Business immigration does not necessarily mean that the owner should devote himself entirely to the development of business in Europe: a registered company can bring little income, but its presence will confirm that the owner of the company is engaged in entrepreneurial activities.
Possible options of business-immigration
Registration of companies in Slovenia as a whole is not difficult, but the procedure itself has a number of features and nuances. First of all, it should be noted that business immigration can occur on the basis of one of several options - the registration of a new company or the opening of a foreign representative office that is already working in another country. There is also a less common way - the purchase of an existing Slovenian company. Each of these options has a certain specificity.
Registering a new company allows you to start a business in Slovenia, which is quite a profitable option, since this state has a favorable tax system and can offer ample opportunities for the development of entrepreneurship. The undoubted advantage is stability. Opening a new company involves choosing the form of its activities. There are quite a few legal forms of legal entities in the country, but the most attractive option (including from the point of view of economic security) is to register d.o.o (limited liability company). Opening a representative office of a foreign company on the territory of Slovenia is suitable for those applicants who already have a business in another state and are planning to develop it in the European Union.
Finally, the third option: the acquisition of the current Slovenian company. The acquired company must have a positive balance and work for at least six months. In addition to the absence of debts to the company, there are some other requirements, in particular, the timely payment of taxes and the availability of turnover. In the case of the purchase of the existing company will not be required to make the share capital and other investments, but the purchase of such a company also entails certain costs.
The transaction takes place at the notary in accordance with the provisions of the current Slovenian legislation, which regulates the relations of sale and purchase. After acquiring a company, obtaining a residence permit becomes possible within a few months. Buying an existing company assumes that the new owner will continue to engage in the development of the company and demonstrate turnover.
The main stages of company registration
FIRST STAGE. PREPARATION OF PRIMARY DOCUMENTATION.
A legal or natural person can act as a founder of a company in Slovenia. The first option is suitable for registering a new company, and the second one is for registering a foreign representative office. To register a new company, you will need to get a tax number of an individual. To obtain it, you must provide a copy of the founder’s passport and company name. It is important to pay attention to the fact that for all founders of the company it is obligatory to provide a certificate of no criminal record. Obtaining a TIN is the first step towards registering a company. In the event that it is planned to establish a representative office, it will be necessary to assemble the following set of documents:
- the original statement from the register confirming the registration of the company (the extract must be translated into Slovenian by an official translator);
- a copy of the passport of the owner of the company, as well as the address of his place of residence;
- legal address of the company with the permission of its use from the owner of the address (this document must be certified by a notary);
- company denomination.
Special attention should be paid to the choice of the name of the company, since this is quite an important point: in case the chosen name looks like or coincides with the name of the company that already exists in the registry, the application can be rejected. There are a number of requirements for the name of firms: names and any symbols of other countries or international organizations should not be present in the name (foreign letters are allowed). It is not allowed to use words and symbols that contradict the requirements of the law and moral norms, as well as the use of trademarks of other companies. The inclusion in the name of a company of a state name (Slovenia), as well as its derivatives, is possible only with the official permission of the government. You need to get permission to use the coat of arms, flag and names that belong to municipal territories. The selected company name is registered in the court register, after which the applicant is provided with a confirmation of the reservation of the name for a fixed period.
Also, when opening a company, you must provide a list of activities that the company will be engaged in. The compilation of this list is based on the official registry. It should be noted that there are certain features of doing business with the participation of foreign capital: for example, restrictions on the participation of foreign investments apply to the media, brokerage, auditing and some other companies. In addition, a number of activities involves obtaining a license (in particular, passenger transportation, the provision of travel services, etc.).
SECOND STAGE. FILLING OF DOCUMENTS AND REGISTRATION.
Registration of companies in Slovenia implies a personal presence. In the event that there are several founders, one of them may be present if there are powers of attorney from other participants. The signing of primary documents takes place at the notary. It is possible to submit documents in the office of the state company AJPES, which is engaged in registration of LLC.
THIRD STAGE. CHOOSING OF BANK AND OPENING OF AN ACCOUNT.
A rather large number of banks operate in the country, each of which offers different conditions for cooperation, therefore, the choice of a credit institution should be approached responsibly. The authorized capital is entered into the bank account, after which the founder receives a certificate for submission to the registering authority.
FOURTH STAGE. INTRODUCTION OF A COMPANY IN THE REGISTRY.
The company is entered in the register within several days (as a rule, the process does not take more than two weeks). Entering a company into the register means completing the registration procedure and allows starting business activities in the country (including signing contracts, hiring staff, paying bills, etc.)
After registering the company, it is necessary to submit documents to the tax authorities, the Register of Entrepreneurs and some other institutions. Companies are assigned tax and identification numbers that are necessary for their business. In addition, after receiving the confirmation of registration, the founder must contact the bank and reissue the existing account to the settlement account (the opening of the settlement account is possible only after passing through all the procedures). It is also necessary to take care of the organization of accounting services for the company.
Passing through the procedure of registering a company (as well as opening a representative office) allows you to proceed to the next most important business immigration procedure - registration of the status of a residence permit. Submission of documents for registration of status involves the provision of the name and address of the company, a questionnaire, a copy of a passport, as well as medical insurance (Slovenian insurance is a prerequisite for receiving a card, so care must be taken to prepare it in advance). The applicant submits a package of documents to the Consulate. The term of consideration of the application takes, as a rule, no more than 30 days. After making a decision on issuing a residence permit, the applicant receives a plastic card and becomes registered (the residence address in the state must be registered in advance). Validity of a residence permit is 12 months, after which it should be extended. After five years, the holder of a residence permit gets the opportunity to apply for permanent residence, and after another five years - to become a full-fledged citizen of the country.
Company registration provides for obtaining a residence permit only for the founder of the company, therefore family members of the applicant are not included in the application for status. For family members, obtaining status becomes possible only after the company’s owner has been in this status for a year and is able to confirm that a registered company really works and makes a profit, and its personnel are real employees.
So, registration of a company in Slovenia provides an opportunity to officially engage in business activities in the European Union and allows you to obtain a residence permit in a European country. It should be noted that the state represents truly unique opportunities and excellent prospects for starting a business: the Slovenian market is quite young, due to which many business segments have not yet received active development or are not covered at all.