Uzbekistan: Representative Office Accreditation Rule Changes

The Uzbek authorities have amended the rules regarding representative offices, which are branch offices or similar legally-designated offices that cannot engage in commercial activity. To register a representative office or to apply for or renew an accreditation card, applicants must now submit their applications online on the Center of Public Services online portal, instead of manual submission to the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade. This will reduce processing for these procedures by approximately five business days.  Additionally, the number of foreign employees in a representative office now cannot exceed five foreign individuals (up from three), and the total number of foreign employees cannot constitute more than 40% of the total number of all employees in the representative office. Due to this new rule, the representative office will need to employ more local workers.