How to register Representative Offices of Foreign Companies in Egypt?

Before starting investment in Egypt, some companies may wish to analyze the market and the production processes. Hence, the legislator authorized such works and granted foreign companies the right to open a representative office in the State. The purpose of incorporation shall be limited to analyzing the market and the possibility of production without practicing any commercial activity for a specific period. To ensure that this requirement is met and that the representative office companies with the provisions of the law and its Executive Regulations, the legislator granted the competent administrative authority the right to carry out the inspection on the representative offices and access their accounting books, and order such offices to notify the competent administrative authority of all the work carried out and studied, as well as the outcome of about such works and information about the staff, their names, jobs, nationalities, and salaries.

The Executive Regulations provided for the necessity of registering representative offices in a register prepared for this by the competent administrative authority.

- Registration applications shall be submitted to representative offices, including the name of the foreign company, its nationality, purpose, capital, head office, and branches - if any - in Egypt. These also include the type of office to open in Egypt, its specific purpose, and its permanent or temporary address, which shall be attached to the application. The application shall be accompanied by the following documents:

• The foreign company’s memorandum and articles of association, to be translated and certified by the Egyptian Consulate abroad and the Foreign Ministry in the A.R.E.
• The decision issued by the board of directors of the foreign company approving the opening of the office in Egypt and the appointment of a branch manager.
• Name of the branch manager or temporary proxy:
•  For foreigners, a copy of the passport shall be submitted.
• For Egyptians, a copy of a valid national ID card shall be submitted.
• A power of attorney for the applicant issued by the foreign company, providing for the power to establish or open a representative office and represent the company before government agencies.
• The lease agreement of the head office of the representative office. However, the lease agreement shall be ratified before the notary public.
• A bank certificate to the Authority's Investment Services Sector, proofing that there is a minimum balance of 5,000 EGP (Five thousand) transferred from abroad for the representative office, in foreign currency. 
• A bank account shall be opened in the name of the representative office “under incorporation” and the capital shall be transferred to the account from abroad.

• The following requirements shall be met:

1. Striking off the representative office from the Authority’s registers in the event that negative security clearance results are proved against the foreign company. All dues of the concerned government agencies shall be collected in accordance with such rules and instructions in force in this regard. 
   2. Replacing the manager of the representative office in case the results of a security inquiry are negative.

• All documents shall be translated into Arabic, notarized by the Egyptian consulate or embassy abroad and ratified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• Expected Period: While is no specific period, it is necessary to wait for good security results for both the foreign company and the manager of the representative office, whether Egyptian or foreign, before approving the registration of the office.