Form a Belize company
Belize company search 2026

Belize company search: three free facts, then a wall

Updated 13 November 2026Fees from the Registry's own schedule and SI 152 of 2022About 8 minutes to read
The short answer

Search free in the Registry's OBRS business search: you get the name, 9 digit number and status.

Anyone who isn't a director or shareholder can then order only a Short Extract, US$75. It names the registered agent, not the people. Directors, shareholders and owners are filed but kept from the public.

Open the free OBRS search What does the status mean?
A Belize company, seen by a stranger
  • NameFree
  • Entity numberFree
  • StatusFree
  • Agent, address, capital, activityUS$75
  • DirectorsNot for you
  • Shareholders and ownersNot for you
Looking from your country.

Belize rebuilt its company law in 2022 and moved filing online. The public side of the register got smaller, not bigger. The Registry now holds directors, shareholders and beneficial owners, and a regulation keeps strangers away from all three. Here's what you can still learn, and how fast.

Key takeaways

  • Two free tools: the OBRS business search and the older name search.
  • Outsiders may order only the Short Extract, US$75, under regulation 57(3) of SI 152 of 2022.
  • A certificate of good standing is US$15 and needs fees and the annual return up to date.
  • Ordering online needs a Belize Social Security ID; everyone else goes through a licensed agent.
  • Old IBCs that missed the 28 November 2023 re-registration were removed from the register.
Chapter 1

The two free Belize company searches

The Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry links both from its home page. Neither asks you to log in or pay.

Name search
Type part of a name
Start likeContainsExact

Is the name taken?

A list of matching names. Good for spelling variants and finding a company you half remember.

Open the name search

OBRS business search
Name or entity number
NameNumberStatus

Is the company alive?

The registered name, the 9 digit entity number and the current status, from the live register.

Open the OBRS search

The name search carries the Registry's warning that its data may be incomplete. When the two disagree, trust OBRS: it's the register filings now go into.

1
Key takeaway

Name, number and status are free; everything else is ordered.

Chapter 2

What each Belize status means

The status is the single most useful free fact. Pick the one the search showed you.

2
Key takeaway

Struck off isn't the end in Belize: five years later it becomes dissolution.

Chapter 3

The Short Extract: the most a stranger can get

Section 297 of the Companies Act 2022 lets any person inspect the Registrar's records for a fee, "except as otherwise provided". The 2022 regulations provide otherwise: under regulation 57(3), someone who isn't a director or shareholder may only request the Short Extract set out in Schedule VII.

On the Short Extract
  • Entity number and any former number
  • Name, and any foreign character name
  • Entity type and status
  • Registration, strike off or closure dates
  • "Representative": the registered agent
  • Principal address, share capital, activity
Never on it
  • Directors
  • Shareholders
  • Shareholdings
  • Beneficial owners

The extract also prints the name of whoever ordered it, with the date and time. So an order is not anonymous.

3
Key takeaway

The Short Extract tells you who the agent is. The agent is your next call.

Chapter 4

Ordering Belize documents from abroad

Documents are ordered inside OBRS, and a self-service account needs a Belize Social Security ID. In August 2026 the Registry also switched off passport sign-ups after a security incident. From abroad, a licensed registered agent orders for you at these Registry prices, from the official fee schedule:

Certificate of good standingUS$15
Certified copyUS$15
Apostille on a Registry documentUS$25
Certificate of incumbencyUS$50
Custom extractUS$50
Short ExtractUS$75
Special letterUS$100

Belizean self-filers pay the same amounts in Belize dollars at two to one. Agents add their own charge. Good standing is issued only when fees, penalties and the annual return are current.

4
Key takeaway

Good standing costs US$15; the agent's handling is usually the bigger number.

Chapter 5

Old Belize IBCs and the 2023 cut-off

Many contracts and bank files still describe a "Belize IBC". That law is gone, and the change matters when a search turns up nothing.

  1. Companies Act 2022 in force, OBRS goes live

    One register for every company. IBCs and older local companies had a year to re-register.

  2. Re-registration deadline

    Companies that didn't re-register were removed. The Registry publishes a list of companies not re-registered.

  3. Restoration of dissolved companies widened

    A dissolved company can be restored by the Registrar within ten years, on application by a former member, creditor or liquidator.

  4. OBRS security incident

    Passport-based public accounts paused while the Registry tightened access to documents.

5
Key takeaway

An old IBC missing from OBRS may simply never have re-registered.

Chapter 6

Belize LLCs: a separate, thinner file

LLC

Belize limited liability companies run under their own Act, with the Financial Services Commission's Director General as Registrar. There's no online LLC search.

3

Section 97C of the LLC Amendment Act 2023 opens just three facts to the public, on written request and a fee: the LLC's name, its registered agent and address, and its registration date. An LLC good standing certificate is US$25.

6
Key takeaway

A Belize LLC shows even less than a Belize company.

Chapter 7

Before you sign with a Belize company

  • Status reads Active todayRun the OBRS search yourself rather than trusting a screenshot.
  • Good standing dated this monthAsk the company for it. US$15 and quick for its agent.
  • The agent is licensedThe Short Extract names it; confirm it in the Financial Services Commission's licensee search.
  • Who signs for itAsk for a certificate of incumbency, US$50, and a board resolution naming your contact.
7
Key takeaway

Directors come from the company itself, through incumbency, not from a search.

Chapter 8

What a search of your own Belize company shows

What a stranger sees

Your company's name, number and Active status for free. For US$75, a Short Extract naming us as the representative and the registered address. No line carries your name.

What you can see

As a director or shareholder you're entitled to the full extract with every register. We send yours with the company documents.

Your details still sit with the Registry and with us, and banks ask for them. That's the trade the 2022 Act made: complete records, closed to the public.

8
Key takeaway

Your Belize company is public; you aren't.

Chapter 9

Belize company search, quick answers

?
Is the Belize company search free?
Yes for the name, number and status in OBRS and the name search. Extracts and certificates are paid.
Can I see who the directors of a Belize company are?
Not as an outsider. The register of directors is filed, but regulation 57(3) limits strangers to the Short Extract, which leaves directors out.
How much is a Belize certificate of good standing?
US$15, or US$25 for an LLC. It's issued only when fees and the annual return are current; banks often want one when you open a Belize company bank account.
Why can't I open an OBRS account?
Self-service accounts need a Belize Social Security ID, and passport sign-ups were paused in August 2026. Order through a licensed agent instead.
Does a Belize company file accounts the public can read?
No. It files an annual return by 30 June with directors and shareholders, which stays closed. Yearly fees and dates are in our Belize annual fees guide.

Changelog

  • 13 November 2026: first published.
Your own company

Looking at Belize for a company of your own?

US$640 to start and US$740 a year, the government fee inside, your name off every public extract.

See the Belize company Compare places