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Hong Kong · Cap. 622 · Cap. 310 · Cap. 615

Your Hong Kong company's addresses, and which a virtual office can be

A Hong Kong company ends up with several addresses: one for the Companies Registry, one for business registration, one for each director, one on the website. They're often the same place, but the law asks something different of each. Here's which is which, and where a virtual office address can do the job.

Updated 29 October 2026 · by LAULEGA LIMITED, licensed TCSP (TC000573)

Founders usually meet the question as a form field: "business address". The Companies Registry, the Business Registration Office, your bank and your customers each ask for one, and it's tempting to treat them as one thing. In Hong Kong they're separate ideas with separate rules. Most small companies can still use the same address for most of them, which is why a virtual office works for so many founders, but not for all of them.

This guide takes the addresses one at a time. The registered office rules themselves (the 15-day notice of change, the name display rule, PO boxes) are covered in depth in our sister site's registered office guide, so here they get only a summary.

The short version

Address	Where it's recorded	What the law says	Can a virtual office address do it?
Registered office	Companies Registry	Must be in Hong Kong; all communications and notices may be addressed to it (Cap. 622 s.658)	Yes, if mail really reaches you and your company name is on display there
Place of business on your Business Registration	Business Registration Office	For a Hong Kong company, includes its registered office; the certificate is displayed there (Cap. 310 s.2, s.12)	Yes for the registered office. Another place where you trade in Hong Kong may need its own branch registration
Directors' correspondence address	Register of directors and the Companies Registry	Recorded alongside the residential address; must not be a post office box (Cap. 622 s.643)	Yes. The Ordinance rules out only a PO box
Where the company records are kept	The registers themselves	The registered office, or another place in Hong Kong (Cap. 622I s.3)	Yes, if your provider keeps them for you
Contact address on your website and invoices	Nowhere official	No address-specific rule, but it must not mislead	Yes, as a contact address. Don't describe it as an office you occupy
Where the work happens	Your lease, licences, staff records	Depends on the activity	No

1. Registered office: the address the law writes to

Every Hong Kong company must have a registered office in Hong Kong "to which all communications and notices may be addressed" (s.658(1) of the Companies Ordinance). It's on the public register, and it's where official letters to the company are sent.

The section that matters most in practice is short:

Companies Ordinance, section 827

"A document may be served on a company by leaving it at, or sending it by post to, the company’s registered office."

In other words, a letter that reaches your registered office has reached your company, whether or not anyone tells you about it. That's why a registered office is only as good as the mail handling behind it. If the address is a virtual office, check what happens to a letter on the day it arrives: is it opened, scanned and sent to you, or does it sit in a pigeonhole until you ask? Our guide to what a virtual office costs covers which mail handling is usually included.

Two further rules come with the address: the company's name must be displayed there continuously (Cap. 622B s.3, with special rules for shared addresses), and a change of address must be notified to the Registry within 15 days (s.658(3)). The 818HI guide covers both.

2. Business registration: the registered office counts as a place of business

Business registration is a separate system, run by the Inland Revenue Department's Business Registration Office under the Business Registration Ordinance (Cap. 310). Its key term is "place of business", and for a company incorporated in Hong Kong the definition in section 2 says it includes the company's registered office.

That has two practical consequences:

The certificate goes on display there. Section 12 requires a valid business registration certificate to be displayed at the place of business it relates to; if the certificate is electronic, a printed copy is displayed. With a virtual office, that place is your provider's premises, so ask how they handle it.
A second place of business may need its own registration. If the business is also carried on at a branch, a branch registration application is due within one month of starting business there (s.5(3) and (4)). If you open a shop, a showroom or a staffed office in Hong Kong, ask the Business Registration Office or your adviser whether it counts as a branch.

Changes to the particulars on your registration have to be notified in writing within one month (s.8). For the business registration fee and levy, see Certanta's Hong Kong guides; we stay out of tax here. Renewal, display and the one-month deadlines are covered in our guide to the Business Registration certificate.

3. Directors' correspondence address

A private company's register of directors records, for each individual director, both a usual residential address and a correspondence address (s.643(1)). The two can differ, and the Ordinance puts only one limit on the correspondence address: it "must not be a post office box number" (s.643(5)).

So a director who lives abroad, or simply doesn't want the company's post going to their home, can give a virtual office address as their correspondence address. The residential address still goes on the company's own register. The company secretary has separate residence rules of its own, covered in the 818HI company secretary guide.

4. Where the company's records are kept

The statutory registers (members, directors, significant controllers and the rest) are normally kept at the registered office. The Company Records (Inspection and Provision of Copies) Regulation allows another place instead, but that place must be in Hong Kong (Cap. 622I s.3). A founder abroad can't keep the registers in a laptop bag. If your registered office provider is also your company secretary, the registers usually live with them; if not, agree who keeps them and ask your company secretary whether the Registry needs to be told.

5. The address on your website, invoices and letterhead

No Hong Kong statute sets a "trading address" for a company in the way section 658 sets the registered office. Most small companies simply use the registered office as their contact address, and with a virtual office that's normal.

The limit is honesty, not law. A virtual address is a place to send post. It isn't premises you occupy, so don't present it as your office, showroom or warehouse. The same goes for banks and payment providers: when they ask where the business is actually run from, give the real answer. If that's another country, say so. Our business accounts page and 818HI's guide to remote-friendly banking cover which providers work well for founders abroad.

6. What a virtual office isn't

A workplace. If you or your staff work in Hong Kong every day, you need a lease, a serviced office or a co-working desk.
Licensed premises. Some activities, food businesses for example, need a licence for particular premises. A mail address can't hold one.
A warehouse. Parcels and stock are a separate service; ask before you ship anything bulky.
A phone number. Some providers bundle one, but an address doesn't need it and the law doesn't ask for it. LAULEGA's virtual office is an address and a mail service only.

7. Providing an address is a licensed business

Under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, a "trust or company service" includes "providing a registered office, business address, correspondence or administrative address" for a company (Cap. 615, Schedule 1, Part 1, s.1). Carrying on that business without a licence is an offence, punishable by a fine at level 6 and six months' imprisonment (s.53F).

So before you put a provider's address on the public register, look it up on the Companies Registry's TCSP register. LAULEGA LIMITED's licence number is TC000573.

An example (invented)

Kestrel Lane Limited sells design software. Its only director lives in Lisbon, and nobody works from Hong Kong.

Registered office: a licensed provider's address in Hong Kong. Its name is on the provider's display, and Registry and IRD letters are scanned to the director the day they arrive.
Business registration: the same address, as its registered office. There's no second place of business, so there's no branch registration.
Director: correspondence address at the provider; the Lisbon home address goes on the company's register as the residential address.
Records: kept by the provider, which is also the company secretary.
Website and invoices: the Hong Kong address as the contact address. The director tells the bank the business is run from Lisbon.

One address that does the official jobs

LAULEGA's registered address service gives your company a Hong Kong registered office at our Tin Hau office, with your name on display. Government letters, from the Registry, the IRD and other departments, are scanned to your portal free within one business day.

See the virtual office Free document tools

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a virtual office as my company's registered office in Hong Kong?

Yes, if it does what section 658 of the Companies Ordinance requires: it is in Hong Kong and communications and notices addressed to it actually reach you. Your company name must also be displayed there under Cap. 622B s.3. See the registered office guide for the detail.

Is my registered office the same as the business address on my business registration?

For a company incorporated in Hong Kong, the Business Registration Ordinance (Cap. 310, s.2) treats the registered office as a place of business, and the business registration certificate is displayed at the place of business (s.12). If you also trade from another place in Hong Kong, that may need its own branch registration within one month (s.5).

Can a director use a virtual office address as a correspondence address?

Yes. Section 643 of the Companies Ordinance requires both a usual residential address and a correspondence address for each individual director, and rules out only a post office box as the correspondence address.

Can my company's registers be kept outside Hong Kong?

No. They are kept at the registered office or at another place prescribed by Cap. 622I s.3, and that place must be in Hong Kong.

Does a virtual office in Hong Kong come with a phone number?

Some do, but it's a separate service. An address doesn't need a phone line and no filing asks for one. LAULEGA's virtual office is an address and mail service only.

How do I check that an address provider is licensed?

Providing a registered office or business address to companies is a trust or company service under Cap. 615, and doing it without a licence is an offence (s.53F). Search the provider on the Companies Registry's TCSP register. LAULEGA LIMITED is licence TC000573.

This guide summarises the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622), Cap. 622B, Cap. 622I, the Business Registration Ordinance (Cap. 310) and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615) as published on e-Legislation on 29 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice; for your own facts, ask your adviser. The example company is invented. Written and reviewed by LAULEGA LIMITED, a licensed trust or company service provider (TCSP licence TC000573).