chamber of
commerce in South Korea?

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alansparrow
No, I am not.

