What we need
The certificate of incorporation, the current registers, and the same three due diligence documents for each director, shareholder and beneficial owner. Your outgoing agent must issue a transfer-out consent.
A BVI company has to be maintained every year it exists. Three recurring items cover it, and they arrive together, and most companies pay all three. All amounts are United States dollars (USD), per company, per year.
These are obligations, not options. The renewal and the economic substance declaration fall on every company, and the declaration has to be made whether or not the answer is “no relevant activity”. The annual return follows unless the company falls within a statutory exemption, so most companies pay all three.
The deadlines are on each line above. These are the consequences of passing them, in the order they arrive.
The Government annual fee goes late
A penalty accrues on top of the fee, and it grows. Companies formed January to June pay by 31 May; July to December by 30 November.
The annual return goes late
A per-day penalty applies, and the registered agent is obliged to report the failure. It is not filed publicly, but missing it is a penalty offence.
Non-payment continues
The Registry strikes the company off. It cannot then trade, defend a claim, or deal with its own assets.
Restoration
Possible, but slow, and it costs several times the renewal that was missed, plus every fee and penalty that accrued in the meantime.
You do not have to diary any of this. When renewal falls due we email the address on your file, and the whole exchange stays in that thread.
Renewal reminder, sixty days ahead
An email setting out what falls due, the exact amount, and the date by which it has to be paid. Nothing is charged automatically.
Two further reminders
At thirty days and at seven. If we have heard nothing by the second, we telephone as well, because a missed renewal is expensive enough to be worth the call.
You confirm and pay
Reply to the reminder. If anything about the company has changed, whether a director, a shareholder or the business it carries on, tell us in the same reply.
We file and confirm
The Government annual fee is paid, the filings are made, and we email you confirmation that the company is in good standing for another year.
We take on companies from other registered agents. The renewal rate is the same. There is no premium for switching, and no charge for the transfer itself.
The certificate of incorporation, the current registers, and the same three due diligence documents for each director, shareholder and beneficial owner. Your outgoing agent must issue a transfer-out consent.
Outstanding fees owed to the existing agent. They are entitled to withhold consent until settled, and we cannot act until they release it.
Two to four weeks in practice, most of which is waiting on the outgoing agent rather than on the Registry or on us.
The ones that come up between the first renewal and the second.
A penalty accrues on the Government annual fee and grows. If non-payment continues the Registry strikes the company off, and a struck-off company cannot trade, defend a claim or deal with its own assets. Restoration is possible but slow, and costs several times the renewal that was missed.
The renewal and the economic substance declaration, yes. The declaration has to be made whether or not the company carries on a relevant activity, because “none” is still an answer that must be filed. The annual return follows unless the company falls within a statutory exemption.
Yes. The US$1,500 renewal covers the registered agent, the registered office, the Government annual fee paid on your behalf, and maintenance of the statutory registers. The two filings are charged separately at US$250 each where they apply.
Sixty days before the deadline, by email, with what falls due and the exact amount. Then again at thirty days and at seven; if we have heard nothing by the second we telephone as well. Nothing is charged without that notice.
Yes, at the same renewal rate. There is no premium for switching and no charge for the transfer itself. We need the certificate of incorporation, the current registers, and the usual three documents per person. Your outgoing agent must issue a transfer-out consent, and may withhold it until their own fees are settled.
Tell us as they happen rather than at renewal. Changes of director, member or beneficial owner carry short deadlines and per-day penalties. Filing changes as they arise is part of the renewal fee, not an extra.