Keeping the company
Registered office versus a virtual office
The registered office is the address on the Companies Registry record. A virtual office is a mail service. They are the same address only if you file it.
At a glance
- Must be
- A real address in Hong Kong
- Not accepted
- Post office box or “care of”
- On the public record
- From the incorporation date
- If the address changes
- File NR1 within 15 days
Every Hong Kong company has to have a registered office address in Hong Kong. That is the address government departments use when they need to serve a notice. TheCompanies Registry’s FAQis blunt: it cannot sit outside Hong Kong. It is also not theCompanies Registry’s own addressat Queensway Government Offices.
The notes to Form NNC1 and Form NR1 go further. The Registry will not accept a post office box or a “care of” address. It has to be a real Hong Kong street address that can receive post. That address goes on the public record from the incorporation date.
Registered office versus virtual office
A virtual office is a commercial service: you rent a business address, and someone opens, scans or forwards the mail. It is not a separate legal status. If that address is the one on the Companies Registry record, it is your registered office. If it is only for invoices and letterheads, it is just a mailing address.
A lot of overseas founders use a virtual office as the registered office so a home address does not go on the public record. How to buy that work — and which published prices we have — is oncompany registered address service. The firms are onregistered office address in Hong Kong.
If the registered office address changes
File Form NR1 (Notice of Change of Address of Registered Office) within 15 days after the change. The form itself repeats the same rule: no non-Hong Kong address, no “care of”, no post office box. The IRD split — registered office versus business address — is onchanging a Hong Kong registered office.
The registered office and the business address on the Business Registration Certificate are not the same thing. TheCompanies Registry’s change-of-particulars FAQsays the Registry will pass a new registered office to the Business Registration Office after NR1 is registered, but a change of business address still needs a written notice or Form IRC3111A at the Inland Revenue Department within one month.
A firm that provides a registered office or acts as secretary as a business generally needs aTCSP licence, unless an AMLO exemption applies. The firms we have listed are onregistered office / virtual office.
Questions people ask
Can the registered office be overseas?
No. The Companies Registry’s FAQ is blunt: it cannot sit outside Hong Kong.
Can I use a PO box as a registered office address?
No. The notes to Form NNC1 and Form NR1 say the Registry will not accept a post office box or a “care of” address. It has to be an address in Hong Kong that can receive post.
Is a virtual office the same as a registered office?
If that address is the one on the Companies Registry record, and it is a real Hong Kong address, it is your registered office. The virtual-office contract is just how mail is handled. It is not a second kind of company.
How do I change the registered office address?
File Form NR1 (Notice of Change of Address of Registered Office) with the Companies Registry within 15 days after the change. The registered office and the business address on the Business Registration Certificate are not the same thing — if the business address also moves, the Inland Revenue Department still wants Form IRC3111A within one month.