A foreign group can have a perfectly genuine French office and still receive an INPI or greffe objection when the lease is signed by the parent company rather than by the French subsidiary. INPI is the Institut national de la propriété industrielle, the French National Institute of Industrial Property. For company formalities, it operates the Guichet unique, the one-stop portal that transmits the filing to the relevant authorities. The greffe is the registry office attached to the competent commercial court. The practical objective is the Kbis, the official extract issued once the French company has been entered in the RCS, the Registre du commerce et des sociétés (Commercial and Companies Register).

The difficulty is not solved by uploading the parent’s lease a second time. The registry must be able to connect four facts: the parent has a right to occupy the premises, the parent is allowed to make the premises available, the French company has a current right to use the address as its registered office, and the address is identical in the articles of association, the online declaration, the legal notice and the supporting documents. A missing consent, an address variation, an unexplained group relationship or a signatory without authority can make a genuine arrangement look unproved.

This article addresses that narrow crisis point for foreign founders and corporate groups. It supplements the firm’s broader guide to an INPI rejection of a French company registration and links to the firm’s French company-formation and corporate-law guidance. It focuses on the parent-held lease, the evidence chain that should be built around it, the distinction between a subsidiary and a branch, and the choice between regularisation, a new filing and a challenge to a formal refusal.

I. Why is a French company registration rejected when the foreign parent holds the lease?

A. What right to use the premises must the French subsidiary prove?

The registered office is not just a correspondence label. It determines which registry has territorial competence, where corporate documents are filed, where official notices can be sent and which address appears in the public company record. When a foreign parent signs the lease, the subsidiary must still demonstrate that it can lawfully use the premises for its own registered office. The parent’s document is an important starting point, but it is not automatically proof of the subsidiary’s right.

Article L. 123-11 of the French Commercial Code sets the central rule. It provides that “Toute personne morale demandant son immatriculation au registre du commerce et des sociétés doit justifier de la jouissance du ou des locaux où elle installe, seule ou avec d’autres, le siège de l’entreprise”. The current text is available in Article L. 123-11 of the Commercial Code. The legal test is therefore the company’s enjoyment or right to use the premises, not the identity of the person who first negotiated the lease.

That wording leaves room for several lawful group arrangements. A French subsidiary may occupy premises leased by its parent where the parent has a contractual right to make part of the premises available and grants that use in writing. The parent may also own the building and give the subsidiary a written occupancy agreement. A group company may be the named tenant under a serviced-office agreement and obtain a separate domiciliation contract for the French entity. Each arrangement needs evidence of its own legal chain.

For a parent-held lease, the core chain normally contains the following links:

• The parent’s title: the signed lease, ownership document or serviced-office agreement identifying the premises, the parent and the period of occupation.
• The parent’s power to share the premises: the lease clause, landlord consent or other contractual document showing that the parent may host, sublet, licence or otherwise make the address available to another company.
• The subsidiary’s right: a written intra-group occupancy agreement, licence, host attestation or domiciliation contract identifying the French company by its exact legal name and registration project.
• The address evidence: a recent document that identifies the street number, street, postal code and town in the same form as the Guichet unique declaration.
• The authority evidence: proof that the person signing for the parent can grant the right and that the person signing for the subsidiary can accept it or submit the filing.

The last three links are often missing. A foreign parent may send a lease and a board resolution authorising incorporation, but neither document expressly states that the French company can use the address. An examiner should not have to infer the subsidiary’s right from a group chart. A short, signed agreement can remove that uncertainty, provided it does not contradict the parent’s lease or the landlord’s consent.

The agreement should identify the parties with precision. The parent’s full registered name, registration number, legal form, registered office and signatory capacity should be taken from its official foreign registry record. The French company’s planned name should match the articles, even if the company has not yet received a SIREN number. SIREN is the nine-digit national identification number assigned to a French legal entity. If the name is still subject to a formal reservation or correction, the file should explain the status rather than use a trade name in one document and a legal name in another.

The premises must be identifiable at the level used by the registry. The lease may describe a building as “Unit 4, Level 2”, while the Guichet unique record uses only the street number and town. That difference may be harmless if the building and postal address are the same, but the file should say so. If the lease uses an abbreviated town name, an English translation, a different postal-code format or a business-centre brand, add an address table showing the exact equivalence. Do not silently change the address in the articles to match an invoice.

The permitted use also matters. A parent’s lease may be for office use, storage, residential occupation or a regulated activity. A clause that prohibits subletting or third-party occupation can prevent the parent from granting the subsidiary the required right without consent. The registry is not deciding the entire landlord-and-tenant dispute, but it can reasonably ask how the subsidiary is entitled to use the address. The response should include the relevant contractual clause, an amendment, a landlord letter or another document that resolves the issue.

The difference between a registered office and an establishment should be kept clear. The registered office is the legal address of the company. An establishment is a place where the company conducts activity. The parent may operate from the building while the subsidiary has a registered office there but no operational staff yet. Conversely, the subsidiary may have a separate showroom or warehouse. An invoice, employee contract or website page showing the building does not replace the document proving the subsidiary’s registered-office right.

The French company may also use the legal representative’s home in some circumstances. Article L. 123-11-1 authorises a legal person to install its registered office at the domicile of its legal representative, subject to statutory or contractual restrictions and, in certain cases, a five-year limit and prior notice. The official text is available at Article L. 123-11-1 of the Commercial Code. That special route should not be confused with the parent-held lease. If the file relies on a parent’s premises, it should prove the group arrangement rather than invoke a director’s home without updating the corporate documents.

Shared premises have their own documentary logic. Article R. 123-167 provides that a person installing its registered office in premises occupied jointly with other businesses must present “le contrat de domiciliation conclu à cet effet avec le propriétaire ou le titulaire du bail de ces locaux”. The rule, including its application to a foreign company’s French agency, branch or representation, appears in Article R. 123-167 of the Commercial Code. Article R. 123-168 adds that “Le contrat de domiciliation est rédigé par écrit” and that it is concluded for at least three months with tacit renewal, subject to notice. Its official text is available at Article R. 123-168 of the Commercial Code.

The practical consequence is important for a foreign group using a business centre. A parent’s membership invoice may prove that the parent paid for a desk, but it may not prove that the new French company has a domiciliation contract. The contract should name the French entity or state clearly that it covers the entity being incorporated, identify the address and satisfy the provider’s legal requirements. If the provider’s approval reference or corporate details are missing, obtain the provider’s complete contract rather than relying on a marketing page.

The official registration checklist supports the same approach. The Service-Public Entreprendre page on company registration formalities lists evidence such as a commercial lease, a domiciliation contract and certain address documents. It should be read as a document-matching guide, not as permission to choose the weakest item in the list. If the listed lease belongs to the parent, add the instrument that connects that lease to the subsidiary.

The registered office also determines the competent registry. Article R. 123-102 states: “Tout dépôt d’acte ou pièce en annexe au registre du commerce et des sociétés pour le compte d’une personne morale dont le siège social est situé sur le territoire français est fait au greffe du tribunal dans le ressort duquel est situé le siège social.” The current rule is in Article R. 123-102 of the Commercial Code. A parent-held lease in Lyon cannot be used to justify a Paris registered office unless the documents show that the French company actually has the right to use the Paris premises. The address must be selected first and evidenced coherently.

The RCS and the RNE should not be confused. The RCS is the Commercial and Companies Register used for commercial registration. The RNE is the Registre national des entreprises, the National Register of Enterprises, to which the Guichet unique transmits business information under the current formalities system. The Kbis is issued after the commercial company is registered; it is not an address document to be uploaded at the incorporation stage. A foreign parent’s registry extract is evidence about the parent, not the French subsidiary’s Kbis.

The most reliable response to an address objection is therefore a chain that answers a simple question: why is this French company entitled to receive official notices and conduct its legal affairs at premises leased by another group company? The answer should be found in signed documents, not in an assumption that a common shareholder makes the companies interchangeable.

B. Which group, address and authority mismatches trigger an INPI or greffe refusal?

The registry examines the relationship between the declaration and its annexes. Article R. 123-95 requires the greffier to verify that statements comply with legal and regulatory provisions, “correspondent aux pièces justificatives et actes déposés en annexe”, and are compatible with the existing file in a modification or removal request. The full provision is available at Article R. 123-95 of the Commercial Code. A parent-held lease therefore becomes a problem when the documents do not tell the same story, even if each document looks authentic by itself.

The first mismatch is the identity of the contracting party. The lease may name “Global Holdings Ltd”, the occupancy letter may name “Global Holdings France”, and the filing may identify “Global Holdings SAS”. Those could be different legal entities. The response should state which entity holds the lease, which entity grants use to the French subsidiary and how each entity is connected. A group organisation chart is useful background, but it does not replace registry extracts and signed authority documents.

The second mismatch is the French company’s own name. A draft name used in the parent’s board resolution may differ from the name in the articles or the legal-publication certificate. A translation may add or remove “France”, “Holdings”, “SAS” or “SASU”. SAS means société par actions simplifiée, a simplified joint-stock company. SASU means société par actions simplifiée unipersonnelle, its single-shareholder form. If the legal form is included in one document and omitted in another, the file should make clear that the same company is intended and should correct the formal record where necessary.

The third mismatch is the address. A lease may identify the premises as a complete street address, while the French filing omits a floor or unit that distinguishes the parent’s office from a different building. A host attestation may show the parent’s registered office rather than the leased premises. A utility bill may be addressed to the business-centre operator. These documents can still be usable, but the response must explain what each proves and what it does not prove.

The fourth mismatch is the date. The parent may sign the lease after the French articles were approved. The subsidiary may sign its occupancy agreement after the formalité was submitted. A later document is not automatically invalid, but the timeline must be transparent. If the right to use the address existed only after the original filing, the company should decide whether it is correcting the original declaration or submitting a new formalité with a new address date. Backdating an agreement creates a much more serious problem than admitting that the arrangement was finalised later.

The fifth mismatch is the power to grant use. The parent’s managing director may sign an attestation even though the lease requires the landlord’s consent or joint signatures. A board resolution may authorise incorporation but say nothing about the address. A lawyer or formation provider may submit the online form without a signed mandate. The file should separate the power to incorporate the subsidiary, the power to grant premises and the power to submit the formalité. They may be held by the same person, but that fact must be demonstrated.

Article L. 123-2 reinforces the importance of identity checks. It states: “Nul ne peut être immatriculé au registre s’il ne remplit les conditions nécessaires à l’exercice de son activité.” It also provides that the greffier may verify the coherence and validity of foreign identity documents. The current article is available at Article L. 123-2 of the Commercial Code. A foreign parent’s certificate of incorporation can therefore be insufficient where the document does not identify the person who signed the subsidiary’s occupancy agreement or the authority under which that person acted.

An identity document can fail for practical reasons: the scan is incomplete, the passport has expired, the name order differs, the middle name is omitted, or the translated name is inconsistent. If the signatory acts for the parent, provide the parent’s official registry record, the appointment or authority document and a French translation where required. If the signatory acts for the subsidiary, provide the appointment act or incorporation decision and the mandate used for the filing. Keep the originals and the translations together so that the greffe can match the names.

Corporate authority is particularly important when the parent is outside France. The person who signed a lease in the parent’s name may not be the person who can licence the premises to the subsidiary. The parent’s constitutional documents, board resolution, delegation or landlord consent may be needed to establish that chain. The answer should be limited to the authority relevant to the objection. A large group file can obscure the exact evidence if it is not indexed.

The Guichet unique may ask for additional proof rather than issue a final refusal. Article R. 123-84-1 states: “Des justificatifs complémentaires peuvent être demandés au déclarant lorsqu’il existe un doute sur l’authenticité de la pièce produite ou lorsque sa valeur probante est insuffisante.” The official text is available at Article R. 123-84-1 of the Commercial Code. For a parent-held lease, insufficient probative value often means that the file proves the parent’s occupation but not the subsidiary’s right, or that the signer’s authority remains unclear.

Article R. 123-84 also matters because the application must be accompanied by the acts and documents required by the relevant provisions. The official provision says that requests are transmitted to the competent greffe and “sont accompagnées des actes et pièces mentionnés aux articles R. 123-102 à R. 123-110”. It is available at Article R. 123-84 of the Commercial Code. A group should not answer a registered-office objection with a document that belongs to the parent’s tax, banking or employment file and has no clear function in the French company’s registration.

The online representative’s signature is a separate issue. Article R. 123-85 provides that registration requests bear the signature of the person subject to registration or its authorised agent and that, for an agent, “La procuration peut être fournie en copie lorsqu’il est recouru à une transmission par voie électronique”. The official text is in Article R. 123-85 of the Commercial Code. The INPI’s mandate FAQ also explains the practical role of the mandataire, the filing representative. A parent’s internal email to its accountant should not be treated as the same thing as the signed mandate required for the formalité.

The group should also distinguish a French subsidiary from a foreign company’s agency, branch or representation. A subsidiary is a new French legal person. A branch or agency belongs to the foreign legal person and has a different registration logic. The Court of cassation, criminal chamber, 20 June 2017, no. 14-85.879, held that a foreign company must register in France when it opens a first establishment there. The official decision states that this applies “dès lors qu’elle ouvre un premier établissement dans un département français, c’est-à-dire lorsqu’elle y établit une agence, une succursale ou une représentation.” The decision is available on Légifrance, criminal chamber, 20 June 2017, no. 14-85.879.

In its decision of 2 March 2021, criminal chamber, no. 19-80.991, the Court stated: “la procédure d’enregistrement d’une société dans un Etat membre d’accueil est, en l’absence de règles de droit de l’Union, régie par le droit de cet Etat.” The official decision is available on Légifrance, criminal chamber, 2 March 2021, no. 19-80.991. These decisions do not convert a subsidiary into a branch. They show why the group must identify the entity being registered before selecting the address document and the formalities route.

The group’s corporate records should also avoid mixing the French address with the foreign parent’s headquarters address. The parent’s overseas address may appear in the parent’s registry extract, the board resolution and the beneficial-owner file. The subsidiary’s French registered office should appear in its own articles, legal notice and declaration. A document can contain both addresses if it labels them clearly. An unlabeled two-address file creates the impression that the French company has not chosen a registered office.

The legal notice should be checked separately. A certificate from an authorised legal-notice publication proves that a notice was published; it does not prove that the parent has granted use of the premises. If the notice contains the parent’s address or the wrong French unit, obtain the correction or republish as required. The response should identify the version that the greffe should rely on.

The same audit applies to beneficial-owner information. The declaration of the person or persons exercising control may refer to the parent’s ownership chain, but that does not give the parent’s address the status of the subsidiary’s registered office. Keep ownership, management, premises and filing authority in separate columns in the response matrix.

After registration, the company must continue to keep its public information accurate. RCS means Registre du commerce et des sociétés, the Commercial and Companies Register. RNE means Registre national des entreprises, the National Register of Enterprises. BODACC means Bulletin officiel des annonces civiles et commerciales, the official bulletin for certain civil and commercial notices. URSSAF means Unions de recouvrement des cotisations de sécurité sociale et d’allocations familiales, the network that collects social-security contributions. None of those bodies turns a parent’s lease into proof of the subsidiary’s registered-office right. They become relevant at later stages, once the entity and its address have been correctly registered.

II. How can a foreign group regularise the filing and obtain the Kbis?

A. Which documents should the parent and subsidiary upload through the Guichet unique?

Begin with the exact notification. Preserve the formalité number, the date, the status, the authority that raised the objection and every word used to describe the missing proof. A message asking for regularisation is different from a final refusal. The group should not answer a formal refusal as if it were merely an invitation to upload another lease.

Create a response matrix with at least five columns: the objection, the entity concerned, the fact that must be proved, the document that proves it and the field that must be corrected in the online declaration. Add a sixth column for the signatory and the authority under which the document is signed. For a parent-held lease, the matrix might look like this in substance:

• Parent’s occupation: prove ownership or the parent’s lease, the premises and the current term.
• Permission to share: prove the contractual right to host the subsidiary or provide landlord consent.
• Subsidiary’s use: file the intra-group occupancy agreement, licence, host attestation or domiciliation contract naming the French entity.
• Address consistency: reconcile the lease, articles, declaration, legal notice and address document line by line.
• Authority: prove the power of the parent’s signatory, the subsidiary’s signatory and the filing agent.
• Timeline: show when the right to use the premises began and explain any document signed after the first filing.

The parent’s lease should be filed only with the pages that prove the relevant facts, unless the complete agreement is needed to show a restriction or consent requirement. Highlighting the relevant clause can help, but do not obscure the surrounding text or remove the parties and signature pages. If the lease is in a foreign language, keep the original and add a translation that preserves the legal names, address, term and use clause. The translation should make it possible to locate the cited clause in the original.

The subsidiary’s occupancy document should be short but complete. It should state the date, the parent’s legal identity, the French company’s legal identity or incorporation name, the complete address, the area or facilities made available if relevant, the term, the permitted use and the signatory authority. If the arrangement is free of charge, say so. If the parent charges rent or a group service fee, identify the basis without turning the registration response into an unnecessary tax memorandum. The critical issue is the right to use the premises.

If a host attestation is used, attach the document proving that the host can grant the right. A director’s personal attestation may be insufficient when the director is only an employee of the parent or has no right to grant a licence. If the landlord has consented to the subsidiary’s occupation, file that consent with the lease and the occupancy document. If the parent owns the property, file an ownership extract or equivalent title evidence and the parent’s written grant to the subsidiary.

If the arrangement is domiciliation, file the actual contract, not a payment receipt. The contract should identify the provider, the French company, the address, the period and the obligations relevant to the domiciliation. Article R. 123-168’s requirement that the contract be written is especially useful here: it gives the group a clear document to request from the provider. A provider’s website may explain its service but cannot identify the exact contract covering the French company.

If the parent is itself a tenant, test the chain against the lease. Look for clauses on subletting, assignment, group-company occupation, permitted activity, insurance, access, mail and official notices. If the contract allows occupation by group companies but requires notice, file the notice. If it requires landlord consent, file the consent. If it does not permit the proposed use, change the arrangement or obtain an amendment before claiming that the subsidiary has a right to use the premises.

The corporate documents should be filed in a logical order:

1. a response letter identifying the objection and the conclusion requested;
2. an address comparison table showing the exact French address in each document;
3. the parent’s lease, title or serviced-office agreement;
4. the consent or clause allowing the parent to make the premises available;
5. the signed agreement or attestation granting use to the French company;
6. the parent’s registry extract, signatory authority and French translation where required;
7. the French articles, corrected appointment act and revised legal notice if needed;
8. the filing agent’s signed mandate and identity document; and
9. a final comparison showing that the Guichet unique record has been corrected.

The order should follow the objection. If the notification says that the lease is in the parent’s name, answer that point first. If it then asks for the signatory’s authority, place that evidence immediately after the premises chain. If the legal notice contains a different address, include the corrected notice and explain whether the articles or the notice was changed first. An index makes it easier for the examiner to see that each issue has a corresponding answer.

Before submission, compare the following fields character by character: the company’s complete legal name, the parent’s complete legal name, the street number, street name, postal code, town, country, floor, unit, signatory name, signatory capacity, start date and end date. Check accents and punctuation in French names. A French address should not be converted into an English translation in one document and left in French in another if the conversion changes the information needed to identify the premises.

The signature should be treated as an event with a date and an authority. The person signing for the parent must have the power to make the premises available. The person signing for the subsidiary must have the power to accept the arrangement or file the relevant act. The filing agent must have a signed mandate unless the attached acts already establish the agent’s power. Article R. 123-85 should be checked again before the portal submission, even if the initial filing was signed successfully.

The parent should keep a complete evidence file for later use. The Kbis, once issued, may be requested by a bank, tax administration, customer, supplier or employment provider. The parent-held lease and subsidiary occupancy agreement may also be needed for VAT registration, insurance, mail, inspections or a future registered-office change. SIRET is the identifier for a particular establishment, while SIREN identifies the legal entity; copy each number only after it is officially issued.

The corporate group should not use the term “Kbis pending” as if it were a legal status. A portal receipt shows that a formalité was submitted. It does not establish the same rights as registration. In its decision of 29 November 2023, commercial chamber, no. 22-12.865, the Court of cassation stated: “les sociétés commerciales jouissent de la personnalité morale à dater de leur immatriculation au registre du commerce et des sociétés”. The official decision is available on Légifrance, commercial chamber, 29 November 2023, no. 22-12.865. A foreign parent should therefore avoid presenting the subsidiary as fully registered before the Kbis is issued.

If the filing agent receives a portal message, the parent’s management team should nominate one person to monitor it and another to approve corrections. Time-zone differences, public holidays and foreign registry requests can consume the response period. The nomination can be internal, but the filing account should always show who is authorised to submit the final answer.

The INPI’s regulatory guidance on the Guichet unique should be used to understand the portal’s transmission role. It does not remove the legal responsibility of the applicant for the accuracy of the declaration. A successful upload is not evidence that the greffe accepted the parent-held lease. Acceptance must be confirmed by the registration outcome and the Kbis.

B. When should the group correct the filing and when should it challenge the refusal?

The first decision is procedural. Is the message a request for regularisation, a technical rejection, or a decision of refusal by the greffier? A regularisation request generally calls for an answer through the formalité, with the missing evidence and corrected fields. A technical rejection may require a new formalité, a new signature or a payment. A formal refusal may trigger a challenge before the president of the court to which the refusing greffier is attached. The notification must be read before selecting the route.

Article R. 123-143 provides that “La décision de refus d’immatriculation ou d’enregistrement de modifications statutaires prise par le greffier en application du deuxième alinéa de l’article R. 123-95 peut être contestée dans le délai de quinze jours à compter de sa notification.” The official text is available at Article R. 123-143 of the Commercial Code. The same article requires the request to be addressed to the president of the relevant court by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, to be reasoned and to include useful documents. Record the notification date precisely.

Article R. 123-144 states: “Le président de la juridiction ou le magistrat délégué à cet effet statue en urgence par ordonnance, au vu de la décision et de tous autres documents utiles.” The official provision is available at Article R. 123-144 of the Commercial Code. A challenge should identify the refusal, the parent’s lease, the subsidiary’s grant of use, the corrections made, the legal basis and the order sought. It is not a general complaint about the Guichet unique interface.

Article L. 123-6 identifies the institutional route. It provides that the RCS is kept by the greffier of each commercial court under the supervision of the president or a designated judge, who are competent for disputes between the person required to register and the greffier. The current provision appears in Article L. 123-6 of the Commercial Code. The group should therefore address a refusal to the competent judicial authority, not only to INPI support.

A new compliant filing may be better than a challenge where the parent’s lease genuinely does not allow the subsidiary to use the premises, where the occupancy document was signed too late, or where the group selected the wrong address. Litigation does not cure an absent contractual right. In those circumstances, obtain the landlord’s consent, sign a valid agreement, amend the articles and submit a clean formalité. Preserve the first file and explain the correction if the history is relevant.

A challenge may be appropriate where the file already proved the parent’s right, the subsidiary’s written use agreement and the signatory’s authority, but the refusal treated the companies as interchangeable in the wrong direction or ignored a decisive document. The challenge should be evidence-led. A long group narrative is less useful than a table showing the exact objection, the document answering it and the legal reason the refusal should be reversed.

Article L. 123-5 warns against manufacturing an answer. It provides that “Le fait de donner, de mauvaise foi, des indications inexactes ou incomplètes” for a registration or related filing is punishable by a fine and imprisonment. The official text is available at Article L. 123-5 of the Commercial Code. Never backdate an occupancy agreement, alter a lease page, create a false landlord letter or describe a parent’s address as the subsidiary’s address without a legal grant of use. A truthful correction is safer than a document that appears convenient but cannot be verified.

The effects of non-registration also matter commercially. Article L. 123-9 states: “La personne assujettie à immatriculation ne peut, dans l’exercice de son activité, opposer ni aux tiers ni aux administrations publiques” facts and acts subject to registration unless they have been published in the register. The official text is available at Article L. 123-9 of the Commercial Code. Banks, customers and administrations may ask for the Kbis, and the group should not assume that a submitted formalité has the same effect as completed registration.

If the registered office changes during the correction, decide whether the company is repairing the original address or adopting a new one. A new address may require amended articles, a new legal notice, a new occupancy agreement and a new declaration. The official Service-Public guidance on changing a company’s registered office explains that the steps can vary depending on whether the transfer remains within the same court district. Do not substitute a new address in the response without updating the corporate decision and evidence.

After registration, the parent-held arrangement remains relevant. Article R. 123-100 permits the greffier to verify the continuing conformity of entries and says: “En cas de non-conformité, invitation est faite à la personne immatriculée d’avoir à régulariser son dossier.” The current provision is available at Article R. 123-100 of the Commercial Code. If the parent’s lease ends, the landlord withdraws consent or the subsidiary moves, the French company must update its registered information instead of leaving the old address in place.

The group should preserve the final file in a way that a new adviser can audit. It should contain the notification, the portal history, the parent’s title, the permission to share, the subsidiary’s occupancy agreement, the address comparison table, the translations, the authority documents, the corrected articles, the legal notice, the signed mandate and the Kbis. Store the parent and subsidiary documents separately but link them by an index. Keep the French originals even when management works in English.

The final operational sequence is straightforward:

1. Freeze the submitted file and record the exact objection and notification date.
2. Identify the legal entity being registered: subsidiary, branch, agency or representation.
3. Prove the parent’s right to occupy the premises and its power to make them available.
4. File the subsidiary’s written right to use the address, with the complete address and term.
5. Reconcile every address, legal name, signatory, date and legal-form field.
6. Submit the correction with an indexed response or file a new formalité if the original arrangement cannot be cured.
7. Calculate the fifteen-day period and prepare a reasoned challenge if a formal refusal remains unjustified.
8. Monitor the outcome and obtain the Kbis before representing the subsidiary as registered.

The right question is not whether the foreign parent has a French office. It is whether the French company has a demonstrable, current and authorised right to use that office as its own registered office. Once that question is answered with a coherent chain, the registry can evaluate the filing without guessing how the group companies relate to one another.

Conclusion

A parent-held lease does not automatically prevent a French subsidiary from registering its office at the same premises, but the subsidiary must prove its own right to use the address. Article L. 123-11 focuses on the company’s enjoyment of the premises. The parent’s lease proves the parent’s position; a consent, licence, occupancy agreement or domiciliation contract must connect that position to the French company.

The strongest file separates the parent’s title, the permission to share, the subsidiary’s right, the address identity and the signatory authority. It identifies whether the group is incorporating a subsidiary or registering a branch, because those entities have different legal identities and filing routes. It also treats the Kbis as the result of registration, not as a document that can be assumed while the formalité is pending.

If the evidence is incomplete, regularise the filing honestly and preserve the deadline. If the right was proved and the refusal remains unfounded, Article R. 123-143 provides a short challenge route that should be prepared from the full notification and document history. In either case, the goal is a verifiable legal chain, not a larger upload.

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Call +33 6 46 60 58 22 or use the contact form to send the notification and the key documents.