Women-Owned Business Confirmation Certificate

Procedure

Procedure

1. 01

   Check the confirmation criteria for your business type: For a company, compare the officers with authority to represent the company in the corporate register against the shareholdings in the shareholder register and calculate whether the female company representative is the largest investor. Count only shares held in her own name, and for a stock company exclude non-voting shares under Article 344-3 of the Commercial Act.

2. 02

   Organize evidence of actual management: A business whose representative is a woman in name only will not be confirmed, so gather approval documents and transaction records showing that the female representative personally signed contracts, executed funds and made personnel decisions. For a company with joint representatives, also check that the division of roles is the same in the register, the articles of incorporation and actual operations.

3. 03

   Join the procurement network and register company information: Sign up as a business member of the SME Products Public Procurement Information Network (SMPP) and register the business registration number, main business type, Korean Standard Industrial Classification code and main products so that they match what will be entered on the application. Applications for women-owned business confirmation are accepted only through this network.

4. 04

   Prepare and submit the application with attachments: Attach to the Annexed Form No. 1 application the shareholder register, member register and articles of incorporation for a company, the partnership agreement for a sole proprietor operating as joint business owners, or the member register, investor register and officer register for a cooperative. The corporate registration certificate and business registration certificate need not be submitted if you consent to administrative information sharing, and there is no fee.

5. 05

   Respond to the document review and on-site inspection: The Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association conducts a document review and an on-site inspection and may request additional materials. The on-site inspection checks whether the female representative actually makes decisions and runs the business at the workplace, so prepare the representative to explain the clients, sales and staffing herself.

6. 06

   Issuance of the certificate and follow-up management: Once the Regional SMEs and Startups Administration confirms the business, a women-owned business confirmation certificate (Annexed Form No. 2) valid for 3 years is issued. Apply to change the entries if the address or branch status changes; because the confirmation may be cancelled after a hearing if changes in shareholding or representatives mean the business no longer meets the criteria, apply again for confirmation through the same procedure before it expires.

Filing route

Filing route

Deadlines & processing notes

Deadlines & processing notes

Basic documents

Basic documents

If a business is found not to be women-owned, it cannot reapply for 3 months from the date it receives the notice, so align the shareholding structure and the evidence of actual management before applying.