Overview
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Region | Asia (West, South & Central) |
| ISO 3166-1 | QA / QAT |
| Registry | MoCI (mainland) / QFC Company Registration Office (QFC entities) |
| Last updated | 2026-05-06 |
Identifiers
Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Qatar and submit them as strings on the application body.| API field | Local name | Issuer |
|---|---|---|
businessInfo.taxId | Tax Identification Number (TIN) | General Tax Authority (GTA) |
businessInfo.businessEntityId | Commercial Registration Number (CR No.) | MoCI (mainland) / QFC Company Registration Office (QFC entities) |
Sector regulators
QCB · QFMA · QFCRA · QFIU
Legal structures
| Local name | Abbreviation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| With Limited Liability Company | WLL | Most common mainland entity for SMEs; 2–50 partners; liability limited to capital contribution; managed by appointed manager(s). Equivalent to a US LLC. |
| Single-Person Company | — | One-person limited-liability company under Law No. 11 of 2015; sole owner bears no personal liability beyond capital contribution; registered with MoCI. Equivalent to a US single-member LLC. |
| Private Shareholding Company | PSC | Closed joint-stock company; minimum 5 founders; share capital ≥ QR 2,000,000; shares not publicly listed or freely tradable without shareholder approval. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp. |
| Public Shareholding Company | QSC | Public joint-stock company; share capital divided into equal tradable shares; listed or eligible for listing on Qatar Stock Exchange; governed by a board of 5–11 directors. Equivalent to a US C-Corp. |
| General Partnership | — | Two or more natural persons trading under a collective name; all partners jointly and severally liable for all company obligations with personal assets. Equivalent to a US General Partnership. |
| Simple Limited Partnership | — | Two classes of partners: one or more general partners with unlimited joint liability, and one or more silent/limited partners liable only to the extent of their capital contribution. Equivalent to a US Limited Partnership. |
| Partnership Limited by Shares | — | Hybrid form: one or more active partners with unlimited joint liability, plus one or more non-active partners whose liability is limited to their transferable share capital; minimum capital QR 1,000,000. Equivalent to a US Limited Partnership. |
| Sole Proprietorship | — | Single natural person trading under their own name or a trade name; no separate legal entity; owner bears full personal liability; registered with MoCI. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship. |
| Branch of Foreign Company | — | Extension of a foreign parent; not a separate legal entity; parent bears all liabilities; requires MoCI approval and a local agent. Closest US equivalent: Branch/Rep Office. |
| Representative Office of Foreign Company | — | Foreign company presence for market research and liaison only; may not conduct commercial activities or generate income; not a separate legal entity. Closest US equivalent: Branch/Rep Office. |
| QFC Limited Liability Company | QFC LLC | Common-law entity incorporated under QFC Companies Regulations; no minimum share capital for non-regulated activities; governed by QFC law, not mainland Civil Code. Equivalent to a US LLC. |
| QFC Limited Liability Partnership | QFC LLP | Common-law partnership under QFC Regulations; separate legal entity; all members have limited liability; minimum two members of any nationality. Equivalent to a US LLP. |
| QFC Limited Partnership | QFC LP | Common-law limited partnership under QFC Regulations; at least one general partner with unlimited liability and one limited partner; separate legal entity. Equivalent to a US Limited Partnership. |
| QFC Foundation | — | QFC-specific legal entity used for asset protection, estate planning, and succession; has legal personality and may hold assets and enter contracts; not a trading vehicle. Closest US equivalent: Statutory/Business Trust. |
How documents combine
For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.| Evidence area | Documents needed |
|---|---|
| Legal Registration | Commercial Registration Certificate (CRC) — MoCI |
| Constitutive Documents | Memorandum & Articles of Association |
| Tax Registration | Any one of: Tax Registration Certificate · Tax Identification Number Certificate — GTA |
| Operating Permit | Municipal Trade License |
| Ownership Records | MoA shareholder schedule |
| Governance Records | Manager/Director List (CR Extract or MoA) |
| Signing Authority | Board Resolution |
| Address | Any one of: Attested Tenancy Contract · Kahramaa Bill · كشف حساب بنكي |
Documents to collect
The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed.| Document | Proves |
|---|---|
| Commercial Registration Certificate (CRC) — MoCI | Legal Registration |
| Memorandum & Articles of Association (MoA/AoA) | Constitutive Documents |
| Tax Registration Certificate | Tax Registration |
| Tax Identification Number Certificate — GTA | Tax Registration |
| Municipal Trade License (Baladiya) | Operating Permit |
| MoA shareholder schedule | Ownership Records |
| Manager/Director List (CR Extract or MoA) | Governance Records |
| Board Resolution | Signing Authority |
| Attested Tenancy Contract | Address |
| Kahramaa Bill (خلال 90 يومًا) | Address |
| كشف حساب بنكي (خلال 90 يومًا) | Address |
| Sector-Specific License | QCB licence, QFMA licence, QFCRA Authorisation |
Collection notes
- Legal Registration: Contains CR number, legal form, activities, registered date. QFC entities: QFC Certificate of Incorporation from CRO.
- Constitutive Documents: Must be notarised and authenticated by Ministry of Justice; filed at MoCI on incorporation. QFC: Constitution / Incorporation Document filed with CRO.
- Tax Registration: Issued via Dhareeba portal (dhareeba.gov.qa). No VAT certificate exists as VAT is not yet in force.
- Operating Permit: Issued by Ministry of Municipality; premises-specific; renewed annually with attested lease.
- Sector-Specific License: Required only for regulated-sector entities. QFCRA Authorisation Certificate is the QFC-sector equivalent.
- Ownership Records: WLL: partner details in notarised MoA. QSC: shareholder register in governance filings. QFC: shareholder register on QFC CRO public register.
- Governance Records: WLL: manager(s) named in MoA. QSC: board members listed in CR and governance filings. QFC LLC: Director and Secretary on CRO register.
- Signing Authority: Foreign-signed POAs require notarisation, legalisation (embassy chain — Qatar is not a Hague Apostille party), and Arabic translation.
- Address: Conduit universal policy: lease (no time bound) OR utility bill OR bank statement, with utility/bank dated within 90 days. Same evidence satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.
Person roles
When you submit a person on the application body, set theirrole to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.
| Local role | Canonical API role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Manager (Mudir — WLL) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Appointed in MoA; has full management authority unless restricted; binds company in day-to-day operations. |
| General Manager (QSC) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Executive officer appointed by board; day-to-day authority. |
| Board Member / Director (QSC) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Elected board member of public/closed shareholding company; governance role. |
| Chairman of the Board (QSC) | CONTROLLING_PERSON | Presides over board; may delegate to senior management under Law No. 8 of 2021. |
| POA Holder / Authorised Signatory | LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE | Named in notarised POA or board resolution; authorised to bind the company. |
Additional fields
Country-specific fields you’ll need to collect during onboarding, beyond the document uploads.| Field | Applies to | Reason |
|---|---|---|
Qatari / Non-Qatari ownership split | founder | Certain activities remain restricted under Law No. 1 of 2019 on Foreign Investment and its amendment; MOCI verifies Qatari partner percentage at CR issuance. |
Notes
- Mainland vs. QFC bifurcation is hard: A QFC-registered entity has no MoCI CR number — it has a QFC CRO number and is governed by common law. Collect jurisdiction indicator at onboarding; do not apply mainland document checklist to QFC entities.
- Qatar is not a Hague Apostille party. Documents executed abroad for use in Qatar (and vice versa) require full embassy legalisation chain — no apostille shortcut. Verify at HCCH Status Table before accepting apostilled documents.
- No VAT in Qatar as of 2026-05-06. Despite the 2015 GCC VAT Framework, Qatar has not enacted VAT legislation. Do not request a VAT registration certificate — it does not exist.
- 100% foreign ownership is now permissible on the mainland for most sectors under Law No. 1 of 2019; however restricted sectors still require ≥51% Qatari partner. Collect ownership split evidence for all mainland WLLs regardless.