You signed the articles, you paid the share capital into a blocked account, and your French lawyer or formation agent told you the company would be registered within days. Weeks later, you are still refreshing your inbox from London, New York or Dubai: no Kbis, no SIREN number you can use, and the bank refuses to release the funds. Your first hire is waiting, your landlord wants proof that your company exists, and you cannot issue a single invoice. If you run a foreign-owned company in France while living abroad, the Kbis (the official extract from the Trade and Companies Register) is the document that unlocks everything, and its absence freezes everything. This guide explains, step by step, how registration through the INPI single portal works, what the greffe (the registry office of the commercial court) checks before issuing your Kbis, how to read each line of the extract once you receive it, and what to do when your filing is rejected, delayed or contains an error. Every French acronym is explained, every decisive statement is backed by the statute or court decision it comes from, and every practical tip is designed for a founder or director who must act from outside France.

I. How do you get your French company registered and your first Kbis issued when you live abroad?

A. How do you file on the INPI single portal and pass the greffe review: capital deposit, articles, address and beneficial owners?

Since 1 January 2023, every creation, modification or cessation of a business in France goes through one single online gateway: the guichet unique des formalités d’entreprises (single portal for business formalities), operated by the INPI (Institut national de la propriété industrielle, the French intellectual-property and business-registration office). The rule comes from article L. 123-33 of the Commercial Code, which provides that “toute entreprise se conforme à l’obligation de déclarer sa création, la modification de sa situation ou la cessation de ses activités auprès d’une administration, d’une personne ou d’un organisme mentionnés à l’article L. 123-32 par le dépôt d’un seul dossier comportant les déclarations qu’elle est tenue d’effectuer”, filed electronically with a single designated body, and that this filing counts as a declaration to each authority concerned. The implementing provisions describe the portal in detail: article R. 123-1 of the Commercial Code states that the single body receives the unified file, including the declaration of the beneficial owner (bénéficiaire effectif, the natural person who ultimately controls the company), while article R. 123-2 of the Commercial Code describes the free, secure online service through which the applicant builds the file, sends it to the competent recipients and answers follow-up requests for additional documents.

In practice, a foreign founder must therefore stop looking for the old paper forms once sent directly to each greffe. Everything starts on the portal, and everything that is missing will be requested there. Before you even connect, prepare five blocks of documents. First, the articles of association (statuts), signed, with the exact legal form: SAS (société par actions simplifiée, a flexible joint-stock company run by a président), SARL (société à responsabilité limitée, a limited-liability company run by one or more gérants), or SASU/EURL for a single shareholder. In a SAS, article L. 227-5 of the Commercial Code provides that “Les statuts fixent les conditions dans lesquelles la société est dirigée”, so the drafter must name the président and define appointment and removal rules with care. In a SARL, article L. 223-18 of the Commercial Code states that “La société à responsabilité limitée est gérée par une ou plusieurs personnes physiques”, appointed by the shareholders in the articles or by a later decision. Second, the certificate of deposit of the share capital (certificat de dépôt des fonds), issued by the bank, notary or consignment office where the cash contributions were frozen; without it, the file is incomplete. Third, proof of the registered office (siège social): a commercial lease, a domiciliation contract with an authorised provider, or a title deed, plus the written consent of the person making premises available where required. Fourth, identity, criminal-record and residence documents for each dirigeant (director or manager) and shareholder where required: valid passport, and for non-EU nationals, the residence permit or long-stay visa authorising business activity where the activity requires it. The list of supporting documents is set by joint order of the Minister of Justice under article R. 123-166 of the Commercial Code, which refers to an “arrêté conjoint du garde des sceaux, ministre de la justice, et du ministre chargé de la propriété industrielle” detailing the “pièces à fournir à l’appui des demandes aux fins d’immatriculation”. Fifth, the declaration of beneficial owners: article L. 561-46 of the Monetary and Financial Code requires companies to declare to the Trade and Companies Register, through the single body, the information on their beneficial owners. From abroad, the two recurring traps are an untranslated or unauthenticated foreign document and a missing apostille or legalisation on powers of attorney and civil-status records. Have every foreign public document translated by a sworn translator and legalised or apostilled before uploading, and keep the originals available: the greffe can ask for them.

Once the file is submitted, it is routed to the greffe of the commercial court (tribunal de commerce) of the place of the registered office, or to the tribunal judiciaire statuant commercialement where no commercial court exists. The greffier (the sworn registrar who keeps the register) examines the file: are the articles consistent, is the capital certificate attached, is the address real and documented, are the dirigeants identified and not subject to a management ban (interdiction de gérer), is the beneficial-owner declaration present? If anything is missing or inconsistent, the portal sends a rejection or request for regularisation (rejet or demande de complément), with a deadline. Only when the greffe validates does the company receive its immatriculation (registration) in the RCS (registre du commerce et des sociétés, the Trade and Companies Register kept under article L. 123-1 of the Commercial Code, which lists the persons and companies that must be registered “sur leur déclaration”). Registration triggers the issue of the SIREN number (the nine-digit company identifier assigned by INSEE, the national statistics institute), the SIRET number (SIREN plus five digits for each establishment), and the Kbis itself. The Kbis is simply the official extract of the RCS entry concerning your company, and only the registrars are empowered to deliver it: article R. 123-150 of the Commercial Code states that “Les greffiers sont astreints et seuls habilités à délivrer à toute personne qui en fait la demande des certificats, copies ou extraits des inscriptions portées au registre”. Order it from the official channels (the greffe, the INPI portal, or the service-public guidance in English on how to obtain a K or Kbis extract), never from a paid middleman whose document has no probative value.

Why does this single document matter so much? Because under article L. 210-6 of the Commercial Code, “Les sociétés commerciales jouissent de la personnalité morale à dater de leur immatriculation au registre du commerce et des sociétés.” Legal personality, the ability to own assets, sign contracts, hire and sue, starts on the day of registration, not on the day you signed the articles. The Cour de cassation (the supreme court for civil and commercial matters) repeats this constantly; in two commercial-chamber judgments of 29 November 2023, pourvois no. 22-18.295 and no. 22-21.623, it held: “Il résulte de ces textes que les sociétés commerciales jouissent de la personnalité morale à dater de leur immatriculation au registre du commerce et des sociétés.” And the same article warns founders who act too early: “Les personnes qui ont agi au nom d’une société en formation avant qu’elle ait acquis la jouissance de la personnalité morale sont tenues solidairement et indéfiniment responsables des actes ainsi accomplis, à moins que la société, après avoir été régulièrement constituée et immatriculée, ne reprenne les engagements souscrits.” In plain terms: sign a lease or a major order “on behalf of the company being formed” before the Kbis exists, and you are personally and jointly liable unless the company, once registered, formally takes over the commitment. From abroad, where everything tempts you to move fast, this personal-liability trap is the first risk to neutralise: list every pre-registration act in an annex to the articles (état des actes accomplis pour le compte de la société en formation) so that signature of the articles plus registration automatically transfers them to the company.

B. How do you read your first Kbis: SIREN, RCS number, dirigeant powers, BODACC notice and the lines your bank checks?

When the extract finally arrives, read it as your counterparties will read it. The header identifies the company: corporate name (dénomination sociale), legal form (SAS, SARL, SASU), amount and composition of the share capital (capital social), registered office address, and duration. Then come the registration numbers: the SIREN (nine digits, the company lifetime identifier), the SIRET of the head office (fourteen digits), the RCS registration number with the city of the greffe (for example “RCS Paris 987 654 321”), the APE code (the activity classification assigned by INSEE) and the date of immatriculation. Your bank compares the corporate name, the office address and the RCS number with the capital-deposit certificate before releasing the frozen funds; a single letter of difference between the articles, the certificate and the Kbis can freeze the release for weeks. Check also that the share capital shown on the Kbis matches the capital actually paid up and that any later capital increase has been filed: the bank may refuse a large transfer if the figures diverge.

The middle of the extract describes the activity (objet social and principal activity), the start date of activity (date de début d’activité) and the management. For a SAS, the Kbis names the président (president, the legal representative) and, where appointed, the directeur général (general manager) or directeur général délégué; remember that article L. 227-6 of the Commercial Code provides that “La société est représentée à l’égard des tiers par un président désigné dans les conditions prévues par les statuts”, and that “Le président est investi des pouvoirs les plus étendus pour agir en toute circonstance au nom de la société dans la limite de l’objet social.” For a SARL, the Kbis names the gérant or co-gérants. Verify spelling of names, dates of birth and scope of powers exactly as in the passports and the articles: foreign names with accents, double surnames or transliteration variants are the most frequent source of mismatch. If your company has a foreign legal entity as president of a SAS, confirm that this is permitted by the articles and that a natural-person permanent representative is correctly declared where required; an incorrect entry here leads banks to reject the authorised signatory.

The bottom of the extract carries observations (mentions): securities, collective proceedings, and above all the reference of the legal-announcement publication. Every creation must be published in a legal-notices journal (journal d’annonces légales) and is then announced in the BODACC (Bulletin officiel des annonces civiles et commerciales, the official gazette where company registrations, modifications and insolvencies are published). Keep the BODACC reference with the Kbis: suppliers and administrations use it to cross-check that the company was properly advertised. Finally, note the date of issue of the extract itself. French counterparties routinely demand a Kbis “de moins de trois mois” (issued within the last three months). A Kbis downloaded at registration and reused a year later will be rejected by banks, notaries and public buyers. Order a fresh extract before each major transaction, and file every modification (modification of dirigeant, transfer of office, capital change) within the statutory one-month period so the public record always matches reality. This reflex matters because of article L. 123-9 of the Commercial Code: “La personne assujettie à immatriculation ne peut, dans l’exercice de son activité, opposer ni aux tiers ni aux administrations publiques, qui peuvent toutefois s’en prévaloir, les faits et actes sujets à mention que si ces derniers ont été publiés au registre.” If a change is not published, you cannot rely on it against third parties or administrations, while they can rely on it against you. The Cour de cassation restated the principle word for word on 27 November 2024, pourvoi no. 22-24.511: “Selon l’article L. 123-9, alinéa 1, du code de commerce, la personne assujettie à immatriculation ne peut, dans l’exercice de son activité, opposer ni aux tiers ni aux administrations publiques les faits et actes sujets à mention que si ces derniers ont été publiés au registre du commerce et des sociétés.” An unpublished change of dirigeant, office or capital is therefore invisible to the outside world, and your counterparty is entitled to deal with the person still shown on the Kbis.

II. Your Kbis is blocked, wrong or late while you live abroad: how do you unblock business without breaking French law?

A. How do you answer a rejection or a request for additional documents from the greffe when you are outside France?

Almost every delayed Kbis has one of six causes, and each has a precise remedy. First, an incomplete beneficial-owner declaration. Since the file must include the beneficial-owner information under article L. 561-46 of the Monetary and Financial Code, a missing date of birth, address or percentage of control triggers an automatic request for completion. Remedy: file a corrected declaration identifying each natural person holding, directly or indirectly, more than 25 percent of the capital or voting rights, or exercising control by other means, with full civil status and domicile. Second, a defective capital-deposit certificate: wrong corporate name, wrong amount, funds deposited in the personal account of the founder instead of a blocked company account. Remedy: ask the depositary bank for a corrected certificate reproducing exactly the name, form and capital stated in the articles, and re-upload it; never alter a bank certificate yourself. Third, an insufficient proof of registered office: a domiciliation contract with an unlicensed provider, a lease that does not authorise commercial use, or a missing consent letter from the person providing the address. Remedy: sign with an authorised domiciliation company or produce the lease plus the lessor’s consent, and ensure the address on every document is identical down to the floor and door number.

Fourth, identity and residence documents that the greffe cannot accept: expired passport, uncertified copy, missing translation, or a foreign criminal-record extract without apostille. Remedy: upload a valid passport, a sworn translation of every document not in French, and the apostille or legalisation where the issuing country requires it; where a residence permit is needed for the activity, attach it. The applicable list flows from the joint order foreseen by article R. 123-166 of the Commercial Code, so read the rejection message against that list line by line instead of resubmitting the same file unchanged. Fifth, inconsistency between the articles and the online declarations: different spelling of the corporate name, different capital breakdown, different dirigeant from the one declared, activity described more broadly online than in the articles. Remedy: align everything on the signed articles, which prevail, and if the project has changed, amend the articles first by written shareholder decision, then refile. Sixth, a genuine legal obstacle: a dirigeant subject to a ban on managing (fichier des interdits de gérer), an activity requiring prior authorisation (regulated professions, defence, finance, health), or a company name conflicting with an earlier trademark or corporate name. Remedy: replace the disqualified dirigeant, obtain the administrative authorisation before refiling, or change the corporate name after a prior-art search on the INPI trademark database. In each case, answer inside the portal within the stated deadline, upload complete replacement documents rather than patches, and keep dated copies of every submission: if a dispute later arises about when the company came into existence, the filing history proves your diligence.

From abroad, organise the practical side once and for all. Give your French counsel or formation agent a written power of attorney (pouvoir) limited to the registration formalities, with apostille where required, so they can sign correction letters and re-upload documents without waiting for international mail. Use qualified electronic signature where the portal accepts it, and keep a French phone number and a monitored email address on the file so the greffe’s questions reach you the same day. If the portal itself is down or your file seems technically stuck, use the INPI assistance channels and keep the incident number; do not create a second competing file for the same company, because duplicate filings generate conflicting SIREN attributions and months of correction. And if the delay threatens a transaction with a fixed date, ask the greffe for a récépissé de dépôt (filing receipt) or an attestation of ongoing registration: these prove that steps are underway, even though they are not a Kbis and do not confer the same guarantees.

B. What can you lawfully sign, hire, invoice and open at the bank with no Kbis, and what exposes you personally?

The most dangerous misunderstanding is to treat the filing receipt as a Kbis. It is not. Before immatriculation, the company has no legal personality under article L. 210-6 of the Commercial Code, and the two 29 November 2023 judgments cited above draw the full consequence: “Les personnes qui ont agi au nom ou pour le compte d’une société en formation avant qu’elle ait acquis la jouissance de la personnalité morale sont tenues solidairement et indéfiniment responsables des actes ainsi accomplis, à moins que la société, après avoir été régulièrement constituée et immatriculée, ne reprenne les engagements souscrits” (pourvois no. 22-18.295 and no. 22-21.623). Concretely, if you sign a twelve-month office lease, order stock or promise employment “for the company being formed” and the company never takes over the act, the creditor sues you personally, without limit. The safe method is the one described in Part I: list each planned pre-registration act in the articles or in an annexed statement, act expressly in the name and on behalf of the company being formed, and let registration plus signature of the articles transfer the acts automatically. Never sign in your own name while hoping the company will be substituted later, and never let a co-founder sign alone without a written mandate from all founders.

The same caution applies to hiring. You cannot file the DPAE (déclaration préalable à l’embauche, the mandatory pre-hiring declaration to URSSAF, the social-security collection agency) or register as an employer without a SIRET number, and you cannot lawfully start employment without the DPAE. Promising a start date to a candidate while the Kbis is still pending exposes you to a delayed arrival and damages. Tell the candidate the truth about the timetable, sign a conditional offer letter rather than a firm contract where possible, and file the DPAE the day the SIRET arrives. For invoicing, the rule is equally strict: no SIREN, no lawful invoice. Issuing an invoice with an invented number or with the foreign parent’s number presented as the French company’s number is a false statement that can be treated as forgery or tax fraud. If a client presses you, explain that French invoicing requires the SIREN and RCS mention, issue the invoice once registered, and bridge the gap with a detailed quote or pro-forma document clearly marked as non-fiscal. For the bank, the mechanics are fixed: the capital stays frozen until the bank receives the Kbis and the SIREN, then releases the funds to the company account. No Kbis, no release, with rare exceptions for judicially ordered situations. Prepare the bank’s KYC file in parallel (Kbis application, articles, beneficial-owner declaration, passports, proof of address, description of activity and expected flows) so the release takes days rather than weeks once the extract arrives. Foreign founders should also expect enhanced anti-money-laundering checks: answer them completely and consistently with the registration file, because contradictions between the bank file and the RCS file are a classic source of suspicion and delay.

Two final warnings complete the picture. First, watch the accuracy of the Kbis once issued. A wrong dirigeant, a misspelled name, a former address or an outdated capital figure is not a cosmetic detail: under article L. 123-9 of the Commercial Code, only published facts can be relied on against third parties. The commercial chamber illustrated the point on 25 May 2022, pourvoi no. 20-10.214, in a dispute where a party relied on a Kbis extract while the underlying corporate decision had been published late: the court examined whether the mention shown on the extract could be opposed to the other parties given the date of its registration, a reminder that the extract proves the state of the register on the day it is issued, nothing more and nothing less. If your Kbis contains an error, file an inscription modificative (corrective entry) immediately through the single portal, inform the bank and the counterparty in writing, and order a fresh corrected extract. Second, calendar the recurrent duties that keep the Kbis alive and credible: annual accounts filed with the greffe, each change of dirigeant or office published within one month, beneficial-owner updates on every change of control, and renewal of the domiciliation contract before expiry. A company whose Kbis shows a resigned dirigeant, a terminated address or unfiled accounts sends every professional reader the same signal: this business is not properly managed. From abroad, give your accountant or lawyer a standing instruction to alert you before each deadline and to file each change within days. The Kbis is a photograph of your company; make sure it always shows a current and flattering picture.

Conclusion

The Kbis condenses the whole French registration system into four pages: a single portal at the INPI, verification by the greffe, publication in the RCS and the BODACC, and opposability to the outside world under article L. 123-9. For a founder living abroad, the winning strategy is simple but demanding: prepare a complete and consistent file before the first click, answer every greffe request within days with corrected documents, sign nothing personal that the company has not been set up to take over, and read the issued extract the way a bank reads it. When the extract is blocked, the remedy is never to bypass the register with invented numbers or parallel filings; it is to cure the identified defect at its source, document each step, and bridge the waiting period with conditional commitments that protect both sides. Handled this way, the weeks without a Kbis become a controlled administrative phase instead of a legal crisis, and the day the extract arrives, the bank releases the capital, the first employee can be hired, and the first invoice can be issued on solid ground.

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