The first step here is obtaining enough advice, and if possible, financial assistance. You can get advice from experts and you can attract funding through various means that require expertise and hard work. After that is taken care of, you will have to submit the essential documentation in order to officially begin the process of company registration in BVI. The regulatory authorities will take some time to review the submitted documents and, after careful consideration, they will determine whether or not you’ll get the green light for a firm in the jurisdiction. Then, you are expected to open an offshore bank account. The process is not that complicated and can be done with or without a financial advisor on your side.

What documents are needed to register a legal entity in BVI?

There’s a number of basic documents that need to be gathered before a company can be registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). These documents consist of:

• IDs of stockholders and directors;
• Proof of address of stockholders and directors;
• Company details (if a stockholder is a business entity);
• Business plan;
• Articles and memorandum of association.

Based on several factors, the regulator authorities might request additional information that you will have to provide. That is not a guarantee, but it’s a possibility. Also, be ready to restart the process almost from the beginning if the information that you provide is either deliberately misleading or accidentally erroneous.

What do you need to open a company in BVI?

Of course, there exists a number of requirements that have to be met before you can legally operate a business entity in BVI. At the end of the day, some businesses will have to spend a considerable amount of time and resources to make sure that they are in compliance with the local regulations. Some of the most basic requirements include:

• 1 director (no nationality requirements)
• 1 stockholder (no nationality requirements)
• Registered local address
• Company secretary
• No minimal share capital requirements

Many business bloggers note that requirements for starting a company in BVI are much laxer when compared to jurisdictions that have stricter regulations around the world. The “strict” jurisdictions, however, usually have better business environments, a wider choice of business opportunities, and more availability of expertise. That said, if you don’t plan to focus on the local market only, offshore, no-tax business owners will certainly benefit from BVI’s features.

Is it possible to register a company in BVI online?

It’s possible to establish an offshore company in the BVI using the internet but you will need to seek professional help to make sure that the process goes smoothly. They will help you prepare the documents that you will need to submit to prove your identity, address, etc. The process can be broken down into three stages. During the preparation stage, you interact with the business registering assistant company and you outline a number of details. Once that is taken care of, you just pay them for their services and wait. You might be asked to provide some additional documents, but odds are you won’t need to provide any of them.

What’s important to note is that BVI optimized the process of creating a business online because this nation understands why a lot of people register offshore companies through an internet browser instead of physically visiting the authority. In other words, the process shouldn’t be too complicated.

What taxes are there in BVI?

No legal entity carrying out its business activity in the British Virgin Islands pays taxes. You are not obliged to pay taxes as there’s no corporate tax, no personal income tax, no VAT. The lack of taxes is what attracts people to BVI in the first place. Many business-related blogs point to BVI as an ideal place to do business, especially for crypto currency related businesses.

What are the most popular companies in BVI?

There are several renowned companies in BVI that have gathered the most attention of investors. The first company that people bring up when discussing business headquartered in BVI is the APi Group corporation. It’s a provider of market-leading legal services and it’s been one of the most prominent companies in the area for many years. Another company that’s been featured in the media and is a well-known player in the offshore sector is Nomad Foods. The company provides frozen foods and has been very profitable for close to ten years. People that want to launch their own businesses might cite those two names as examples of companies that launched in the BVI.

The third company that needs to be mentioned is Aquaventure Holdings. It’s nowhere near as well-known as the other two, but it’s also very profitable. It’s a water purification business with innovative products and services that helped take the water industry by storm.

Deadlines for registering a company in BVI

On average, it takes close to five working days to establish an offshore company in the BVI. Then, you will have to wait for 3-4 weeks to open a bank account. So, in total, it will probably take a month for you to go through the steps to open a bank account and register a company.

There’s no clear-cut timeline, but the process itself is pretty straightforward. First, you reserve the business name. It should not take very long to select one. Next, you will need to submit all the documents. It might take you some time to gather all the paperwork, but once submitted, the Financial Services Commission will begin processing the documents in a rather swift fashion. This and all the other initial work can be wrapped up in about a week. Then, you will have to open a bank account and that is not a fast process, not a fast process at all. That said, by the end of this, you will have a fully functioning BVI based business.

It’s obvious that the advantages of doing business in BVI far outweigh the disadvantages. It’s a jurisdiction with lax business regulations and no taxation, so even the relatively lengthy timeline should not discourage you from reaping the rewards of having a BVI based business.