Help centre

A virtual office gives your business a real address without renting an office. With Olea, you get a street address at a staffed office or coworking space in Germany that you can use for company registration, a digital mailbox for your post and workspace you can book when you need it.

Yes. Your Olea address is a serviceable address (ladungsfähige Anschrift) that you can use for your Handelsregister entry, your Impressum and correspondence with the Finanzamt. Once your compliance check is approved, you receive the Certificate of Right to Use (Nutzungsüberlassungserklärung) for your notary and the Handelsregister.

Your business address, unlimited mail receipt and a digital mailbox with 5 scans per month and archiving for up to 10 letters. You also receive the Certificate of Right to Use (Nutzungsüberlassungserklärung) for your company registration, and you can book workspace, which is charged per booking.

Signing up and paying takes a few minutes, and the compliance form about 10–15 minutes. We normally review it the same day. If we need further documents, activation follows once we have received them – usually within a few days. Once your account is active, you can use your address and receive mail.

You choose a mail option at checkout. With the digital mailbox, included as standard, letters are scanned and uploaded to your online mailbox, usually within a week of reaching the office. You can have the original of any scanned letter posted to you for €1 plus postage. Alternatively, you can have all originals forwarded by post (from €10/month plus postage, depending on frequency) or collect them in person. The options available vary by location.

Prices depend on the location and start from €69/month. Every location includes the same service; the price reflects the address. Annual plans cost 15% less, and there are no setup fees.

We have locations in nine German cities: Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Potsdam and Stuttgart. Browse our location directory to find offices in your preferred business district.

A valid passport or national ID card (driving licences are not accepted) and some basic information about your business. If your company is already registered, we also need its registration documents. The compliance form guides you through each step.

German anti-money-laundering law (Geldwäschegesetz, GwG) requires us to verify the identity of every customer before we provide a business address. The compliance form takes about 10–15 minutes.

Normally on the day you submit your compliance form. If we need further documents, we tell you exactly what is missing, and activation follows once we have received them – usually within a few days. Once you are approved, you receive a welcome email with your address details, and you can download your Certificate of Right to Use from your account.

We don't activate the service and we refund your payment in full.

The Certificate of Right to Use (Nutzungsüberlassungserklärung) and your purchase confirmation. Together with the Terms you accepted at checkout, they confirm your right to use the address and our authority to receive mail on your behalf. You can download the certificate from your account at any time.

Yes – this is common. On the compliance form, tell us the company is still being formed and give its planned name. Once we approve your check, your address and mailbox are live, and you receive the Certificate of Right to Use (Nutzungsüberlassungserklärung) for your notary and the Handelsregister. When the company is registered, upload your Handelsregisterauszug under “Confirm registration” in your account. We review it and update the name on your mailbox if it has changed.

Yes. Founders living outside Germany and companies registered abroad can both sign up – you don't need a German residence. You'll need a valid passport or national ID card and, for an existing company, its register extract and ownership documents. The compliance form guides you through what we need to verify you and your company.

We process your data in line with the GDPR. Our customer database is hosted in Frankfurt, your documents are encrypted and access to them is restricted. We share only what is needed with the providers and the location partner that deliver your service; our privacy policy lists each of them. You can ask us to delete your data at any time, subject to legal retention periods.

Most German legal forms, including GmbH, UG (haftungsbeschränkt), GmbH & Co. KG, AG, Einzelunternehmen, GbR and freelancers, as well as companies registered abroad. If your legal form is not listed, contact us.

Yes. An Impressum needs a serviceable address (ladungsfähige Anschrift), and your Olea address is one. You can also use it on business cards, email signatures and marketing materials.

The Gewerbeanmeldung records your Betriebsstätte – the address where the business is actually carried on – so give the address that reflects how your business operates. Your Olea address is for your Handelsregister entry, Impressum and correspondence. Freiberufler do not file a Gewerbeanmeldung; they register with the Finanzamt.

Letters from the Finanzamt, Handelsregister and other authorities are handled like any other post, according to your mail option. With the digital mailbox, scans are usually ready within a week of the letter reaching the office.

Not by itself. Your Betriebsstätte (place of business) and Ort der Geschäftsleitung (place of management) are determined by where your business is actually run and managed, not by the address it registers. You can use the address for the Handelsregister, Impressum and correspondence.

Yes. You make the registration yourself – with the Handelsregister when you incorporate and with the Finanzamt for tax correspondence. Olea provides what those filings need: a real street address at a staffed office, the Certificate of Right to Use (Nutzungsüberlassungserklärung) and receipt of official post at that address. In German, an address that qualifies is called a ladungsfähige Anschrift. Banks, payment providers and marketplaces typically ask for the same address during onboarding, and sometimes for your registration documents. They run their own checks on your business.

Yes. A company can have more than one Olea address, for example for a presence in another city or for correspondence. Only one domestic business address is entered in the Handelsregister, so decide which one you file there.

Mail arriving at your location is collected and sent once a week to our scanning facility, where letters are scanned and uploaded to your digital mailbox – usually within a week of arriving at your location. You get a notification when new mail is available, and can view, forward, archive or shred it online.

Your digital mailbox runs on Dropscan, our scanning partner. Once your account is active, Dropscan emails you an invitation. Use it to create your login, then read your scans at app.dropscan.de. If you can't find the invitation, you can request a new one from your Olea account.

5 scans per month and archiving for up to 10 letters. Additional scans cost €0.79 per letter, and additional archiving €0.10 per letter per month.

Yes. With mail forwarding, your original letters are posted to an address of your choice: • Monthly: €10/month • Weekly: €30/month • Daily: €70/month Postage is charged in addition, including for addresses outside Germany.

That depends on your location. Where parcels are accepted, they are held for collection free of charge for up to 30 days and then returned to sender. If you expect larger items, ask us about your location's parcel policy before having them sent.

Usage charges – additional scans, additional archiving and one-off forwarding with postage – are totalled each calendar month and shown as separate lines on your next invoice.

Send a request from your account with the location, date, time and number of people. We check availability and price with the location and send you a quote. The booking is confirmed once you accept the quote and pay. Please request at least one business day in advance.

Meeting rooms from €20/hour, boardrooms from €35/hour, coworking desks from €25/day and private offices from €125/day. Availability and prices vary by location.

Yes. You can book workspace at any participating location in our network, not only at your own address.

Request them from your account. Lobby signage and storage lockers are available at some locations. We confirm availability and the price with the location, and the add-on is then added to your invoice.

You choose one at checkout. With the digital mailbox, your letters are scanned so you can read, download and manage them online. With mail forwarding, the originals are posted to an address of your choice – monthly, weekly or daily – and postage is charged on top of the forwarding fee. If you have the digital mailbox, you can still have a single original posted to you for €1 plus postage. The options available vary by location.

Every location includes the same service; the price reflects the address. Locations in sought-after business districts cost more, and those in quieter areas cost less.

Annual plans cost 15% less than monthly billing and include the same service. They are paid upfront each year; monthly plans are billed on the same date each month.

Prices are shown excluding VAT. Olea is a business-to-business service based in the UK. Customers outside the UK are not charged VAT. Where VAT is due, the customer accounts for it under the reverse charge, so the price you see is the amount you pay. UK customers are charged UK VAT, which is shown before payment.

Credit and debit cards, SEPA Direct Debit and PayPal, processed by Stripe. Workspace bookings can be paid by card or PayPal.

Monthly plans renew on the same date each month. Annual plans are paid upfront for the year and renew on the same date each year. On an annual plan, you'll get a reminder 30 days and 7 days before renewal.

We email you straight away and retry the payment automatically. If it is still unpaid after 7 days, your services may be restricted. You have 90 days from the failed payment to pay and restore your account, and your plan keeps renewing during that time; after that, the account is closed.

Yes. To move to a different address, buy the new one first and get its documentation, then update the Handelsregister, Finanzamt, Impressum and your bank before cancelling the old one. To switch between monthly and annual billing or change your mail option, contact us.

No. Monthly plans run month to month and annual plans for 12 months. You can cancel either at any time without notice; the cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you have paid for.

You can cancel at any time from the Billing page in your account or by email. There is no notice period: your service continues until the end of the period you have paid for. Please remove the address from registers, your website and business materials within 30 days of that date.

If we can't approve your compliance check, we refund your payment in full. Once your address is active, the current billing period is not refunded, and annual plans are not refundable. If we have to close your location and can't offer a comparable one, we refund prepaid fees pro rata.