Registering an overseas limited partnership

What registration documents to provide and where to send them

To register an overseas limited partnership in New Zealand you must complete an online application and pay a registration fee. An overseas limited partnership must apply for registration within 10 working days of commencing business in New Zealand.

Please follow the steps below to register an overseas limited partnership:

1. Set up an online services account

Before you start your application to register an overseas limited partnership, you must have:

  • a RealMe login
  • an online services account with Business Registers

Setting up an online services account

Requesting authority to manage information

2. Gather the information you'll need

To apply to register on the Overseas Limited Partnership Register, you'll need to provide the following information:

  • The proposed name of the overseas limited partnership
  • Country of origin (home jurisdiction)
  • Evidence of incorporation or registration in your home jurisdiction
  • Date of commencing business in New Zealand
  • Details of its overseas registered office in its home jurisdiction
  • Details of its principal place of business in New Zealand
  • Details of the person resident or incorporated in New Zealand who is authorised to accept service of documents for the overseas limited partnership
  • Postal address and email address
  • Details of the general partners (for individuals, their date and place of birth)
  • The full name, postal address, email address and phone number of the presenter.

Proposed name

The name of the overseas limited partnership must be identical to the name of the limited partnership registered in its home jurisdiction.

We won't register an overseas limited partnership with a name:

  • the use of which would contravene an enactment
  • that is identical to, or almost identical to, the name of a company registered under the Companies Act 1993, or another limited partnership, or an overseas limited partnership registered under this Act
  • that, in our opinion, is offensive.

Before you apply for registration, we strongly recommend that you conduct a free search to ensure that your chosen name is not identical or almost identical to the name of a company, limited partnership or overseas limited partnership that already exists on the register. This will avoid delays in registering your overseas limited partnership.

Search for companies Search for a limited partnership

Country of origin (home jurisdiction)

This is the country in which the overseas limited partnership is formed or incorporated.

Date of commencing business in New Zealand

This is the date on which the overseas limited partnership commences business in New Zealand.

An overseas limited partnership must apply for registration within 10 working days of commencing business.

Overseas limited partnership addresses

An overseas limited partnership must provide details of its overseas registered office in its home jurisdiction. The principal place of business and the address of the person authorised to accept service must be a physical address in New Zealand — that is, they can't be a Private Bag or DX, or a virtual office (mail/message collection point).

The postal address may be either a postal address (for example, a PO Box) or residential address.

The purpose of having a person authorised to accept service in New Zealand is to assist creditors by providing a local contact to accept documents on behalf of the overseas limited partnership.

3. Complete the online application

To register an overseas limited partnership:

  1. Log in to your online services account.
  2. Select 'Register Overseas Limited Partnership' from the online dashboard.
  3. Enter proposed name of overseas LP and provide general details.
  4. Check name availability by clicking 'Name Availability Check'.
  5. Provide the country of origin and upload the Certificate of Incorporation or Registration in the home jurisdiction. Complete the remainder of the mandatory fields, upload any supporting documents, and Select 'Next Step: Addresses'.
  6. Complete the addresses tab and click on 'Next Step: General Partners'.
  7. Complete mandatory fields and select 'Next Step: Review'.
  8. Check all the information you have entered and complete the signatory details.
  9. Click 'Submit' to be taken to the payment screen.
  10. Complete payment and select 'OK'.
Go to your Business Registers dashboard

To access the Business Registers dashboard, you will need to log in using your RealMe® account.

Paying the registration fee

The application fee for registration of an overseas limited partnership is $232.39 (plus GST). This fee includes a Financial Markets Authority levy of $9.00 (plus GST) and External Reporting Board levy of $6.00 (plus GST).

Fees

4. Receive your Certificate of Registration

We'll issue a Certificate of Registration to the presenter of the application confirming that the overseas limited partnership has been registered.

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