Company setup
Starting a company in Singapore as a foreigner.
A foreigner can own all of a Singapore company and run it from abroad at first. The registration is the easy part; the path that follows, the resident director, the Employment Pass, the bank account, is where doing it properly pays off.
By Travis Tay, Immigration Expert · Updated June 2026.
Yes, a foreigner can register and own 100 percent of a Singapore private limited company without living here. Two things follow: the company needs at least one director ordinarily resident in Singapore, so a nominee resident director bridges that until your own Employment Pass is approved; and to work in and relocate for the business you need that Employment Pass. Incorporation takes days; building a company with the substance to support the pass and a bank account is the real work.
The rules that apply to foreigners
Three rules shape everything. You can hold 100 percent of the shares as a foreigner. The company must have at least one director ordinarily resident in Singapore, which you do not satisfy until you hold an Employment Pass, so a nominee resident director fills the role temporarily. And you must appoint a company secretary within six months and keep a real registered office address. None of this is hard with the right help; all of it trips up DIY setups.
The full path, step by step
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Name and incorporate | Reserve the name and register the Pte Ltd with ACRA (SGD 315 in fees) |
| 2. Bridging resident director | A nominee satisfies the resident-director rule until your EP is granted |
| 3. Capitalise and structure | Set credible paid-up capital, a registered office and a corporate secretary |
| 4. Build substance | Office, activity, a website and a local-hiring plan, so the company reads as real |
| 5. Employment Pass | Prepare and submit a COMPASS-ready application |
| 6. Bank account and operations | Open corporate banking and begin trading |
| 7. You take the chair | Once your EP is approved, you become resident director and the nominee steps down |
Done-for-you versus do-it-yourself
You can technically do much of this yourself through online portals. The risk is not the registration, which is simple, but everything graded afterwards: a thin company that stalls at the Employment Pass, a bank account that will not open, a salary and capital that do not add up. A done-for-you approach structures the company around what MOM and the banks actually assess, described in what MOM looks for in your company, so the later steps go smoothly.
What to watch out for
- Cheap setups that stop at registration and leave you alone at the Employment Pass
- One-dollar capital that cannot support your salary or a bank account
- A mailbox address and no activity, which read as a shell
- Treating the nominee director as the whole plan rather than a temporary bridge
The bottom line
Starting the company is easy. Building one that earns the Employment Pass, opens a bank account and leads to permanent residence is the part worth doing properly, the first time. That is the whole path we handle, set out in company incorporation.
Questions people ask
Can a foreigner start a company in Singapore without living there? +
Yes. You can register and own 100 percent of a Singapore company from abroad. The company needs a director ordinarily resident in Singapore, so a nominee resident director bridges that until your own Employment Pass is approved and you can relocate.
Do I have to use a corporate service provider? +
A foreigner cannot self-register as easily as a local and must meet the resident-director and corporate-secretary rules, so in practice a registered filing agent or corporate service provider is used. The bigger reason is the work after registration, where good help matters most.
Is a cheap online setup enough? +
For registration alone, yes. For a foreign founder who needs an Employment Pass and a bank account, a setup that stops at registration usually leaves the hardest, most-graded steps undone.
How long does the whole process take? +
Incorporation takes a few days. The Employment Pass that follows usually takes about one to one and a half months for a clean case, longer if MOM requests more documents. The bank account runs alongside.
Can I remove the nominee director later? +
Yes. Once your own Employment Pass is approved you qualify as the resident director and the nominee can resign, leaving you in full control of your company.
Related services
Set up in Singapore, the whole way.
We take you from incorporation to Employment Pass to bank account, structured to hold up.