Foreign entities can set up branches in Korea without investing.
The advantage of establishing a branch office is that, unlike establishing a foreign-invested corporation, you can establish a corporate company in Korea without investing capital, and you can conduct profitable business activities in Korea. Also, if necessary, you can send employees from your overseas headquarters to work in Korea if you meet the requirements of the D7 visa.
The downside is that branches are classified as foreign entities, which means that if something goes wrong, the liability is attributed to the foreign headquarters, and you don’t get the benefits of a domestic entity, such as small business registration.
Closing an established branch and re-establishing a different type of company will be costly and time-consuming, so please consider the content and scalability of your business activities in Korea when choosing the type of company to establish.
Preparing for offshore headquarters
Overseas headquarters must submit the following documents, notarized by an apostille or Korean consulate.
- Certificate of Incorporation
- Articles of Incorporation
- Shareholder List
- Board resolutions
- Inauguration acceptance letter
- Notarize the address signature
- A copy of the headquarters representative’s passport
- Copy of the passport of the representative of the Korean office (ID if Korean)
- Letter of appointment for representative in Korea
- warrant
In-country documentation
- office lease agreement
- Copy of passport, seal stamp, seal declaration (if branch manager is Korean)
It usually takes a lot of time to prepare the apostille documents for the foreign headquarters, and once they are ready, the whole process takes about a week.
| Procedure | How long does it take |
| Notarization and apostille of foreign headquarters documents | |
| -> Report of establishment of a domestic branch of a foreign company (foreign exchange bank) | 1 day |
| -> Report Designation of Foreign Correspondent Bank for Transactions (Foreign Correspondent Bank) | 1 day |
| -> Domestic Branch Corporation Registration (Registrar of Companies) | 4 days |
| -> Business License Issuance (Jurisdictional Tax Office) | 2 days |
| – Open Corporate Bank Account at> (Bank) | 1 day |
If the address of your business changes, you will need to update your foreign company domestic branch notification and corporate registration. You will need to submit an apostille of the foreign headquarters documents related to the change.
If you move your address out of the jurisdiction, you may need to register and re-register your branch office, so be sure to choose your address carefully from the beginning.
If the CEO of a domestic branch changes, you’ll also need a notification of the change, an amendment to the corporate registration, and an apostille from the headquarters regarding the change.
- Resignation letter
- Inauguration acceptance letter
- Board resolutions
- Signature Notarized
- Seal declaration (Japan)
- Corporate seal, corporate card
After a foreign company establishes a domestic branch, it can apply for a D7 expatriate visa if it meets certain requirements.
D7 visa application conditions
- The dispatched person must have worked at the head office for at least one year.
- Depending on the size of your foreign headquarters and the amount of working capital you bring in, you may be approved for a D7 visa
- Visa qualification cannot be changed in Korea (issued as an invitational visa)
- Except for the representative, you must prove that you are a professional.
If a foreign corporation has a permanent establishment, it must report and pay business income as well as domestic source income related to that permanent establishment.
- You can hire foreign employees locally with an E7 work visa.
- Only income generated in Korea is subject to tax.
Why hire an IMMIKOREA administrative agency?
- We have extensive experience dealing with foreigners/foreign companies and handle them quickly and accurately.
- In order to eliminate errors in the preparation of documents, the overseas headquarters will prepare the documents that need to be apostilled in both foreign languages and Korean. You only need to send the apostille to the headquarters.
- Provide sample documents, translation, filing, registration, business license, bank account opening, etc.
- 법무부에 등록된 출입국 민원대행기관
- 전문적인 비자 컨설팅
- 비자 불허시 100% 환불
- 비자 발급 가능성에 대한 정확한 답변
- 정확한 서류 준비
- 필요시 샘플 서류 제공
- 방문예약없이 즉시 비자 신청 접수
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- 미국 세금보고
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