تحلیل تفصیلی زیر به زبان انگلیسی منتشر شده است.
Registering an Iranian entity is a documentary process, not a discretionary one. With a complete file, name reservation to registration gazette takes three to six weeks.
The structural choice — Private Joint Stock Company, limited liability company, branch or representative office — determines governance, capital rules and the ease of later bringing in a partner or exiting.
Choosing the vehicle
The PJSC is the default for investment projects: it supports share transfers, board governance and future capital raises. The LLC is simpler and cheaper but transfers of participation require partner consent, which complicates exits.
A branch has no separate legal personality and is used where the parent contracts directly, typically for engineering and service contracts. A representative office cannot trade and exists only for marketing and liaison.
The registration sequence
Name reservation, drafting of the articles of association, notarised and legalised shareholder documents, capital deposit into a blocked bank account, submission to the Companies Registration Office, then publication in the Official Gazette.
Registration is followed by the operational layer most investors underestimate: tax file and taxpayer number, VAT registration, social security employer file, corporate bank account and, where goods move, a trade card and customs code.
Documents from the foreign shareholder
Corporate shareholders provide certificate of incorporation, articles, a board resolution authorising the investment, a register of directors and beneficial owners, and a power of attorney for the local agent — each notarised, legalised and translated by a sworn translator.
Individual shareholders provide passport copies, proof of address and source-of-funds evidence. Document legalisation is the longest lead item and should start before name reservation.