Companies that have been incorporated in other jurisdictions may
be permitted to change their jurisdiction of incorporation to the
British Virgin Islands ("BVI"); equally BVI incorporated
companies may look to migrate to other jurisdictions. Under BVI law
this process is known as "continuation" - either
"in" or "out" depending on whether the BVI is
the end point or the starting point.
Why continue into the BVI?
Companies often migrate to the BVI from other offshore
jurisdictions in order to take advantage of significantly lower
annual maintenance fees, the flexibility of the BVI's
legislation (which facilitates a wide range of corporate
transactions) and the BVI's superior global reputation in the
business world. It is not uncommon for multiple companies that have
been incorporated in a variety of other jurisdictions, but which
comprise a single group, to migrate to the BVI together, in order
to simplify the group's audit process or to streamline a
proposed