25 July 2024

Opening a business abroad: documents you should know about

Read our guide on opening a business abroad to see what documents you might need to provide, and why you will need the help of a notary.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Many businesses throughout the UK are interested in opening a business abroad to expand their operations, increase their growth and make use of new opportunities.

To be able to expand your business abroad, there are several processes you will have to go through depending on the country you want to expand into, and also many documents to be aware of.

In this blog, we will be focussing on the different documents that you may be required to provide, which will vary according to the country you are interested in. We will also tell you how a Notary Public such as ourselves can help you.

General documents you might need for opening a business abroad

Due to there being so many different documents that you will potentially need when opening a business abroad to expand your operations, providing a full list of documents would take too long and overwhelm you with information.

Therefore, we will list just a few of the most common business documents that you will likely have to provide, and give you some details on what they are for.

Common business documents include:

Certificate of Good Standing – issued by Companies House to verify that a company has been in existence since its inception, and that no action is currently pending to remove the company from Companies House
Certificate of Incorporation – this document is also issued by Companies House, and proves that your company is registered with them
Articles of Association – rules to run a company that are decided upon by shareholders, directors, guarantors, and the company’s secretary
Memorandum of Association – this document is signed by all the shareholders and guarantors, stating that they agree to the formation of the company
Statutory Declarations – a statement of facts signed by the one providing it, signifying that the content of the statement is true to the best knowledge of the signee

For information on other types of business documents that you may need to provide, you can view our business documents page.

You will be informed of the specific documents that you will need to provide by the authorities of the country you are going to.

Examples of country specific documents you may need

To help you understand what types of country specific documents you may have to provide, we shall provide some examples.

Two following documents are both for identity verification in their respective countries:

Verification of Identity Form (VIF) for Ireland
Director Identification Number (DIN) for India

We have a blog dedicated to opening a company in India if you would like more information on the requirements for opening a business there.

As Ireland and India have their own versions of identity verification, then other countries are likely to have something similar as well, alongside any other unique documents.

Why you need a Notary Public

For your business documents to be accepted and for you to be able to successfully open a business abroad, no matter what country you are going to, your documents will need to be notarised first. Only a notary, such as our Notary Public of England and Wales, Nathan Woodcock, can do this.

Notaries are qualified to certify that documents are authentic, and provide their stamp and signature to prove that they have checked a document.

They can also act as a witness to the signature of important documents, which is particularly important if, for example, you want to use a Statutory Declaration abroad.

In addition to notarisation services, a Notary Public can assist you with the process of embassy legalisation, or with getting an apostille from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Both processes legalise your notarised documents for use in whichever country you want to go to. The process you need to use will vary depending on the country you are going to.

Translating your business documents

In addition to getting your business documents notarised for opening a business abroad, there is a possibility that you will need to get them translated.

If you are going to a country where English is not commonly spoken and understood, then you will need to get your documents translated into a locally recognised language.

We may be able to help you with arranging for the translation of your business documents for some countries, such as Spain.

How we can help you with opening a business abroad

Our Notary Public can help you in getting your business documents ready for use to open a business abroad.

To book a notary appointment and get your documents notarised, you can either contact us by phone, email, or our website chat. Then, you can discuss your needs with a member of our team. After this, you can either choose to have your appointment at one of our offices in London, Manchester or Sheffield, or you can use our mobile notary service to arrange your appointment to be at a suitable time and place of your own choice, such as your home or office.

Get in touch with us today to see how we can help you on your way to opening a business abroad.