How to incorporate a Hong Kong company: NNC1, fees, timing

To incorporate a private company limited by shares in Hong Kong, you deliver three things to the Companies Registry: the Incorporation Form (Form NNC1), a copy of the company’s articles of association, and a Notice to Business Registration Office (IRBR1), with the fees. Filed online through the Registry’s e-Services Portal, the certificates are normally issued within one hour. The government fees for 2026–27 come to HK$3,895 if you file electronically and take a one-year business registration certificate. You do not need to live in Hong Kong, but the company needs a Hong Kong registered office and a company secretary who meets the residence rule from the day it exists.

What you need before you file

The Registry’sincorporation FAQsets the basic requirements for a private company:

• A name the Registrar will accept. Check it first against thecompany name rules.
• At least one director who is a natural person, meaning an individual. The Companies Ordinance does not require a director to be a Hong Kong resident. More on who can sit on the board is indirector requirements.
• A company secretary. An individual secretary must ordinarily reside in Hong Kong. A corporate secretary must have its registered or principal office in Hong Kong. The sole director of a private company must not also be its secretary.
• A registered office in Hong Kong. The address must be situated in Hong Kong, and it goes on the incorporation form. Seeregistered office versus virtual office.
• Founder members, the first shareholders, who sign the incorporation form.

The documents you deliver

The Registry’show to register a new companypage lists three documents for a local company limited by shares:

1. Form NNC1, the Incorporation Form. It carries the company name, the registered office address, and the particulars of the first directors and the company secretary. If a founder member who signs it is also a director, they sign the “Consent to Act as Director” in the form as well.
2. A copy of the articles of association. These are the company’s internal rules. Sample articles are available on the e-Services Portal.
3. Form IRBR1, Notice to Business Registration Office, with the business registration fee and levy. Incorporation and business registration are one application: the Registry issues the Certificate of Incorporation and the Business Registration Certificate together.

You can see what the form asks for before you start in the Registry’sspecimen Form NNC1.

Step by step

1. Search the proposed name free of charge with Exact Name Search on thee-Services Portal.
2. Settle the first director or directors, the company secretary, the registered office address and the founder members, with their particulars.
3. Prepare the articles, starting from the Registry’s samples if they suit you.
4. Complete NNC1 and IRBR1 and submit them online, or deliver them in hard copy at theCompanies Registry.
5. Pay straight away. The Registry does not reserve names, so a name that is free today can be taken by another applicant before you pay.
6. Download the Certificate of Incorporation and the Business Registration Certificate. For an online filing the Registry sends an email notification to the registered user who submitted the application.

Government fees and timing

The Companies Registry’sprice guidelists the incorporation fee for a company limited by shares. The Inland Revenue Department’sfee and levy tablesets the business registration amount for certificates starting between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027.

The timings are the Registry’s for companies limited by shares. They assume a complete application. A firm’s own charges are on top of these government fees. The government fees do not change if a firm files for you.

What a formation firm does

You can file yourself. Founders who use a formation firm are usually paying for three things: preparing and filing NNC1, the articles and IRBR1; acting as the company secretary; and providing the registered office address. The last two matter most to founders outside Hong Kong, because an individual secretary has to ordinarily reside here.

Acting as a company secretary or providing a registered office as a business is a trust or company service, and a firm offering it generally needs a TCSP licence from the Registrar.Checking a TCSP licenceshows how to look a firm up on the official register before you pay. Ask for a written list of what the fee covers: the filing only, or the first year of secretary and address services as well.

Mistakes that hold up an application

• Leaving the first director, the secretary or the registered office out of NNC1.
• Naming the sole director as the company secretary.
• Giving a registered office outside Hong Kong.
• Filing a name you have not searched, or delaying payment after a clear search.
• Forgetting the IRBR1 and the business registration fee, which go in with the form.

After the certificates arrive

The company now has yearly duties. A private company delivers an annual return (Form NAR1) within 42 days after each anniversary of incorporation, except in the year it is formed; the fee on time is HK$105. The business registration certificate is renewed separately with the IRD. The two are compared inannual return vs business registration renewal. If you change the registered office, directors or secretary later, each change has its own form.

If a limited company is more than you need, readsole proprietorship or limited companyfirst. To compare firms that file incorporations, see ourcompany formation firms. The Companies Registry decides every application, and this page is not legal advice.