Guide 23 · valid as of 22 October 2026 · getsahla.com
A UK Ltd, or an Estonian company set up through e-Residency, doesn’t make you a resident of either country, and it doesn’t take you outside Algerian law. If you live in Algeria, owning one to collect client payments is illegal, just like a US LLC. Each also comes with obligations the people selling "packages" rarely spell out.
What the ads leave out
| What you read | What the official sources say |
|---|---|
| “A Ltd in 24 hours, fully remote” | Since 18 November 2025, every new director of a UK company, and anyone with significant control over it, must verify their identity with Companies House, including before the company is registered. Existing directors must do it by their next confirmation statement. |
| “Just an address is enough” | The registered office must be a physical address in the UK, in the nation where the company is registered, where post is actually received. PO boxes are no longer accepted. |
| “e-Residency means you live in Estonia” | “E-Residency does not make you an Estonian tax resident.” It’s a digital identity that gives access to Estonia’s online government services. |
| “No tax with an Estonian company” | Where the company is actually run from can make it tax resident somewhere else. Estonia advises talking to a tax adviser in your own country. |
| “Everything happens online” | You collect the e-resident card in person at a pick-up point (an Estonian embassy or consulate, a mobile pick-up, or a Police and Border Guard office in Estonia), travelling if there’s none in your country. State fee: €150. |
| “No hidden costs” | In practice, an e-resident’s Estonian company needs a legal address and a contact person in Estonia, which Estonia puts at €30 to €150 a month. |
The methods
Setting up a Ltd or Estonian company while living in Algeria
For an Algerian resident, shares in a foreign company and that company’s foreign bank account are assets held abroad, which article 8 of Regulation 07-01Règlement 07-01 du 3 février 2007 relatif aux règles applicables aux transactions courantes avec l'étranger et aux comptes devises (version d'origine), p. 2 bans. Moving capital into it needs approval from the Conseil monétaire et bancaire, the central bank’s policy board, designed for exporting businesses, not freelancers (Law 23-09, art. 144Loi 23-09 du 21 juin 2023 portant loi monétaire et bancaire (copie Banque d'Algérie), p. 36; Regulation 14-04Règlement 14-04 du 29 septembre 2014 fixant les conditions de transfert de capitaux à l'étranger au titre de l'investissement à l'étranger par les opérateurs économiques de droit algérien). Not bringing your earnings home is an exchange-control offence, punished by two to seven years in prison (Ordinance 96-22, art. 1Ordonnance 03-01 modifiant l'ordonnance 96-22 (JO n° 12 de 2003), p. 14 and 1 bis). Guide 21 walks through this reasoning.
And running the company from Algiers or Oran while living in Algeria can raise tax questions in several countries at once.
If you really live abroad
An Algerian whose main centre of economic activity is outside Algeria is a non-resident under Law 23-09Loi 23-09 du 21 juin 2023 portant loi monétaire et bancaire (copie Banque d'Algérie) (art. 143). Algerian exchange rules no longer apply to their foreign company. They do have to follow the rules of the company’s country and of the country they live in. See guide 28 on moving abroad legally.
If you live in Algeria: the auto-entrepreneur route
European and UK clients can pay you in euros or pounds into your foreign currency account in Algeria, with no foreign company (guides 2, 4 and 29).
Key points
- Neither a Ltd nor e-Residency changes where you live: Algerian law applies as long as you live in Algeria.
- UK: identity checks are mandatory, and the registered office must be a physical UK address.
- Estonia: no tax residency, the card is collected in person, and the address and contact person cost money.
Sources
- Companies House, company directors to verify their identity from 18 November 2025 (Companies House article, 13 August 2025), read on 22 October 2026.
- GOV.UK, registered office rules, read on 22 October 2026.
- e-Residency (Republic of Estonia), taxation: e-Residency doesn’t give tax residency, read on 22 October 2026.
- e-Residency, card pick-up locations, read on 22 October 2026.
- e-Residency, state fee (€150) and legal address in Estonia, read on 22 October 2026.
- Bank of Algeria Regulation 07-01 of 3 February 2007: art. 8, assets abroad, p. 2, original text read on 18 October 2026.
- Law 23-09 of 21 June 2023, monetary and banking law: art. 143 (residence) and art. 144 (capital transfers), p. 36, read on 22 October 2026.
- Regulation 14-04 of 29 September 2014: art. 3, prior authorisation, p. 1; art. 6, conditions, p. 2, read on 22 October 2026.
- Ordinance 96-22 as amended: Ordinance 03-01, art. 2 (new article 1, offences), Official Journal no. 12 of 2003, p. 14; Ordinance 10-03, art. 1 bis (penalty), Official Journal no. 50 of 2010, p. 8, read on 22 October 2026.