Moving Your Registered Office in Singapore: The 14-Day Filing, Records and the 3-Hour Rule

Short answer: To change your registered office address in Singapore, the directors approve the new address, the company moves its statutory records there, and it notifies ACRA through Bizfile within 14 days of the change. The new address must be in Singapore and, under the law in force on 4 October 2026, open to the public for at least 3 hours on each business day.

Raffles Corporate Services works with a panel of experienced Singapore law firms who offer cost-effective and efficient legal service and advice. This article is general information only and is not legal advice.

Companies move their registered office when they move premises, give up a co-working desk, switch corporate service provider, or stop using a director’s home. The ACRA filing itself is a few clicks on Bizfile. This guide is a practical moving checklist: what the law requires of the new address, what you must file and by when, what records go with you, and how to stop important letters going astray during the move. If you want the background rules only, see our guide to registered office requirements under sections 142 and 143.

What counts as a valid registered office in Singapore?

A registered office must be a physical address in Singapore where communications and notices can be delivered, and it must be open and accessible to the public for at least 3 hours during ordinary business hours on each business day.

Section 142 of the Companies Act 1967 sets this requirement. It does not have to be where you trade. ACRA’s own guidance gives the example of a registered office in Raffles Place while the factory operates in Tuas. A P.O. Box will not work, because legal papers must be capable of being served there.

Can I use my home address?

You can, if you are allowed to run a home office from your property and can meet the opening hours requirement. HDB and private residential owners should check the relevant home office scheme first. Many owners prefer not to publish their home address on ACRA’s public records. Our article on using a home address as your registered office covers the trade-offs.

Does the company secretary have to be there?

For a private company, not physically. Section 171(3A) allows the secretary, or his or her agent or clerk, to be readily contactable by telephone or other instant means instead of being present during the hours the office is open.

Has the 3-hour opening rule been abolished?

Not yet, as at 4 October 2026. Parliament has passed the change, but the relevant provisions have not been brought into force, so the 3-hour rule in section 142 still applies.

The Corporate and Accounting Laws (Amendment) Act 2025 was passed on 5 November 2025. Section 52 of that Act deletes the 3-hour requirement from section 142, and section 53 replaces section 143 with a simpler duty to notify a change of address within 14 days. ACRA’s page on the Corporate and Accounting Laws (Amendment) Act 2025 explains that, once in force, anyone entitled to inspect company records must give reasonable notice, and the company must then make the records available for at least two hours on each business day.

However, the commencement notification (S 199/2026) brought most of the Act into force on 6 May 2026 but expressly excluded sections 52 and 53. The version of the Companies Act on Singapore Statutes Online in force from 6 May 2026 still contains the 3-hour rule, and ACRA’s registration guidance still refers to it. Until a further commencement date is announced, plan on keeping the new office open for at least 3 hours each business day.

How do you change your registered office address step by step?

Approve the move, secure the new premises, move the records, file on Bizfile within 14 days, then update everyone who writes to you.

1. Check the constitution. Most constitutions leave the registered office to the directors, so a directors’ resolution is usually enough.
2. Confirm the new address is usable: a Singapore address, not a P.O. Box, permitted under the lease or home office rules, and staffed or accessible for the required hours.
3. Pass a directors’ resolution approving the new address and the effective date.
4. Move the statutory records that must be kept at the registered office (see the table below).
5. File the change on Bizfile: Entity information, then “Office address”, enter the postal code, retrieve the address and enter the effective date. If your office hours change, update “Office hours” in the same session.
6. If any register is kept somewhere other than the registered office, update the “Registers address” as well.
7. Update letterheads, invoices, website, IRAS and bank correspondence addresses, and set up mail redirection from the old address.

ACRA confirms that updating entity information is free and processed immediately. The 14-day clock runs from the effective date of the change, not the date you remember to file.

Which records must move with the registered office?

Some records must be kept at the registered office by law, and others can be kept there or at another place the directors choose. Move the first group on the effective date.

Accounting records must be retained for at least 5 years from the end of the financial year in which the transactions are completed (section 199(2)), so do not let old files go missing in the move.

What happens to your mail during the move?

Letters from ACRA, IRAS, the courts and counterparties will keep going to the old address until records are updated, so set up forwarding and keep checking the old address for a period after the move.

Practical steps

• Ask the landlord or old provider to hold or forward mail for an agreed period.
• Arrange redirection with your postal service provider for the old address.
• Update addresses with your bank, insurers, key suppliers and government agencies that hold a separate correspondence address.
• Note that ACRA sends official letters for directors and secretaries to their residential addresses, and publishes their contact addresses, so those are separate from the registered office. See our guide on contact addresses for position holders.

With the Raffles Corporate Services Registered Office Package, all mail is available in a digital mailbox in Raffles Vault and physical mail can be collected at our office from 10 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

What does it cost, and what if you file late?

The ACRA filing is free. Filing after the 14-day deadline attracts a late lodgement penalty, and continued default is an offence.

A missed address update also has indirect costs: ACRA reminders and notices may not reach you, which is how small filing lapses escalate. Our guide to the ACRA alerts companies miss explains how to stay on top of them.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to tell ACRA about a new registered office?

Fourteen days from the date of the change. Foreign companies have 30 days under ACRA’s guidance.

Do shareholders need to approve a change of registered office?

Usually not. The decision is normally for the directors, but check your constitution in case it says otherwise.

Can my registered office be different from my business address?

Yes. The registered office is where official communications and notices go and where certain records are kept. You can trade from somewhere else.

Do I need to tell ACRA our office hours?

Under the current section 143, you must notify the days and hours the office is open unless it is open for at least 5 hours during ordinary business hours on each business day.

Can I use my corporate service provider’s address as my registered office?

Yes, if the provider offers that service. At Raffles Corporate Services, the Registered Office Package costs S$200 a year and is only available together with our Annual Corporate Package.

Last reviewed: 4 October 2026. The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services.