An international remote work file evidences two separate things: your relationship with the company and the existence of the company. Confusing the two causes a good share of all correction notices, because people submit an employer letter believing it covers both, when it only covers the first.
This guide deals with the second: the evidence that comes from the register, not from the company.
Why registry evidence is required at all
The difference is who is speaking. A company letter, however well drafted, is the company talking about itself. A certificate from the country's companies register is an official third party stating what is recorded about that company.
When a procedure wants to know whether the company genuinely exists, since when, and under exactly what name, it is asking for the second. When it wants to know what role you hold and since when, it asks for the first. Both documents are usually required precisely because they do not overlap.
| Document | What it proves | What it does NOT prove | Who issues it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employer letter | Your role, your length of service, the remote work authorisation | That the company exists and is active | The company |
| Certificate of incorporation | That the company was formed: name, number, date | That it is still active today | The register |
| Up-to-date registry extract | The current situation: registered office, directors, current name | Your employment relationship | The register |
| Good standing certificate | That the company is on the register and meets its filing obligations | Your employment relationship | The register |
The second column of the third row is where the surprises happen: a certificate of incorporation does not prove the company is still alive. It evidences a birth. A company dissolved three years ago has exactly the same certificate of incorporation as a thriving one.
The British example
If the company is incorporated in the UK, the register is Companies House, and it pays to request the document knowing what you want:
- For company age and identity: the certificate of incorporation, which carries the name, the company number and the date of incorporation.
- For the current situation: a document reflecting the register's current data, with the present directors and registered office.
- If the recipient expressly asks for a good standing certificate: request it as such and check what the one you receive actually covers.
Two checks before translating, both on the paper already in your hand:
The date. An extract from eighteen months ago does not evidence the current situation, however genuine the document. If the procedure wants the present state, the document has to be recent.
The name. That the register's name matches your contract and your letter. A company that changed its name appears on the register under the current one, and if your contract carries the previous one, that needs explaining.
For other jurisdictions the equivalent document has another name and other content. In France, for instance, the usual document is a different one with its own fields: registry extract for a French company. Do not assume one country's certificate has an exact twin elsewhere: look at what that register actually issues.
Connect the certificate to your employment relationship
The two documents are read together, so they have to fit:
- The registered name on the certificate should appear in your contract and your letter. If it does not, because of a name change or because a subsidiary hired you, explain it in writing and supply the document that links the two.
- The address on the register and on the contract may legitimately differ — companies move — but it is better for the company to say so than to leave it exposed.
- The incorporation date is not your start date. If the route asks for company age, the detail is on the certificate; if it asks for your length of service, it is in the letter.
Which documents accompany this one in the file, depending on whether you are employed or self-employed, in employed or freelance.
Translation and formalities
A registry certificate is normally a public document, and that has two consequences.
First: it may require legalisation or an apostille, depending on the country of origin and on what the recipient demands. As always, the order saves money — legalisation first, translation second, because an apostille is text too.
Second: the translation has to respect registry terminology. A certificate of incorporation is not a good standing certificate, and translating both with the same term would have the recipient reading something other than what the document says. In the translation of company certificates those designations stay identifiable.
And before ordering anything, confirm with the authority which document it wants and of what date. The rest of the file, in translations for international remote workers.
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