Company domiciliation in France: what a foreign founder is actually buying
French domiciliation gives a company a registered address without requiring a conventional office lease. The address is selected before incorporation is finalized. The provider must hold the required prefectural approval, while the written agreement defines the covered address, mail handling, term, duties, and registration evidence.
Scope
This guide applies to
- Foreign founders preparing a French company
- French companies considering a registered-office transfer
- Founders comparing domiciliation, a home address, and an office
What it does not decide
- A guarantee of availability or suitability for regulated activity
- Company-specific legal, tax, immigration, or establishment advice
- A substitute for workspace when the activity requires premises
Pre-issue checklist
- 01Confirm the address and establishment covered by the approval
- 02Read the term, renewal, notice, mail, forwarding, and room conditions
- 03Prepare identity, address, ownership, activity, and representative data for KYB
- 04Confirm the billing start and separate postal or optional charges
- 05Keep the agreement and address evidence with the company file
The registered office is a legal coordinate, not necessarily the workplace
Every French company needs a siège social before registration. This legal address appears in the articles, formalities, contracts, invoices, and required website notices. It also helps determine the competent registry, courts, and administrations.
The registered office and workplace need not be identical. A remote founder may use domiciliation while operating online or elsewhere. Activities that need licensed or physical premises still require a separate check.
Changing the address later can require a corporate decision, amended articles, a legal notice, and a filing. The cheapest first-year address is not automatically the lowest-cost long-term choice.
Approval and the written contract are the evidence layer
A commercial domiciliataire must hold the applicable prefectural approval. The agreement should identify the provider, covered establishment, and approval reference. Coverage must be checked for the proposed address.
French rules require a written agreement for at least three months, renewable unless notice is given. An offer may use a longer commitment. Monthly billing therefore does not necessarily mean cancellation after one month.
The provider receives notifications and maintains required records. The company must use the address as declared, keep its information current, and review its mail. These duties explain the identity and company checks before confirmation.
Compare the operating service, not only the postcode
Similar prices can produce different operations. Compare scanning, storage, forwarding and postage, registered letters, meeting rooms, support language, and escalation of urgent government or court mail.
Check whether price includes tax and which options remain separate. For a new company, confirm whether the service starts at contract signature or when the Kbis is issued.
Keep four records: the address, verified provider and approval, mail plan, and billing and renewal schedule. Incorporation, banking, accounting, and future changes should rely on the same company file.
Worked structure
- Company
- Foreign-owned French SASU being incorporated
- Address evidence
- Signed domiciliation agreement naming the covered Paris establishment
- Mail operations
- Daily scanning with monthly forwarding of originals
- Contract check
- Initial commitment, renewal, notice, VAT, postage, and billing start documented