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In every jurisdiction on this page a non resident can own the company outright. Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States set no residency, nationality or work permit test on shareholders. Two narrow exceptions: an Australian proprietary company may not have more than 50 members who are not employees, and a United States S corporation may not have non resident alien shareholders at all, which is why a foreign owner takes an LLC or a C corporation instead.
What stops people is the board seat, and after that the bank. Around a dozen jurisdictions require at least one director, or half the board, to live locally or somewhere in the European Economic Area. Others leave the board alone but insist on a locally resident company secretary, an agent for service of process or a contact person. For the European Union route specifically, our guide to European company formation covers what changes inside the single market.
These rules differ in kind, not only in degree. One country counts heads on the board, another counts days spent in the country, a third asks for a professional licence rather than an address, and one tests citizenship rather than residence. The middle column is what the statute or the registry itself says.
| Jurisdiction | What the rule requires | Dispensation or workaround |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | At least one director of a proprietary company must normally live in Australia, and a proprietary company with crowd sourced funding shareholders needs two directors, a majority of them resident. A public company needs three directors, two of them normally resident. Where a secretary is appointed, at least one secretary must live there, and every director needs a director identification number. | None. ASIC runs no exemption or bond route, so the incoming owner appoints a resident director. |
| Canada, federal | At least 25 per cent resident Canadian directors under the Canada Business Corporations Act, and at least one where the board has fewer than four members. A majority is required in prescribed sectors such as uranium mining, book publishing and film distribution. Manitoba applies the same 25 per cent test. | None federally. Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces have no requirement, so non residents usually incorporate provincially. |
| Finland | At least one ordinary board member, at least one deputy member and the managing director of an Oy must reside in the EEA. | A permit from the Finnish Patent and Registration Office. A representative resident in Finland must also be registered to accept service of process, unless an EEA resident officer is already on file. |
| Ireland | Section 137 of the Companies Act 2014: at least one director resident in an EEA state. Since Brexit a United Kingdom resident no longer qualifies. | A Section 137 bond running for two years, or a Section 140 certificate from the CRO on Form B67 once Revenue confirms a real and continuous link with economic activity in Ireland. |
| Liechtenstein | Article 180a PGR: at least one member of the administration authorised to manage and represent the entity must be an EEA citizen holding a licence under the Trustee Act, and a licensed trustee keeps an office in Liechtenstein. | Entities that must appoint a general manager under the Business Act, and entities supervised by an authority, are exempt. Otherwise a licensed Liechtenstein trustee, lawyer or auditor fills the seat. |
| Mauritius, Global Business Corporation | At least two directors resident in Mauritius at all times, of sufficient calibre to exercise independent judgement, with management and control in Mauritius and administration by a licensed management company. | None. The management company supplies the resident directors. An Authorised Company is the opposite case: managed and controlled outside Mauritius, still needs a Mauritian registered agent, and is not treaty eligible. |
| New Zealand | Section 10 of the Companies Act 1993: at least one director who lives in New Zealand, or who lives in Australia and is also a director of a company incorporated there. The Registrar treats more than 183 days in a twelve month period as living in the country. | None. There is no bond alternative. |
| Norway | Section 6-11 of the Companies Act: the general manager and at least half the board members of an AS must reside in Norway, another EEA state, the United Kingdom or Switzerland. The nationality test was repealed from 1 July 2023. | The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries can grant an exemption case by case, but it is not routine. |
| Singapore | Section 145 of the Companies Act 1967: at least one director ordinarily resident in Singapore, meaning a citizen, permanent resident, or EntrePass or Employment Pass holder with a local residential address. The company secretary must also be locally resident. | None. A nominee resident director is the usual route, and since 9 June 2025 nominee directors must be registered with ACRA under the Corporate Service Providers Act 2024. |
| Slovakia, non OECD nationals | Section 7(14) of Act 530/2003: a konateľ who is not a citizen of an EU, EEA or OECD member state must produce a Slovak residence permit before the registry court will enter the appointment. | None as such. Citizens of EU, EEA and OECD member states are exempt outright, which is the route foreign founders normally take. |
| Sweden | Chapter 8 of the Companies Act: at least half the board members, and the managing director, must reside within the EEA. | A Bolagsverket exemption on application, for a limited period. Separately, if no board member, managing director or authorised signatory resides in Sweden, the company must appoint a Swedish resident agent for service of process, and no exemption is available from that. |
| Switzerland | The company must be capable of being represented by at least one person resident in Switzerland: article 718 paragraph 4 of the Code of Obligations for an AG, article 814 paragraph 3 for a GmbH. Individual board members otherwise need no Swiss residency. | None. A Swiss resident director or Treuhänder holds signing authority instead. A residence or work permit is a separate immigration question. |
Four of these entries are routinely misreported elsewhere. Liechtenstein does not ask where the director sleeps: article 180a tests EEA citizenship plus a Liechtenstein professional licence, so a licensed trustee fills the seat rather than any resident you happen to know. The Mauritian rule belongs to the Global Business Corporation, not to every Mauritian company. Slovakia tests citizenship, so it never touches a founder from an EU, EEA or OECD member state and always touches one who is not, which catches owners from the Gulf and much of Asia. Canada’s rule is federal only, which is why a non resident usually incorporates in a province instead.
In the jurisdictions we verified for this page, no other country imposes a board residency test. The six that non residents ask about most each carry one condition that is easy to miss.
Wherever you incorporate, the company needs an address in that country, and increasingly a named local person has to stand behind it. This obligation survives even where the board rule does not exist, which is why founders meet it late. The United Kingdom wants a registered office and a registered email address, a United States entity a registered agent with a street address in its state of formation, and Hong Kong and Singapore a locally resident company secretary. Sweden is stricter than its board rule suggests: where no board member, managing director or authorised signatory lives in Sweden, the company must appoint a Swedish resident agent to receive service of process, and there is no exemption from that one. Finland requires a representative resident in Finland unless an EEA resident officer is on file. In Liechtenstein the licensed trustee keeps an office in the country, and a Mauritian Global Business Corporation is administered by a licensed management company. Our jurisdictions list is the place to compare before choosing.
None of this requires travel, but the formalities depend on whether the local register wants a notarial act. Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg require notarisation. The United Kingdom, Estonia and Bulgaria accept a qualified electronic signature and nothing more.
Where a signature must be witnessed there are three routes: sign before a notary at the country’s own embassy or consulate, use a qualified electronic signature where the register accepts one, or give a notarised power of attorney to a local lawyer or notary who executes the deed for you. The power of attorney is what most buyers outside Europe use, because it removes the scheduling problem entirely. Identity documents are certified where you live, apostilled under the Hague Convention and sworn translated where the register demands it, as our checklist of documents needed for company formation sets out. A ready made company changes none of this: a transfer in Ireland, the United Kingdom or Singapore is signed the same way and inherits the same resident director rule.
Bank onboarding is the real bottleneck, and the reason is structural: the checks run on the beneficial owner rather than on the entity. Australia has no beneficial ownership register for unlisted companies, yet banks and other reporting entities identify beneficial owners privately at 25 per cent under the anti money laundering rules, and New Zealand, which has no register either, collects the same information through customer due diligence. A Swiss AG or GmbH keeps its own record under article 697j of the Code of Obligations and shows it to banks rather than publishing it, with a federal transparency register following on 1 October 2026 that opens to authorities and financial intermediaries, not to the public. Singapore lodges its Register of Registrable Controllers with ACRA for authorities only, and in the United States the FinCEN database is open to banks with the company’s consent.
So the questions are about your residence, your source of funds and the business you intend to do, not about the incorporation file, and the outcome can turn on where the beneficial owner lives rather than on the bank. Some banks onboard by video, others still want a director in a branch. See opening a bank account for a shelf company, and the notes on Swedish business accounts and accounts for United States companies, the two most common non resident applications we see.
Yes, in every jurisdiction on this page. None of them impose a residency, nationality or work permit test on shareholders, and one foreign person can hold the entire share capital. Two limits are worth repeating: an Australian proprietary company is capped at 50 members who are not employees, and a United States S corporation may not have non resident alien shareholders, so a foreign owner uses an LLC or a C corporation.
Australia, Canada federally, Finland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Mauritius for a Global Business Corporation, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia for founders who are not citizens of an EU, EEA or OECD state, Sweden and Switzerland. Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden accept residence anywhere in the European Economic Area rather than in the country itself, which is a much easier test to satisfy.
No. The requirement attaches to the company rather than to the way it was created, so an Irish, Singaporean or Australian shelf company carries the same obligation the moment you take it over. All that changes is who fills the seat after the transfer. The advantage of a ready made entity is timing and a clean registry history, never an exemption from the statute.
In most of these jurisdictions the statute asks for residence or a local licence and nothing more, so a nominee satisfies it. The conditions vary. Singapore has required nominee directors to be registered with ACRA since 9 June 2025, Mauritius expects resident directors of sufficient calibre to exercise independent judgement, and Liechtenstein needs a licensed trustee rather than any willing resident.
Not for the incorporation itself. You sign before a notary at the country’s embassy or consulate, with a qualified electronic signature where the register accepts one, or by notarised power of attorney given to a local lawyer. Identity documents are certified at home, apostilled and sworn translated where needed. Banking is the stage that sometimes still asks for a video call or a branch visit.
Because anti money laundering rules make the bank identify the natural person behind the company, usually at 25 per cent ownership, and then assess that person. This happens whether or not the country keeps a beneficial ownership register: Australia and New Zealand have none, and their banks collect the data anyway. Expect questions on residence, source of funds and intended activity.