Company Types in Kurdistan: 2026 LLC, Branch and JSC

The Kurdistan Region applies Iraqi Companies Law No. 21 of 1997, as amended by CPA Order No. 64 of 2004. The forms are therefore the Iraqi ones. What differs is which of them works in the Region, and under what conditions.

Most guidance describes the four forms and stops. The choice is rarely made on the description. It is made on three questions that are specific to the Region.

The four forms at a glance

Joint liability companies and sole proprietorships also exist under the same law and are rarely used by foreign investors.

The three questions that actually decide

Shareholder counts and capital thresholds are the last thing to look at, not the first. These come first.

1. 1
   Do you need to trade in federal Iraq as well?If yes, a Kurdish entity is not enough on its own. You need a federal entry too
2. 2
   Will the entity hold real property in the Region?If yes, an LLC. A branch is reported not to be able to hold real property
3. 3
   Is your foreign parent company over one year old?If no, both the branch route and a corporate shareholding in an LLC are reported to be closed
4. 4
   Is the activity banking, financial investment or insurance?If yes, an LLC is reported to be excluded. Take specialist advice
5. 5
   Otherwise: LLCThe default for a foreign investor who wants full ownership of a Kurdish entity

Question one: a Kurdish entity is reported not to trade in federal Iraq

This is the constraint that catches people, and it is the reason the Kurdistan question is a market question rather than a convenience question.

A company registered in the Region operates in the Region. Regional business sources state plainly that neither an LLC nor a branch registered in the Region can operate in federal Iraq.

The same boundary appears in the investment regime, where it is better documented. A licence issued by the Kurdistan Board of Investment is valid in the three governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok and does not automatically extend to federal Iraqi territory. A federal licence does not confer regional benefits.

What this means in practice. If your customers are in Basra and Baghdad as well as Erbil, you are looking at two entries and two regimes, not one. The federal side is set out in Iraq company types.

Question two: only an LLC is reported to hold real property

A branch has no separate legal personality. Its parent bears full liability for it, and regional sources report that it cannot hold real property in the Region while an LLC can.

That matters more in the Kurdistan Region than elsewhere, because foreign land ownership is permitted here under Investment Law No. 4 of 2006 and is not permitted on the same terms in federal Iraq. Choosing a branch gives up an advantage the Region specifically offers.

Question three: your parent company needs a year behind it

Two reported requirements sit on the same rule, and both are easy to trip over when a group creates a fresh holding company for the entry:

• A foreign parent registering a branch must have been incorporated for more than one year.
• A foreign company taking shares in a Kurdish LLC must also have been incorporated for more than one year.

If the intended shareholder is a new vehicle, the entry needs restructuring before it starts, not after the file is rejected.

The LLC in the Kurdistan Region

The default choice, and the one that carries the ownership advantage the Region is known for.

The disagreement on the minimum number of shareholders

Sources do not agree, and the difference decides whether a single founder can proceed alone.

The amendment of 2004 is the more recent instrument and the IBBC reading follows it. The wider practice still repeats the older figure. If you intend to hold the company alone, confirm this point with the Erbil registrar or a Kurdish lawyer before drafting, because a rejected file costs weeks.

What an LLC is reported not to be able to do

• Banking, which sits under Central Bank of Iraq licensing.
• Financial investment activities.
• Insurance.
• Trading in federal Iraq, per question one above.

What an LLC must do every year

Two general assembly meetings per year, plus the audit and filing obligations covered in Kurdistan company compliance.

The branch, which is easier here than anywhere else in Iraq

This is the sharpest single difference between the Region and federal Iraq, and it is worth stating precisely.

In federal Iraq the branch is a route reserved for companies that have already won work. In the Region the Companies Registrar in Erbil does not impose that condition, which makes the branch a genuine entry option rather than a consequence of a contract.

Of the three figures below, the capital gap between an ordinary LLC and an oil services LLC is the one most often missed, and it is a factor of two thousand.

IQD 1,000,000LLC minimum capital, fully paid before registration, roughly USD 850

IQD 2 billionminimum capital for an LLC in oil services

25maximum shareholders in an LLC, individuals or entities

The representative office

Permitted, and narrower than most people expect.

• Liaison, market research and promotion only.
• No revenue-generating activity of any kind in the Region.
• No invoicing, which means no contract can be performed through it.
• Useful for a genuine pre-entry phase, and a dead end if you intend to trade within the year.

If the plan is to test the market for six months and then sell, register the LLC now. Converting a representative office is not a conversion, it is a second registration.

Branch, Kurdistan Regionweeks, midpoint of the published range2.5

LLC, Kurdistan Regionweeks, midpoint of the published range3.5

Branch, federal Iraqweeks, midpoint of the published range6

LLC, federal Iraqweeks, midpoint of the published range18

The appointments the form does not tell you about

Whatever form you choose, the file requires people, and two of them cannot be yours.

The accountant and the lawyer are not optional and they are not one-off. They are a recurring cost from the day of registration, and they belong in the budget rather than in a footnote. Priced in Kurdistan company registration cost.

Which form, by situation

• You want full ownership and a normal trading company. LLC.
• You have an established foreign company and no need for local property. Branch, and note it registers faster.
• You will buy or build premises in the Region. LLC, because the branch route is reported to close that door.
• Your parent company was incorporated this year. Neither branch nor corporate shareholding. Restructure first.
• You need to serve Baghdad and Basra too. A Kurdish entity plus a federal entry, treated as two projects.
• You are only scouting. Representative office, with a firm date to convert.
• You are not yet sure the Region fits at all. That is a prior question, answered in why invest in the Kurdistan Region.

The bottom line

For most foreign founders the answer is an LLC, and the interesting decisions are the ones underneath the form: whether your parent company is old enough to hold the shares, whether you will need property, and whether your market is the Region or the country.

The branch deserves a second look here specifically, because the Region drops the government contract condition that makes it impractical in federal Iraq. And the representative office deserves less attention than it usually gets, because it cannot earn.

Confirm the shareholder minimum and the nationality requirements locally before the file is drafted. Both are stated two ways in published guidance, and both are cheap to check and expensive to get wrong.