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Open dataset

Can a foreigner be the sole director?

Director-residency rules for 47 countries — whether a non-resident can serve as sole director, with the article of the law it was read off. 24 rows cite primary legislation; the rest cite the registry's own guidance.

47Countries
24Cite a statute
33No residency rule
14Residency required
Country Entity Non-resident sole director Legal basis Source
Argentina SA No Statute Ley 19.550 (Ley General de Sociedades), art. 256 View
Belgium SRL Yes Statute Code des sociétés et des associations, art. 5:70 § 1 View
Canada Inc No Statute Canada Business Corporations Act, s. 105(3) View
China Co Ltd Yes Statute Company Law (2023 revision), art. 178 View
Colombia SAS Yes Statute Ley 1258 de 2008, art. 26 View
Denmark ApS Yes Statute Selskabsloven, § 112 View
Egypt LLC Yes Statute Law 159 of 1981 (as substituted by Law 4 of 2018) View
Germany GmbH Yes Statute GmbH-Gesetz (GmbHG), § 6 View
Greece AE Yes Statute Law 4548/2018, art. 83 View
Indonesia PT Yes Statute UU 40/2007 (Perseroan Terbatas), art. 93 View
Ireland Ltd No Statute Companies Act 2014, s. 137 View
Italy SpA Yes Statute Codice Civile, art. 2382 View
Kuwait WLL Yes Statute Companies Law (Law No. 1 of 2016, as amended by Law No. 15 of 2017), art. 103 View
Mexico SA de CV Yes Statute Ley General de Sociedades Mercantiles, art. 151 View
Poland Sp. z o.o. Yes Statute Kodeks spółek handlowych, art. 18 View
Portugal Lda Yes Statute Código das Sociedades Comerciais, art. 252(1) View
Qatar WLL Yes Statute Commercial Companies Law (Law No. 11 of 2015), art. 242 View
Saudi Arabia LLC Yes Statute Companies Law (Royal Decree M/132 of 1443), art. 160 View
Singapore Pte Ltd No Statute Companies Act 1967, s. 145(1) View
Spain SL Yes Statute Ley de Sociedades de Capital, art. 213 View
Sweden AB No Statute Aktiebolagslagen (2005:551), ch. 8 § 9 View
Taiwan Co Ltd (TW) Yes Statute Company Act, art. 192 View
Turkey AŞ Yes Statute Turkish Commercial Code (Law 6102, as amended by Law 6335), art. 359 View
United States LLC Yes Statute Delaware Limited Liability Company Act, § 18-401 View
Australia Pty Ltd No Registry guidance View
Brazil Ltda Yes Registry guidance View
British Virgin Islands Ltd Yes Registry guidance View
Cayman Islands Exempted Co Yes Registry guidance View
Chile SpA No Registry guidance View
Estonia OÜ Yes Registry guidance View
Finland Oy No Registry guidance View
France SAS Yes Registry guidance View
Hong Kong Ltd Yes Registry guidance View
India Pvt Ltd No Registry guidance View
Israel Ltd Yes Registry guidance View
Japan KK Yes Registry guidance View
Malaysia Sdn Bhd No Registry guidance View
Netherlands BV Yes Registry guidance View
New Zealand Ltd No Registry guidance View
Norway AS No Registry guidance View
Philippines Inc Yes Registry guidance View
South Africa (Pty) Ltd Yes Registry guidance View
South Korea Co Ltd Yes Registry guidance View
Switzerland GmbH No Registry guidance View
United Arab Emirates Ltd Yes Registry guidance View
United Kingdom Ltd Yes Registry guidance View
Vietnam LLC No Registry guidance View

How this was built

Each row is scoped to the entity named in its own row — the form a foreign founder normally uses — because the answer differs by form within one statute. Egypt allows a sole manager for an LLC while requiring a board of at least three for a joint-stock company; Taiwan's rule covers a subsidiary, not a branch. A summary that reports one answer per country flattens exactly that.

Where the row says Statute, someone located and quoted the article in the official text — a gazette, a ministry's legal portal or a consolidated national database — and the quote and its scope caveats live in the dataset's source comments. Where it says Registry guidance, the answer was read off the registration authority's own published guidance, which is checkable but is not the law itself. The distinction is a column rather than a footnote because it changes how much weight a row carries.

What this does not tell you

Director residency is one requirement among several. A company may still need a local registered office, a resident company secretary, a local agent, or a licence before it can trade — and separate immigration rules govern whether a person may work in the country. Nothing here is legal advice; confirm against the linked source before acting.

Download

Free to use, including commercially, under CC BY 4.0 — attribute to Richbay (richbay.org). If you cite it, a link back is the attribution.

CSV JSON CC BY 4.0

Sources were last re-checked per row; see the source link on each.

How to cite

Richbay (2026). Director residency requirements by country (version 1.1) [Data set]. https://richbay.org/business/director-residency/

Frequently asked questions

Does "sole director" mean I can run the company alone?

It means the law does not require a second director or a resident one for that entity form. A company may still need a local registered office, a company secretary or a local agent, and those are separate requirements.

Why do some rows cite a law and others a registry page?

Because that is the difference in what was actually established. 18 rows had their article located and quoted in the official text. The rest were read off the registration authority’s own guidance, which is checkable but is not the legislation. Presenting both the same way would overstate the weaker ones.

Can I reuse this dataset?

Yes, including commercially, under CC BY 4.0. Attribute it to Richbay (richbay.org) — a link back to this page is the simplest way.

Is this legal advice?

No. It is an aggregation of official sources with each one linked. Rules change, and entity forms other than the one named on a row may answer differently. Confirm against the source before acting.