In short
- State fees: €10 for the name and €165 for the incorporation, €295 with both accelerated procedures.
- A lawyer in Cyprus draws up the memorandum and articles and swears form HE1 before the court.
- After the certificate: a tax number within 60 days and the beneficial owners within 90 days.
- Registration is expected in 8 to 12 working days. A bank account takes 4 to 12 weeks more.
In this guide
Before registration: what you decide for a Cyprus company
Founders from abroad register a private company limited by shares, the Cyprus Ltd. It has from 1 to 50 shareholders, one director or more, a company secretary and a registered office in Cyprus. The Companies Law, Cap. 113, sets no rule on the nationality or residence of shareholders and directors, and a company can hold the shares.
A public company is the form for offering shares to the public. It needs seven shareholders, two directors and a capital of €25,629. For a private company the Registrar's pages state no minimum capital.
With the form chosen, you settle six things before the first filing:
- The name, which ends in Limited or Ltd
- The registered office address in Cyprus
- The directors and the company secretary
- The shareholders and the share capital
- The objects: what the company will do
- The memorandum and articles of association
Two tax rules that changed on 1 January 2026 matter here. Corporate tax is 15% of net profit. A company incorporated in Cyprus is tax resident in Cyprus by default, unless a tax treaty provides otherwise. The older test, where the company is managed and controlled, applies alongside.
We prepare and file every document of the seven steps below. The page on company formation in Cyprus shows the three packages and what each includes.
How to run the name search yourself: Cyprus company register search.
How to register a company in Cyprus: seven steps
Steps 1 to 5 end with the certificate of incorporation. Steps 6 and 7 have deadlines that start on the day the company is registered.
- Get the name approved. Search the register and the registered trade marks first, because the Registrar's own search goes beyond the companies registered in Cyprus. The application states what the company will do and what the name means. It costs €10 a name, or €30 with the accelerated procedure, and an approved name stays reserved for six months.
- Have the memorandum and articles drawn up. A lawyer or a law firm in Cyprus draws them up and signs them. The memorandum states the name, the registered office, the objects, the share capital and the first shareholders. The articles are the internal rules, and a company can adopt the model in Table A of the Companies Law. The Registrar takes both in Greek. An English version is filed as certified translations, for a further €160.
- Appoint the officers. Form HE2 gives the registered office address, in Cyprus and written in Greek. Form HE3 gives the first directors and the secretary. A sole director cannot also be the secretary, except in a company with a single shareholder.
- File for incorporation. The lawyer swears form HE1, a statutory declaration, before the court and files it with the other documents through the Registrar's e-filing system. The fee is €165, or €265 with the accelerated procedure.
- Receive the certificate of incorporation. The Registrar enters the company in the register and issues the certificate with its registration number. The certificates of directors and secretary, of shareholders and of the registered office come from the Registrar too: a set costs €120 or €130 when it is ordered with the registration.
- Get the tax number. Within 60 days of incorporation the company applies for registration in the Tax Registry. The application goes through the Tax For All portal, and since 1 July 2026 only when the company signs in with CY Login, the state's sign-in for online services. It carries the four certificates of step 5 and the identity document of the officer who applies.
- Declare the beneficial owners. Within 90 days of incorporation the company enters them in the register of beneficial owners (the UBO register). A beneficial owner is any person who owns or controls more than 25% of the company, directly or through other companies. The filing is free. A late one costs €100 and €50 for each further day, up to €5,000.
Where filings are rejected: what the Registrar's examiner checks
For each of the five documents of a registration, the Registrar publishes what its examiners check and the most common reasons they reject it.
| Document | What the examiner checks | Common reason for rejection |
|---|---|---|
| Name application | The name is distinctive and is not too close to a name approved in Cyprus or abroad | The name only describes an activity, a quality or a place, or it misleads about the size of the business |
| Memorandum | The name as approved, lawful objects, the capital, each shareholder's details and signature | The name ends in Ltd in one place and in Limited in another, or the number of shares is not written by hand |
| Articles | Numbered pages, the date, the name and signature of the lawyer who drew them up | The date is missing or wrong, or the pages are not numbered |
| Form HE1 | The lawyer's oath, the signature of the court's registrar and the seal of the court | A form that is not the statutory one |
| Form HE3 | Passport or identity number, country of origin, date of birth, profession and address of each officer | The date, the profession or the country of origin is left out |
Each shareholder signs the memorandum and writes the number of shares by hand, and a witness adds a name, an address and a signature. The memorandum can state that the company is a commercial company with general objects, so it does not have to list every activity.
Regulated activities: when a consent comes before the company
For some activities the Registrar asks for the consent of the authority in charge. You file it with the name application or with the incorporation.
| Activity of the company | Authority that gives the consent |
|---|---|
| Investment services, investment funds and their managers | Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission |
| Credit, payment, electronic money and currency exchange services | Central Bank of Cyprus |
| Insurance and reinsurance | Superintendent of Insurance |
| Administrative services, the work of a corporate service provider | Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission or the Law Office of the Republic |
| Medical, dental and legal services | Cyprus Medical Council, Cyprus Dental Council, Law Office of the Republic |
| Higher education, a casino, radio or television | Ministry of Education, Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, Cyprus Radiotelevision Authority |
The list covers what the Registrar asks for at the registration. A licence that an activity needs before trading, such as one for crypto-asset services, is a separate application to its own authority.
Documents for a Cyprus company registration: what the owners and directors send
Each person who will own or manage the company sends five documents. We check them before anything is filed.
- Certified copy of a valid passport
- Proof of address issued in the last 3 months
- Bank reference letter, or bank statements for 3 months
- CV or professional profile
- Source of funds declaration
A company that becomes a shareholder sends its certificate of incorporation, memorandum and articles, certificate of good standing, register of directors and shareholders and a board resolution that approves the Cyprus company. These come apostilled, in English or with an official translation.
Nobody travels to Cyprus for the registration. You sign digitally, and originals go by courier where the Registrar asks for them.
We do this for you Company formation in Cyprus from €1,699
Timing: how long does it take to register a company in Cyprus?
The Registrar's pages give no fixed time for a registration. With us it is expected in 8 to 12 working days from the day your documents are complete. Documents that reach us on Monday 2 November 2026 put the expected registration between 12 and 18 November.
The Registrar's accelerated procedures shorten its part of that time. They cost €20 more for the name and €100 more for the incorporation, and expedited filing is part of our Premium package.
A founder who needs a registered company sooner buys one that is on the register already: shelf company in Cyprus.
Cost: how much does it cost to register a company in Cyprus?
| State fee | Standard | Accelerated |
|---|---|---|
| Name approval, one name | €10 | €30 |
| Incorporation, forms HE1 to HE3 | €165 | €265 |
| Total to the Registrar | €175 | €295 |
Our packages cost €1,699, €2,749 and €4,999 before VAT, and each includes the state fees, a registered office and a company secretary for the first year. The guide to Cyprus company formation cost lists every fee of the Registrar and the costs of the second year.
Director: do you need a director in Cyprus or a nominee?
For the registration, no. The law asks for one director and one secretary and says nothing about where the director lives. In practice the secretary is in Cyprus, and we provide one in every package.
For tax and for the bank the question is where the company is managed and controlled. Founders who want the company managed from the island appoint a director in Cyprus, who takes part in the board's decisions, holds its meetings and signs there.
A licensed provider can act as director or hold the shares for you, as the page on a nominee director and shareholder in Cyprus explains. The beneficial owner is still declared in the register of step 7 and to the bank.
After registration: VAT, bank account, staff, first annual return
VAT
The company registers once its taxable turnover of the last twelve months passes €15,600, or will pass it within thirty days. A company that sells services to businesses in other EU member states registers from the first such sale, with no threshold. We handle VAT registration in Cyprus for €350.
Bank account
A bank opens an account for a registered company, so the application starts with the certificates of step 5. Bank of Cyprus, Eurobank Limited and Alpha Bank Cyprus take 4 to 12 weeks. A payment account with Wise or Revolut opens in 1 to 5 working days. The guide to a Cyprus company bank account lists the documents.
Staff, changes and the first annual return
Before the first hire the company registers as an employer with the Social Insurance Services. It tells the Registrar of each change of directors, secretary, registered office or share capital on a form that costs €20. The first annual return is made up to the day after 18 months from incorporation and filed within 28 days, for a fee of €20. A company registered on 12 October 2026 makes it up to 13 April 2028.
Every later filing, from the books to the audit, is in the guide to Cyprus accounting requirements. To start, choose a package and send us your documents, and we register your Cyprus company.
Older guides list two costs that are gone: the yearly levy of €350, abolished from 2024, and stamp duty, abolished for documents signed from 1 January 2026.
