Pricing
One fixed fee, agreed before we start
Every engagement starts with a written quote. You see our fee and every government fee before you pay, and the quote does not change unless your plan does. This page explains what each package contains, what sits outside it, how we set the fee, how long each step takes and what you will pay to the Rwandan state and to professionals in your own country.
Packages
Choose a starting point
Private company
Fixed feeQuoted for your structure
- Structure advice and name check
- Memorandum and director consents
- Beneficial ownership declaration
- Online registration, TIN and RSSB
- Bank account file
Company + investor
Fixed feeCompany, certificate and permit
- Everything in Private company
- Business plan for RDB
- Investment registration certificate
- Investor permit through Irembo
- Incentive rate review
Branch office
Fixed feeQuoted for your parent company
- Parent document checklist
- Notarisation and apostille guidance
- Representative appointment
- Branch registration
- Tax registrations
Accounting & payroll
Fixed feeMonthly fee by volume
- Bookkeeping under IFRS for SMEs
- VAT, PAYE, RSSB and WHT filings
- Monthly report in English
- Annual accounts and tax return
- Annual return at RDB
The four packages cover what most foreign founders need in their first year in Rwanda. They combine: a founder who plans to live in Kigali usually takes the company and investor package and then the monthly service; a European group opening a sales office often takes the branch package and the monthly service. Each quote lists every step in the order it happens.
Private company
What the formation package does, step by step
A private company limited by shares under Law N° 007/2021 is the usual vehicle for a foreign founder. This is the work included in the fee.
- Step 1
Structure and name
We confirm who holds the shares, who the directors are and who the resident director will be, then check the proposed name against the register.
- Step 2
Documents
We draft the memorandum, director consents and shareholder resolutions, and send you a document list for your country.
- Step 3
Beneficial owners
We prepare the beneficial ownership declaration for every shareholder, at the 25% threshold of shares or votes.
- Step 4
Registration
Our licensed partners file online with the Registrar General. TIN and RSSB registration are issued with the certificate.
After registration the package continues with the practical set-up. We prepare the file a Rwandan bank konti ya banki (bank account) asks for: the certificate, the memorandum, identification of directors and beneficial owners, and a description of the business and the source of funds. We introduce you to a bank that suits your activity and currency needs. We explain the first tax registrations that may follow, such as VAT once turnover approaches RWF 20 million a year or RWF 5 million in a quarter, and EBM invoicing for taxable sales.
Company registration has no government fee at the Office of the Registrar General, and once the file is complete, registration is issued within six hours. Most of the elapsed time sits before the filing: collecting and certifying documents abroad, and agreeing who the resident director is. The company law requires at least one director resident in Rwanda (Arts. 7(4) and 157), and the quote states whether you have one or we arrange one through our partners.
Sources: Law N° 007/2021 of 05/02/2021, Arts. 7(4), 116, 157 (CDH); ORG beneficial ownership guidelines, March 2023; RDB and ORG FAQ on online registration (2026); PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Rwanda, VAT (2026).
The question that most often delays a formation is the resident director. Decide early whether it will be someone you employ in Kigali or a professional director, because the bank will want to meet or identify that person too.
Company + investor
Adding the investment certificate and permit
Investment registration
The investment certificate icyemezo cy’ishoramari (investment certificate) is issued by RDB under Law N° 006/2021. It opens the incentive regime and supports the investor permit. There is no minimum capital for registration. We prepare the business plan RDB reviews: the activity, the investment amount and its timing, jobs, and the sector that decides which incentive applies. RDB decides within two working days of a complete application (Art. 18). After RDB's acceptance letter, a fee of USD 500 is paid to a commercial bank.
Incentive review
We map your activity against the incentive list: for example, a 15% rate for exporters, manufacturing or ICT, or a 3% rate for pure holdings and IP income where the substance conditions are met. The review is part of the package; tax structuring across several countries is quoted separately.
Investor permit
With the certificate, the founder applies through Irembo for an investor permit uruhushya (permit, licence) in the class matching the sector, such as W1 for IT, F1 for manufacturing, O1 for hospitality or Z1 for other sectors. The fee is RWF 150,000 and the permit is valid for up to two years. The application needs a CV, the business registration certificate, the investment certificate, a police clearance certificate issued within the last six months, and an application letter.
A registered investor with USD 250,000 invested may recruit three foreign employees without a labour market test. That is a right linked to the investment amount; it is not a minimum for the certificate.
Sources: RDB, investment registration (rdb.rw, 2026); Law N° 006/2021 of 05/02/2021, Art. 18 (PwC tax alert 2021; UNCTAD); PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Rwanda, tax incentives, reviewed September 2026; DGIE, migration.gov.rw (2026).
The police clearance certificate is the document founders forget. It must be no older than six months when filed, and in some countries it takes weeks to obtain and then needs an apostille. Order it as soon as you decide on the permit.
Branch office
Registering a branch of your existing company
A foreign company can trade in Rwanda through a branch ishami (branch) instead of a subsidiary. It must register within ten working days of establishing a place of business. The branch package is built around the parent company's documents, because they are the slow part.
- Parent document checklist. A notarised copy of the parent's registration certificate and articles (certified copies are accepted), and a notarised original board resolution appointing the representative in Rwanda.
- Certification guidance. Documents signed abroad are notarised by a public notary, a Rwandan embassy or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Rwanda joined the Apostille Convention, in force for Rwanda since 5 June 2024. We confirm for your country which form ORG accepts before you pay a notary.
- Translations. Documents not in English need a certified translation.
- Representative appointment. We draft the board resolution and the representative's acceptance in the form ORG expects.
- Branch registration and tax. Our partners file with ORG; the branch receives a TIN and RSSB registration and we explain VAT and EBM.
Sources: ORG registration requirements (2026); CDH and ENSafrica on Law N° 007/2021; MINAFFET, apostille services via IremboGov (2024).
Accounting & payroll
The monthly service, item by item
- Bookkeeping under IFRS for SMEsBank, sales, purchases, payroll and FX revaluation posted monthly, in RWF with foreign currency accounts.
- Monthly declarationsPAYE, RSSB, VAT and withholding tax prepared and filed on E-Tax by the 15th through our partners in Kigali.
- PayrollPayslips, RSSB enrolment for new staff, the pension rate changes to 2030, leave balances.
- Monthly report in EnglishProfit and loss, balance sheet, cash, taxes paid and open questions, in one short document.
- Annual accounts and tax returnYear-end close, coordination with the auditor, CIT return within three months, accounts to ORG within seven.
- Annual returnFiled in the company's allocated month, confirming shareholders, directors and beneficial owners.
- Compliance calendarA calendar for your year-end, with reminders before annual and event-driven deadlines.
Sources: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, Rwanda, 2026; Law N° 007/2021, Arts. 142–143 as amended by Law N° 019/2023. Details on the accounting and payroll page.
Outside the packages
What a package does not include
A fixed fee only works if the edges are clear. These items are quoted separately, or are paid by you directly to a third party.
- Government feesListed in the table below and passed through at cost, shown separately on the quote.
- Costs in your own countryNotary, apostille or legalisation, certified translation and courier.
- Statutory auditThe auditor is engaged and paid separately; we coordinate the timetable.
- Resident director servicesWhere a professional director is needed, the arrangement is quoted on its own terms.
- Sector licencesLicences from regulators such as RURA, BNR or CMA for regulated activities.
- Tax structuring across several countriesGroup-level advice on holding chains, treaties and transfer pricing beyond the Rwandan entity.
- Disputes and litigationTax appeals, employment disputes and arbitration at KIAC.
- Property and landLease review and land transactions, identified by UPI parcel number.
If a regulator's licence is needed, it decides the timeline, not the company registration. Tell us at the first call whether your activity touches payments, lending, telecoms, energy or transport, so the quote reflects the right sequence.
How the fee is set
Six things we ask first
- Who the shareholders areIndividuals, a company, or a chain of companies. Each corporate layer adds documents and beneficial ownership tracing.
- Where they liveIt decides document certification and treaty rates. A shareholder in an Apostille Convention country follows a different path from one who needs consular legalisation.
- The resident directorWhether you have one, or need one arranged.
- What follows registrationCertificate, permits, bank account, monthly accounting.
- The activityRegulated activities, imports through customs and incentive eligibility change the work.
- Volume, for monthly workTransactions per month, employees, bank accounts and currencies, and whether the company is VAT-registered.
From the answers we write a quote that names each step, the documents you provide, the government fees and our fixed fee. The fee does not move if a step takes longer than planned. It changes only if the plan changes: a new shareholder, a second permit, a switch from branch to subsidiary. In that case we tell you before any extra work starts and confirm the change in writing.
We do not publish fee figures on this site because the same label covers very different work. A company owned by one individual in Spain is a short file. A company owned by a Luxembourg holding, itself owned by a trust, with two directors in the Gulf and an investor permit to follow, is a different file. Both receive a fixed fee; it is simply a different one.
Government fees
What Rwanda charges
| Item | Fee | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Company registration | RWF 0 | No government fee at the Registrar General. |
| Investment registration certificate | USD 500 | Paid to a commercial bank after RDB’s acceptance letter. |
| Investor permit | RWF 150,000 | Valid up to two years. |
| Recurring investor permit | RWF 250,000 | Valid up to five years; after two permits held. |
| Visa on arrival | Up to USD 50 / USD 70 | Single / multiple entry. Waived for AU, Commonwealth and Francophonie citizens for 30 days. |
| East Africa Tourist Visa | USD 100 | Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya, up to 90 days. |
Sources: Rwanda Development Board; Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration (2026). Notary, apostille and translation costs in your own country are extra.
Reading the table
Rwanda's direct state costs for a company are low. Registration is free. The investment certificate costs USD 500, payable once, and only if you choose to register as an investor. The investor permit costs RWF 150,000 for up to two years; after two permits, a recurring permit costs RWF 250,000 for up to five years, provided the company holds a tax clearance. Permit applications and payments are made through Irembo, the government services portal.
Entry costs depend on nationality. Rwanda issues visas on arrival to all nationalities, at up to USD 50 for a single entry or USD 70 for multiple entry. Citizens of African Union, Commonwealth and Francophonie states have the fee waived for 30 days, and citizens of East African Community states receive a free six-month pass. Citizens of a list of countries, including Singapore, Qatar, Mauritius and Indonesia, enter visa-free for 90 days.
Fees in RWF are paid in RWF. Under the BNR foreign exchange regulation, domestic transactions are settled in Rwandan francs amafaranga (money; also francs), so the quote shows each government fee in the currency in which the state charges it.
Sources: RDB (rdb.rw/?p=1500); DGIE, migration.gov.rw, visa and permit pages (2026); BNR Regulation 42/2022 as amended by Regulation 89/2025 (PKF East Africa, 2025).
At home
Costs in your own country
The documents for a Rwandan filing are prepared in the country where the shareholder or director lives. Their cost is set by local notaries, authorities and translators, and we do not quote it as part of our fee.
Notary
Signatures on resolutions and powers of attorney, and certified copies of passports and corporate documents. A Rwandan embassy can also notarise documents abroad.
Apostille or legalisation
Rwanda's accession to the Apostille Convention took effect on 5 June 2024. Shareholders in other Convention states use an apostille; elsewhere, legalisation through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or a Rwandan embassy.
Certified translation
Documents not in English need a certified translation. A German Handelsregisterauszug or a Russian ЕГРЮЛ extract is translated before filing.
Sources: MINAFFET, apostille services (2024); ORG registration requirements (2026).
Where the client lives changes the route. A founder in France, Luxembourg or Kazakhstan obtains an apostille from the competent national authority. Germany objected to Rwanda’s accession to the Apostille Convention, so German documents are legalised through the Rwandan embassy; documents from the United Arab Emirates, which is not a party, go through full legalisation. We confirm the route before any document is signed. A Russian-speaking founder who lives in Spain or Cyprus often has documents from two countries, and each document follows the rules of the country that issued it.
Courier time matters as much as cost. Original notarised documents travel to Kigali, and an apostille issued in one city may have to be collected in person. We tell you which documents can be sent as certified scans and which must arrive as originals.
Have every document signed in the same country in one notary appointment. Two separate notary visits in two countries, each followed by its own apostille, is the most common reason a two-week document stage becomes six weeks.
Timelines
How long each package takes
Rwanda's government steps are short. The time goes into preparing documents abroad, appointing directors and the bank's own review.
| Stage | Government time | What drives the rest |
|---|---|---|
| Company registration at ORG | Within 6 hours once the file is complete | Document collection, certification and translation abroad |
| Investment registration at RDB | Decision within 2 working days | Business plan, investment evidence, fee payment to the bank |
| Investor permit via Irembo | Set by DGIE | Police clearance under six months, investment certificate |
| Branch registration | Same online procedure at ORG | Parent company documents and board resolution |
| Bank account | Set by the bank | The bank's own compliance review |
| Monthly accounting | From the first month | Access to bank statements and invoices |
Sources: RDB and ORG FAQ (registration within six hours once complete); Law N° 006/2021, Art. 18 (investment decision within two working days); DGIE, migration.gov.rw (2026). We do not publish bank timelines: each bank sets its own.
Use the estimator below for an indicative planning range. Tick what applies to your case; each item adds the weeks we usually plan for it. Your quote gives a timeline for your specific file.
Payment and invoicing
Who invoices you, and how
All our fees are invoiced by Voixa Consultors S.L., a Spanish company registered in Barcelona with CIF B24744351. Voixa Rwanda is its brand for Rwanda. Your contract is with a company in the European Union, under a written engagement letter that sets out the scope, the fee and the documents you provide.
The quote states the payment schedule for your engagement and the tax treatment that applies to your invoice. Government fees are shown separately from our fee. Fees payable in Rwanda, such as the USD 500 investment registration fee paid to a commercial bank or the permit fees paid through Irembo, are paid as the procedure requires.
Local filings in Kigali are made by licensed partners in Rwanda. We coordinate them and remain your point of contact throughout the engagement.
Our founder, Alexander Baranov, has worked in international law and cross-border business for more than 15 years. He founded BCA Unternehmensberatung in 2011, and BCA Group works across more than 40 jurisdictions, including Germany, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Italy, Luxembourg, Bahrain and Singapore. The quoting method on this page is the one we use across those jurisdictions. See about us.
Geography
Where your money goes
For a founder planning a site outside the capital, in the Kigali Special Economic Zone in Gasabo, near Lake Kivu in Rubavu or in Bugesera near the new airport under construction, the formation costs are the same. Location changes later costs such as land, leases and logistics along the corridors to Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, which sit outside our packages.
Legal basis
Where the fees and steps come from
FAQ
Questions about fees and quotes
Why are there no prices on the site?
Because the same package covers very different files. We quote a fixed fee in writing for your structure within two working days of receiving the answers to our first questions.
Can the fee change after I accept the quote?
Only if the plan changes, for example a new shareholder, an additional permit or a change of structure. We tell you before any extra work starts and confirm it in writing.
Is there really no government fee for company registration?
Yes. Registration with the Office of the Registrar General carries no government fee. Costs arise from certifying documents abroad and from the optional investment certificate and permits.
Do I need the investment certificate?
No. It is optional. It gives access to incentives and supports an investor permit, and costs USD 500. There is no minimum investment for registration.
Who pays the notary and the apostille?
You pay them directly in your country. We tell you exactly which documents need which certification, so you pay for each step once.
Which company issues the invoice?
Voixa Consultors S.L., Barcelona, Spain (CIF B24744351). Local filings are made by our licensed partners in Kigali under our coordination.
Is the bank account guaranteed?
No adviser can guarantee a bank's decision. We prepare a complete file and introduce you to a bank that suits your activity. Each bank sets its own review and timeline.
Can I start with the company and add the monthly service later?
Yes. The packages are independent. Monthly obligations start as soon as the company pays a salary or registers for VAT, so plan the monthly service before the first payroll.
Related
Read next
Private company
Shareholders, directors and the resident director rule.
Read more → IshoramariInvestment certificate
RDB registration, incentives and the USD 500 fee.
Read more → IcyemezoDocuments
What to certify, where, and in which form.
Read more → UruhushyaPermits
Investor and employment permits, fees and validity.
Read more → IshamiBranch office
Trading in Rwanda under your existing company.
Read more → UmukoziAccounting and payroll
The monthly service in detail.
Read more →