Kurdistan · Guide
Every guide available on registering in the Kurdistan Region describes the process. None of them publishes a figure.
The Kurdistan Regional Government does. Its own procedure portal lists nineteen separate fee lines for a local company and eight for a foreign one, with the legal basis for each.
This page uses that schedule, separates the money you get back from the money you spend, and adds the recurring costs that arrive after registration.
The headline: two very different numbers
| Local company | Foreign company | |
|---|---|---|
| KRG published total | IQD 4,425,000 | IQD 323,000 |
| Roughly | USD 3,400 | USD 250 |
| Of which minimum capital | IQD 1,000,000 | Not stated separately |
| Of which chamber of commerce | IQD 465,000 | None |
| Ratio | 13.7 times the foreign company figure |
The gap looks alarming and mostly is not. A foreign-owned company incorporated in the Region registers as a local company, so the left column is what most readers of this page will pay. The right column covers registering an existing foreign entity, which in practice means a branch.
Where the local company total actually goes
Line by line, as the KRG publishes it
| Item | IQD | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum capital, LLC | 1,000,000 | Your money. Stays with the company |
| Erbil chamber of commerce | 200,000 | Mandatory membership |
| Federation chamber of commerce | 150,000 | Mandatory membership |
| Affiliation fee | 100,000 | Chamber affiliation |
| Registration fee | 50,000 | The registry itself |
| Certificate issuing | 50,000 | Company certificate |
| Document auditing | 50,000 | Registry document check |
| Document approval | 50,000 | Registry approval |
| Premises verification | 50,000 | Physical inspection, 25,000 inside the city |
| Auditing fee | 50,000 | |
| Publication fee | 25,000 | Official gazette |
| Bank commission | 25,000 | On the capital deposit |
| CEO assignment | 25,000 | Registering the managing director |
| Chamber ID card | 15,000 | |
| Trade name insurance | 10,000 | |
| Capital registration | 0.45% | IQD 4,500 per million, per Decision No. 119 of 2017 |
| Inspection fee | 25,000 | Per the same decision |
| Copying | 250 per page |
Two lines deserve a second look. Chamber of commerce membership at IQD 465,000 across three lines is the second largest item on the bill and appears in no published guidance. And the capital charge scales, so a company capitalised at IQD 50,000,000 pays IQD 225,000 rather than IQD 4,500.
The line that fell by ninety percent, and most guides missed
Business name registration used to be the expensive step.
- Before 11 January 2023: IQD 500,000 to over one million, at the central directorate.
- Since 11 January 2023: IQD 50,000, electronic, issued within one day.
- Processing was delegated to the Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok directorates.
- Naming restrictions were removed, so rejections on grounds of style no longer occur.
If a quotation you receive still carries a six-figure name reservation line, it was built before the reform.
The costs the fee schedule does not contain
This is where a Kurdish budget goes wrong, because none of these appear on the government list and all of them are compulsory or near-compulsory.
| Cost | Nature | Indicative |
|---|---|---|
| Lawyer, registered with the Bar Association | Mandatory, recurring | Market rate, quoted per year |
| Accountant, registered with the Accountant Syndicate | Mandatory, recurring | Market rate, quoted per year |
| Office lease | Mandatory before premises verification | Market rate, Erbil is not cheap |
| Document translation into Arabic | Mandatory for foreign documents | Per page |
| Iraqi Commercial Attaché legalisation | Per document, foreign files | USD 100 per document |
| Formation agent or law firm | Optional | The largest discretionary line |
The first two are the ones that catch people. A lawyer and an accountant are not a formation expense you pay once. They are appointed at registration, filed with the application, and both are reported to require Iraqi nationality, which means they are an annual local cost for the life of the company.
The legalisation choice that changes the bill
Foreign documents need a chain of certification, and there are two chains with different prices and different consequences.
| Route | What it costs | What it buys |
|---|---|---|
| Full Iraqi chain: notary, foreign ministry, Iraqi embassy, then MOFA in Baghdad | USD 100 per document at the attaché stage, plus each earlier step | Validity throughout Iraq |
| KRG Representation abroad | Shorter chain, fewer stages | Validity in the Kurdistan Region only |
- 1Will you ever trade or contract in federal Iraq?Not a question about today. A question about the next three years
- 2If yes: the full Iraqi chainNotary, foreign ministry, Iraqi embassy, MOFA in Baghdad. USD 100 per document at the attaché stage alone
- 3If no: the KRG Representation abroadFewer stages, lower cost, faster. Documents valid in the Kurdistan Region only
- 4If unsure: pay for the full chainRedoing legalisation later costs more than doing it once properly
The shorter route is cheaper and faster. It also produces documents that are not valid in federal Iraq, which is fine if the Region is your whole market and a problem if it is not.
That trade runs through the entire Kurdistan decision, and it appears again on ownership and on trading scope in Kurdistan company types.
The cost nobody budgets: multiple governorates
The Region has three governorates. Registration happens at the General Directorate of Company Registration branch for the governorate where you operate.
If the company operates in more than one governorate, it must register in each of them. A business planning Erbil and Sulaymaniyah is looking at two registrations, not one, and the fee schedule applies each time.
The middle figure below is the one most quotations get wrong, because it was cut by more than ninety percent in January 2023 and older templates still carry the old line.
How this compares with what firms charge
The only public figures for an Iraqi entry come from international incorporation firms, and they describe something different from a government fee schedule.
| Figure | What it covers | |
|---|---|---|
| KRG published schedule, local company | IQD 4,425,000, roughly USD 3,400 | Government charges plus your capital |
| Healy Consultants, year one | USD 16,500 | Federal Iraq, and a firm's full engagement fee |
| Healy Consultants, year two onward | USD 8,000 | Annual, federal Iraq |
Those two rows are not comparable and should not be presented as though they were. The first is what the state charges. The second is what a global firm charges to do everything, in a different jurisdiction with a mandatory security clearance the Region does not impose.
The useful reading is the shape rather than the number: professional fees dominate the total, government fees do not, and the recurring annual cost is a large fraction of the setup cost.
A realistic budget, in the order you will spend it
- Before anything: legalisation and translation of foreign documents, if you have a foreign parent. Choose the chain first.
- Week one: name reservation at IQD 50,000, one day.
- Week one or two: the lease, because premises verification cannot happen without it.
- Week two: capital deposit of at least IQD 1,000,000, plus IQD 25,000 bank commission and 0.45% capital registration.
- Week two: lawyer and accountant appointments, on filed employment contracts.
- Weeks two to four: registry fees, roughly IQD 250,000 across registration, certificate, auditing and approval.
- Weeks two to four: chamber of commerce at IQD 465,000.
- After registration: tax registration, social security registration at 12% employer and 5% employee.
What makes it more expensive
- A foreign corporate shareholder, because of the legalisation chain and the requirement that the parent be over one year old.
- A foreign managing director, which needs additional clearances.
- Operating in more than one governorate, which multiplies the registration.
- Oil services, where the minimum capital is IQD 2,000,000,000 rather than IQD 1,000,000.
- A Board of Investment licence, which is a separate process at three to six months.
The bottom line
Registering in the Kurdistan Region is cheap by government charge and ordinary by professional fee. The published schedule comes to roughly USD 3,400 for a local company, and about a quarter of that is capital you keep.
The number that matters more than the setup cost is the annual one. A mandatory lawyer and a mandatory accountant, both local, are a permanent line item, and they are the reason a Kurdish entity costs more to hold than to create.
Budget the legalisation chain before you budget anything else, and decide early whether you need documents valid across Iraq or only in the Region. That single choice moves both the cost and the reach of everything that follows.
If the annual figure changes your mind about the entry itself, the case for and against the Region is in why invest in the Kurdistan Region.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to register a company in the Kurdistan Region?
The KRG's own portal publishes IQD 4,425,000 in total for a local company, roughly USD 3,400, of which IQD 1,000,000 is minimum capital that remains your money. A foreign company registration is published at IQD 323,000.
What is the minimum capital for a Kurdistan company?
IQD 1,000,000 for an LLC, roughly USD 850, fully paid before registration completes and evidenced by a bank certificate. An LLC in oil services requires IQD 2,000,000,000.
Are there ongoing costs after registration?
Yes, and they are the larger figure over time. A lawyer registered with the Bar Association and an accountant registered with the Accountant Syndicate are both mandatory appointments, both reported to require Iraqi nationality, and both are annual.
How much is company name registration?
IQD 50,000 since 11 January 2023, issued within one day. Before that reform it ranged from IQD 500,000 to over a million. Quotations still showing a six-figure name line predate the change.
How much does document legalisation cost?
The Iraqi Commercial Attaché charges USD 100 per document, on top of the earlier stages in the chain. Legalising through the KRG Representation abroad is shorter and cheaper, but the documents are then valid only in the Kurdistan Region.
Why is the foreign company figure so much lower than the local company one?
Because the local figure includes IQD 1,000,000 of capital and IQD 465,000 of chamber of commerce membership, and the foreign company procedure includes neither. A foreign-owned company incorporated in the Region pays the local figure.
Is chamber of commerce membership compulsory?
The KRG schedule lists Erbil chamber membership at IQD 200,000, federation membership at IQD 150,000 and an affiliation fee at IQD 100,000 within the local company procedure, making it the second largest line on the bill.
Do I pay twice if I operate in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah?
Yes. Registration is handled by the directorate for the governorate of operation, and a company operating across more than one governorate must register in each.
Is Kurdistan cheaper than federal Iraq?
On government charges and on time, yes. Federal Iraq adds a mandatory Ministry of Interior clearance for foreign shareholders, which is what turns a three week file into a six to twelve week one. Compared in Iraq company registration cost.
How does the capital fee work?
IQD 4,500 per million dinars of capital, or 0.45%, under Decision No. 119 of 20 November 2017, plus a IQD 25,000 inspection fee. A company capitalised well above the minimum should model this line rather than assume IQD 4,500.
Sources
- KRG eRegulations portal: the published fee schedules for local company, foreign company and representative registration
- KRG Decision No. 119 of 20 November 2017: capital fee of IQD 4,500 per million and the inspection fee
- Erbil Governorate: business name fee reduced to IQD 50,000 from 11 January 2023
- Notary.co.uk: legalisation through the KRG Representation is valid in the Kurdistan Region only
Government fee lines come from the KRG eRegulations portal, the Kurdistan Regional Government's own published procedure database, read in September 2026, and from Decision No. 119 of 20 November 2017 for the capital and inspection charges. Dinar to dollar conversions use roughly IQD 1,300 to the dollar and move with the rate. Professional fees for lawyers, accountants, translation and legalisation are market prices rather than published tariffs and vary by firm and by document count; the ranges below are indicative and should be quoted before you commit. The Healy Consultants figures cited for comparison describe federal Iraq and an international firm's own engagement fee, not the cost of a Kurdish registration. The portal total for a local company includes the IQD 1,000,000 minimum capital, which remains the company's money. This is not legal or tax advice.