12 answers for owners and founders of a Belize company, from ordering to banking, annual compliance and what happens after incorporation. General information, not legal or tax advice: your specialist confirms how it applies to you.
A passport copy and a recent proof of address for each director, shareholder and beneficial owner, a short description of the business, a source-of-funds statement and a CRS tax residency self-certification. If a shareholder is itself a company, we also need its registry documents and the names of the people who own or control it. Everything is uploaded in the client portal after checkout.
Because direct access to Belize's Online Business Registry System is for people with a Belize social security ID. A company with foreign directors or shareholders is registered through a licensed Belize registered agent, which reserves the name, files the articles and enters the beneficial owners. We handle that filing for you.
Source: Frequently asked questions (OBRS access for non-Belizeans), Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry (BCCAR) (accessed Sep 2026)
Yes. Belize has been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 1993, so apostilled Belize documents are accepted in other member countries without consular legalisation. Banks and foreign registries often ask for an apostilled certificate of incorporation and a recent certificate of good standing, and we order both on request.
Certification and apostilleSource: Status table: Convention abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents, Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) (accessed Sep 2026)
Ahead of your renewal date, with the registry fee, the registered agent and office, and our service shown as lines. The registry fee depends on your share capital band under the BCCAR fee schedule, so it stays the same unless you increase the number of shares. Pay by card, PayPal or wire in the client portal or on Renew & pay.
Renew & paySource: Fees schedule, Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry (BCCAR) (accessed Sep 2026)
The registry charges US$1,000 in restoration fees for a filing made through a registered agent, before any unpaid annual fees and our own work. That is usually several times the annual renewal, which is why we remind you well before each renewal date.
Source: Fees schedule, Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry (BCCAR) (accessed Sep 2026)
Mainly electronic money institutions (EMIs) and some banks outside Belize, in the region where you trade. Belize had no FATF or EU-list flag at our September 2026 review, but banks still treat small international financial centres with care. We check which institutions accept your profile before you pay, and the institution decides.
Evidence that the business is real and a clear reason for using Belize. A working website, signed contracts or invoices, a list of main customers and suppliers, and bank statements showing where the first funds come from answer most of the questions. Send the same business description to the bank that you gave the registered agent, because banks compare them.
Only if it carries on a relevant activity, such as banking, insurance, fund management, financing and leasing, headquarters, distribution and service centre or shipping business, or holds companies that do. An entity in scope must run its core income-generating activities in Belize with adequate staff, spending and premises. A company managed outside Belize can be excluded if it is tax resident elsewhere and holds a certificate from that country's tax authority.
Source: Economic Substance Act, Cap. 273:01 (Revised Edition 2020), Financial Services Commission, Belize (accessed Sep 2026)
The company updates its entry in the Online Business Registry System and its own internal register whenever an owner changes. Registered agents must be able to give the information to the Financial Services Commission within 7 days of a request, so we ask for new owners' KYC before the change and file the update straight after.
Corporate changesSource: Guidelines on beneficial ownership information for legal persons and legal arrangements, Financial Services Commission, Belize (accessed Sep 2026)
Check that it re-registered under the Companies Act 2022, because the old IBC regime was replaced and the registry publishes a list of companies that have not re-registered. Then confirm that its registers of members and directors are on file and its beneficial owners are entered in the registry system. We review these points when you ask to transfer the company to us.
Transfer your companySource: Companies not yet re-registered, Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry (BCCAR) (accessed Sep 2026)
The certificate of incorporation, the articles, the registers of members and directors as filed, and share certificates, all in the client portal. We keep the renewal date and any register updates on one calendar and send reminders before each is due. Certified or apostilled copies are available if a bank or authority abroad asks for them.
Ask us to apply for its removal from the register through the registered agent, after the fees and filings are up to date. Closing it this way costs less than leaving it to be struck off and then restoring it later if a bank or buyer asks for records. Keep the company's records for at least 5 years after closing (confirm with your specialist).
Company strike-offSource: Belize Companies Act 2022, Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry (BCCAR) (accessed Sep 2026)
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