How to Register a Company in Nepal via CAMIS (2026 Update)

Nepal Legal Service | Corporate & Business Law Practice Reviewed by our corporate law team, Nepal Legal Service, Babarmahal, Kathmandu

Company registration in Nepal is now fully digital through CAMIS (Company Administration Management Information System), the online portal run by the Office of Company Registrar (OCR) at camis.ocr.gov.np, under the Companies Act, 2063 (2006).

The process at a glance:

Create a CAMIS account and reserve your company name
Prepare your Memorandum of Association (MOA) and Articles of Association (AOA)
Obtain a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) for directors
Submit your full application with supporting documents on CAMIS
Pay the registration fee and wait for OCR review
Receive your digital company registration certificate
Register for PAN/VAT, complete ward registration, and open a corporate bank account

Typical timeline: A clean, well-prepared private limited company file often clears in 7–14 days; officially, OCR allows up to about 21 days. Incomplete or poorly drafted files — a vague MOA, a name too similar to an existing company, missing director documents — commonly stall for several additional weeks.

Minimum paid-up capital: Commonly cited at around NPR 100,000 (1 lakh) for a standard private limited company, though this can vary depending on your business type and sector — confirm the current requirement for your specific case before filing.

What Is CAMIS?

CAMIS is the government’s centralized digital platform for registering and managing companies in Nepal. Before CAMIS, registration involved multiple in-person visits to the OCR office; the platform has moved name reservation, document submission, fee payment, and certificate issuance online. It’s a genuine improvement over the old paper process, but it hasn’t eliminated the need for careful preparation — the portal will reject or flag a file just as readily as an OCR officer would have in person, and a wrong entry can cost you real time.

Step 1: Name Reservation

Your first move on CAMIS is reserving your company name.

What’s required:

Create an account on the CAMIS portal with your email and mobile number, and verify it
Submit your proposed company name in both English and Nepali
Submit up to three name options — if your first choice is rejected, having backups avoids restarting the process
Select your business’s primary objectives from OCR’s predefined activity list

Common reasons names get rejected:

Too similar to an already-registered company name
Use of restricted words like “Nepal” or “National” without separate government approval
Names that imply a government affiliation or connection you don’t have

Name approval typically takes 1–3 working days. Once approved, the reservation is valid for a limited window before it expires and you’d need to reapply — this window has been reported anywhere from about 35 days up to longer periods depending on the current OCR notice in effect, so confirm the exact validity period with OCR or your lawyer at the time of filing rather than relying on an old figure.

Step 2: Draft Your MOA and Articles of Association

These two documents are the legal foundation of your company, and OCR reviews them closely.

Memorandum of Association (MOA) — your company’s constitutional document. It declares:

Company name (English and Nepali)
Registered office address
Business objectives (what the company is actually permitted to do)
Authorized capital
Subscriber (shareholder) details

Articles of Association (AOA) — the internal governance rulebook. It covers:

Share transfer procedures
Director appointment and removal
Meeting requirements and voting rights
Dividend policy

A common pitfall: vague or overly broad business objectives in the MOA frequently trigger OCR queries and delays. Specify precisely what your company will actually do, rather than writing broad catch-all language — precision here speeds up review, not slows it down.

Both documents must be drafted in compliance with the Companies Act, 2063 and are typically prepared using OCR’s standard templates available through CAMIS, then printed on the correct stamp paper and signed by the required witnesses before uploading.

Step 3: Get a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)

Since the process is now fully digital, all proposed directors need a Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate to sign and submit documents electronically — this is a requirement under the Electronic Transactions Act.

How to get one:

Apply through a licensed certifying authority — Nepal Certifying Company (NCC) is the primary one
Submit your citizenship document and photo, and complete identity verification
Pay the DSC fee (commonly in the range of NPR 1,500–3,000)
Receive your DSC on a USB token, typically within 1–3 days

Practical tip: Get your directors’ DSCs sorted before you finalize your name reservation, not after — this is one of the most common causes of last-minute delay, since people often leave it until they’re ready to submit the full application.

Step 4: Submit Your Full Application on CAMIS

With your name reserved, MOA/AOA drafted, and DSCs in hand, you complete the full registration application:

What you’ll typically upload:

The application form (company name, business objects, authorized capital, registered office, and shareholder/director details)
Two signed sets of the Memorandum and Articles of Association
Citizenship certificates (or passports, for foreign shareholders/directors)
Passport-size photographs of shareholders and directors
Director consent letters
A lease agreement or proof of your registered office address

Where foreign shareholders are involved: the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act, 2075 (2019) adds an additional layer. Foreign investment generally requires prior approval from the Department of Industry (DOI) — covering sector eligibility, minimum investment thresholds, and source-of-funds documentation — before CAMIS will accept a foreign-shareholder registration. Skipping this step is one of the more common reasons foreign-founder applications get stuck.

Step 5: Pay Fees and Wait for Review

Once your documents are submitted, OCR officers review the file. If everything is in order, you’ll receive a payment notice; registration fees vary based on your authorized capital and company type. If OCR flags an issue — a document inconsistency, an unclear MOA objective, a mismatch between forms — you’ll receive a query that needs to be resolved before the file can move forward.

Step 6: Receive Your Registration Certificate

Once approved, your company registration certificate is issued digitally through CAMIS, complete with a QR code for instant verification — you can download it directly from the portal.

Step 7: What Comes After Registration (Don’t Stop Here)

Registration alone doesn’t let you legally operate — several follow-up steps are effectively mandatory:

PAN registration at the Inland Revenue Department — required for any business transaction
VAT registration, if applicable to your business activity
Ward Office registration at your local government office, along with payment of the applicable business tax
Corporate bank account — opened using your registration certificate and PAN
Auditor appointment — required promptly after registration, with notification to OCR
Trademark registration at the Department of Industry, if you want to protect your brand name or logo (recommended, not automatic — registering a company name doesn’t itself protect it as a trademark)
Annual compliance — audited financial statements and annual returns must be filed with OCR each fiscal year (by the Poush-end deadline), and missing this leads to significant fines over time

Many founders treat registration as the finish line and are caught off guard by these follow-up obligations — budgeting time and cost for them upfront avoids scrambling later.

Documents Checklist

Approved company name reservation (English + Nepali)
Two signed sets of Memorandum of Association
Two signed sets of Articles of Association
Citizenship certificates (or passports for foreign shareholders/directors)
Passport-size photographs of all shareholders and directors
Director consent letters
Lease agreement or proof of registered office address
Class 3 Digital Signature Certificates for all directors
Department of Industry approval (only if any shareholder is foreign)

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is CAMIS? CAMIS (Company Administration Management Information System) is the Office of Company Registrar’s online portal for registering and managing companies in Nepal, replacing the older in-person paper process.

2. How long does company registration take in Nepal via CAMIS? A clean, well-prepared file for a private limited company often clears in 7–14 days. OCR officially allows up to about 21 days, and incomplete or poorly drafted files can take considerably longer.

3. What’s the minimum capital needed to register a company in Nepal? Commonly cited at around NPR 100,000 (1 lakh) for a standard private limited company, though this can vary — confirm the current requirement for your business type before filing.

4. Do I need a Digital Signature Certificate to register on CAMIS? Yes — all proposed directors need a Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate to sign and submit documents through the portal.

5. How many company name options should I submit? Up to three is standard practice — having backups avoids restarting the process if your first choice is rejected for being too similar to an existing name.

6. Can foreigners register a company in Nepal through CAMIS? Yes, but foreign shareholders generally require prior approval from the Department of Industry under the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act before CAMIS will process the registration.

7. What happens after I get my company registration certificate? You still need PAN (and VAT, if applicable) registration, Ward Office registration and business tax payment, a corporate bank account, and an auditor appointment — registration alone doesn’t complete your legal setup.

8. Why do company name applications commonly get rejected? Most rejections come from names that are too similar to existing registered companies, use of restricted words like “Nepal” or “National” without approval, or names implying a government affiliation.

9. What’s the most common reason a CAMIS application gets delayed? Vague or overly broad business objectives in the MOA are a frequent trigger for OCR queries — being specific about what your company actually does speeds up review.

10. Do I need a lawyer to register a company in Nepal? It’s not legally required, but it’s commonly recommended — particularly for MOA/AOA drafting, foreign investment approvals, and resolving OCR queries efficiently, since mistakes at this stage cost real time.

11. How long is a reserved company name valid before I have to complete registration? The exact validity period has varied by OCR notice and can change, so it’s worth confirming the current window directly with OCR or your lawyer at the time you reserve your name, rather than assuming a fixed number.

12. Do I need to register a trademark separately from my company name? Yes — registering your company name with OCR does not automatically protect it as a trademark. If brand protection matters to you, trademark registration through the Department of Industry is a separate, additional step.

How Nepal Legal Service Can Help

Company registration looks simple on paper and gets complicated fast the moment your business has anything nonstandard about it — foreign shareholders, a specialized business activity, or a name that keeps bouncing back from OCR. Our corporate team handles:

End-to-end CAMIS registration, from name reservation through certificate issuance
MOA and AOA drafting tailored to your actual business activities
Foreign investment approvals through the Department of Industry
PAN/VAT registration and post-registration compliance setup
Ongoing annual compliance — audits, annual returns, and OCR filings
Trademark registration to protect your company name and brand

Get in touch for a consultation: 📍 Babarmahal, Kathmandu, Nepal 📞 +977 9851020168 (WhatsApp available) ✉️ info@nepallegalservice.com

Disclaimer: This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Fees, timelines, and specific procedural requirements on the CAMIS portal are subject to periodic government updates. Please consult with our lawyers directly for advice and current requirements specific to your company registration.