Local director rules for a company of one: which countries require a resident director

Two of the five countries covered here make local residence a condition of holding the office: Australia and Singapore. The United Kingdom and Hong Kong impose no residence test on directors, but each attaches other conditions — a UK registered office address, and in Hong Kong a separate company secretary alongside a natural-person director. In the United States the answer sits with state law, and no state rule is covered by the official sources below.

The rules at a glance

Country	Resident director required?	Minimum director age	Company secretary
Australia	Yes — at least one director must live in Australia (proprietary company)	18	Only if the company has one; at least one secretary must normally live in Australia
Singapore	Yes — at least one ordinarily resident director	18	Required; appoint within six months of registration; cannot be the sole director
Hong Kong	No residence requirement found	Not stated in the Companies Registry material used here (a reserve director must be 18 or over)	One company secretary required
United Kingdom	No — directors do not have to live in the UK, but the company must have a UK registered office address	16	Optional
United States	Set by state law; no state rule is covered here	—	—

Australia: at least one director must live in Australia

For an Australian proprietary company, at least one director must live in Australia, and officeholders — directors and secretaries alike — must be at least 18 years old (ASIC). If the company appoints a secretary, at least one secretary must normally live in Australia.

Two further conditions apply to the appointment itself: a director must apply for a director ID before being appointed, and the company must hold that person's written signed consent. Public companies face a heavier rule — at least three directors, at least two of whom must normally live in Australia.

Singapore: one ordinarily resident director, and a secretary who is not you

Any company incorporated in Singapore is required to have at least one ordinarily resident director, so that there is at least one person in Singapore responsible for the company's compliance with its legal obligations — ACRA's stated reason for the rule, published on 8 July 2026 (ACRA).

ACRA's setup guidance, last updated on 29 January 2026, lists director eligibility as being ordinarily resident, 18 years old or older, and a citizen, permanent resident or person meeting local residency rules (ACRA). The same guidance sets the pair of rules that matter most for a one-person company:

Every company needs at least one director and one company secretary; the secretary must be appointed within six months of successful registration.
The secretary must be a natural person who is a citizen, permanent resident or person meeting local residency rules, and cannot be the same person as the sole director.

So a sole founder who is not ordinarily resident in Singapore needs both a locally resident director and, separately, a qualified secretary.

Hong Kong: no residence test, but two offices to fill

A Hong Kong private company must have at least one director who is a natural person and one company secretary (Companies Registry). The material does not set a residence requirement for either office; what it requires is that the director be an individual rather than a body corporate, and that the secretary role be filled by someone other than you if you are the only director.

There is one provision aimed squarely at single-person companies: where the sole member is also the sole director, the company may nominate a person aged 18 or over (other than a body corporate) as a reserve director, to act in the place of the sole director in the event of the sole director's death. No minimum director age was found on the Companies Registry pages used here.

United Kingdom: no residence requirement, but a UK registered office

A UK director must be 16 or over, and directors do not have to live in the UK — but the company must have a UK registered office address (GOV.UK). A company must appoint a director, while a company secretary is optional (GOV.UK). That combination is why the UK is workable for a sole founder living abroad: no local director is needed, and the second office can simply be left unfilled.

United States: a state-law question

Residency rules for directors, managers and members in the United States are set at state level rather than by a single national rule, and no state rule is covered by the official sources below. If you are forming in the US, the residency question has to be answered against the law of the state of formation and against the entity type you choose.

What this means if the founder lives elsewhere

The practical dividing line is between the countries that require a local person in the director's chair and those that do not. In Australia and Singapore the rule is not satisfied by presence on paper elsewhere: someone who lives in the country has to hold the office, and in Singapore that person still needs a separate secretary. In the UK and Hong Kong, residence is not the obstacle; the remaining work is the UK registered office address and, in Hong Kong, appointing a company secretary who is not the sole director.

These are company-law appointment rules. Tax residence, banking, licensing and visa questions are separate, and are not covered here — a company can satisfy the director rule in one country and still be treated as managed or taxed elsewhere.