Transferring the Registered Office in France: Procedure, Formalities and Cost in 2026

Moving your business premises is an operational decision. Changing your registered office (siège social) is a legal formality: it requires a formal decision by the right body, a bylaws amendment, a legal notice publication and a filing with France's national business register. In 2026, the entire process runs online through the INPI single window — but a procedural error (wrong decision-maker, insufficient occupancy proof, missing second legal notice) can stall your file for weeks.

This guide covers each step, the variations by legal form, and the pitfalls we most often encounter in registered-office transfer files.

Transferring the registered office requires a decision by the competent body (the manager with shareholder ratification in a SARL, or the president or shareholders per the bylaws in a SAS), a bylaws amendment, a legal notice in the new district — two notices if the court registry district changes — and a filing with the INPI single window within one month of the decision. The direct cost is usually between €200 and €400, excluding professional fees.

Before any publication or filing, the decision must be made by the right body. This is the most common source of rejection we encounter: a decision taken by the wrong person forces the whole process to start over.

SARL: manager or shareholders?#

Article L223-30 of the French Commercial Code gives shareholders the power to amend the bylaws, by a majority of votes (more than half the shares). However, article L223-18 grants the manager a derogating power: the manager may decide alone to transfer the office anywhere in France, subject to ratification by the next ordinary general meeting. This statutory power is not mandatory — the bylaws can restrict or remove it. If shareholders refuse ratification, the manager's decision lapses and the registered office reverts to the original address.

For multi-shareholder SARLs, we generally advise having the shareholders decide directly rather than relying on the manager's derogating power: it secures the formality and eliminates the risk of later non-ratification.

SAS and SASU: bylaws govern everything#

French law gives a SAS broad statutory flexibility. No single legal rule imposes one decision-making body: the bylaws freely designate who is competent (the president alone, a collective shareholder decision at a specified majority, a steering committee). Reading the bylaws before starting is not optional — a decision taken by the wrong body must be redone, with a fresh set of minutes and a fresh timeline.

SA: board of directors or general meeting?#

The board of directors (or supervisory board in a two-tier SA) may decide the transfer, subject to ratification by the ordinary general meeting. If the transfer triggers a significant change in the company's scope, an extraordinary general meeting may be required.

EURL and SASU: sole-member simplicity#

In a single-member company, the sole member decides alone. No meeting needs to be convened. A written decision signed by the sole member is sufficient to document the resolution.

The procedure follows five steps in a fixed order. Skipping or inverting a step leads to rejection at the registry.

Step 1 — Decision by the competent body. Convene or consult the correct body, draw up the minutes or written decision stating the new address, the effective date and, where applicable, the ratification process.

Step 2 — Bylaws amendment. The registered-office address is written into the articles of association: it must be updated to reflect the new address. Updated, signed (or certified) bylaws are part of the filing.

Step 3 — Legal notice. Within one month of the decision, publish a legal notice in an authorised publication in the department of the new registered office. If the transfer moves into a different court registry district, a second notice is required in the department of the old registered office. Each proof of publication is mandatory for the filing.

Step 4 — INPI single-window filing. The complete file is submitted online at formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr. The single window transmits the information to the relevant registries and public bodies.

Step 5 — Kbis update. Once the registry validates the file, the company extract (Kbis) is updated with the new address. Allow two to three weeks between a complete filing and receipt of the updated Kbis.

The rule depends on the court registry district, not on the destination department alone.

When the district changes, the second notice must also list the persons authorised to bind the company. The absence of this detail can result in a rejection or a correction request.

Legal notice tariffs are set by ministerial order and vary little between publications in the same department. Budget roughly €110 to €140 per notice (2026 regulated rate, doubled if the court district changes) (verify the current rate at the time of publication, as amounts depend on the department and the length of the notice).

The amendment file submitted online includes:

• The minutes or written decision of the competent body (original or certified copy).
• The updated bylaws, dated and signed (or certified as conforming to the original).
• The proof of publication of the legal notice (or both notices if the district changed).
• Proof of occupancy of the new registered office: commercial or professional lease, domiciliation contract with an authorised provider, property deed or, for a domiciliation at the director's home, a signed declaration accompanied by a proof of residence.
• In case of a district change, the single window handles transmission to the departing registry, but verify local requirements before assuming nothing further is needed.

An incomplete file is the main cause of rejection or delay. Verify that the address is spelled identically in the minutes, the bylaws and the legal notice — even a minor discrepancy can stall processing.

Cost breakdown#

For a straightforward transfer within the same district, the direct formality cost is usually between €300 and €450. It can exceed €600 with a district change, two notices and a more complex legal form.

Worked example: three-shareholder SARL, transfer outside the district#

Consider a Paris-registered SARL (Paris Commercial Court district) transferring its registered office to Bordeaux (Bordeaux Commercial Court district). The procedure requires:

• Shareholders' meeting with minutes (direct decision to secure ratification).
• Bylaws update.
• Legal notice in an authorised Paris-district publication: approximately €150.
• Legal notice in an authorised Gironde-department publication: approximately €150.
• INPI single-window filing with registry fees: approximately €100.

Total direct formality cost: approximately €400, excluding legal and accounting support fees. The updated Kbis typically arrives two to three weeks after a complete filing.

When the transfer stays within the same department (and therefore, in most cases, the same court registry district), the company identifiers remain unchanged: the SIREN, SIRET and APE code all stay the same.

A transfer to a different court registry district, however, triggers a change of NIC (the last five digits of your SIRET number). The SIREN remains unchanged. Practical implications:

• All invoices and quotes must show the new SIRET as soon as the Kbis is updated.
• Your bank must be notified to update its records.
• Key customers and suppliers should receive notification of the new SIRET.
• If you hold grants, subsidies, or authorisations linked to your old SIRET, check whether the identifier change requires a formal update with the granting body.

Also update your company's online profiles (website, Google Business Profile, sector directories, client portals) to prevent important correspondence being routed to the old address.

The single window automatically notifies the tax authority (DGFiP), URSSAF and INSEE via your SIREN. You do not need to write to these bodies separately. However, several steps remain your responsibility:

• Your bank: notify it of the new registered office and new SIRET if applicable. Some account or credit agreements refer specifically to the registered-office address.
• Your customers and suppliers: update your letterhead, invoices and quotes once the Kbis is updated. A reasonable transition period of a few weeks is acceptable for existing partners.
• Your insurer: notify the change of address. Moving to a different department may require an endorsement to your professional-premises or civil-liability policy.
• Financing or licensing bodies: if you hold a regional grant, a social-enterprise (ESUS) approval, or a geographically conditional authorisation, the registered-office change may affect your eligibility.
• Your online presence: update the address on your website, professional networks and Google Business Profile.

We recently supported a French industrial SARL wishing to transfer its registered office from central Paris to Levallois-Perret, just across the city boundary. An intra-Île-de-France move looked straightforward on paper. Two issues surfaced during our pre-filing review.

First, the bylaws required a two-thirds majority of shareholders for any transfer outside the city of Paris — a clause no one had noticed since incorporation. This meant convening an extraordinary general meeting rather than using the manager's derogating power, which delayed the calendar by three weeks.

Second, the planned domiciliation at a business centre in Levallois had not yet been formalised by a signed contract. The single window requires a signed proof of occupancy as of the filing date — an unsigned preliminary letter does not satisfy the requirement.

The result: half a day of upfront analysis prevented two file rejections and the cost of re-publishing legal notices. For a formality as routine as a registered-office transfer, procedural errors remain surprisingly common.

INPI single window: since 1 January 2023, paper filings directly with the registry are no longer possible for most formalities. All amendments — registered office, corporate purpose, director — go through formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr. The platform can experience validation delays during peak periods (January–February and July): plan your filing accordingly.

Local business tax (CFE) impact: a transfer to a new department may change your CFE liability, which is calculated on the rental value of your professional premises as of year N–2. If the new department applies significantly different municipal rates, the budget impact can be material. Verify the basis before signing your new lease.

Home domiciliation: if you intend to domicile the registered office at your personal address, check that your lease or co-ownership rules do not prohibit it, or that you have explicit landlord consent. Without it, the filing may be rejected or the lease called into question.

Location clauses in the bylaws: some bylaws — particularly in investor-backed SAS companies — contain a clause requiring the registered office to remain in a specific city, department or area. Check carefully before starting the procedure; amending such a clause may itself require a reinforced majority.

Bundling formalities: a transfer combined with a change of corporate purpose or a change of financial year-end can often be bundled into a single amendment filing, reducing registry fees.

Across the transfer files we handle, the three most common causes of rejection or delay are: (1) a decision taken by the wrong body under the bylaws, (2) an occupancy document that is unsigned, expired or post-dated relative to the filing, and (3) an address discrepancy between the minutes, the updated bylaws and the legal notice.

Our pre-filing checklist covers the current bylaws (competent body, location clauses), the signed occupancy title, and a line-by-line address comparison across all three documents. This usually takes two to three hours for a routine file — and avoids weeks of correction.

Where a transfer also involves a district change, a CFE impact or a licensing question, we analyse those dimensions simultaneously, within our legal advisory service and our company incorporation and structuring support.

For SAS or SARL structures with multiple shareholders, we also prepare a formality calendar so that ratification (in a SARL) or a collective decision (in a SAS) is fully documented before filing, rather than deferred and assumed unnecessary.

Updated 14 June 2026. This article is for information purposes only and does not replace personalised legal or accounting advice. For your specific situation, consult a qualified professional.