Guide
I want to register
a company in Pakistan
Companies in Pakistan are registered with one regulator, online. The system is built for people who are not in the country, but it asks more of a director who lives abroad than of one who does not. This page shows what it asks for.
Where this applies This page covers companies registered in Pakistan. A sole trader who does not form a company registers with the tax office instead; see the page on tax.
What this is about
The regulator is the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, and its own guidance says the first step is an application to reserve the name and incorporate, made through its online system, eZfile, or on paper. A user of the online system who is a foreign national is asked for an attested copy of a valid passport, an attested photograph, a mobile number and an email, and the regulator publishes a separate list of documents for a foreign director.
Choosing the form is the real decision: a private limited company, a single-member company, or no company at all. It depends on what the business will do and who else is in it, and it is the first thing to settle with an advocate.
What has to be in place
What has to be clear.
What the business will do, and where.
Who the directors and shareholders will be, and where each lives.
A registered address in Pakistan.
Note Your advocate confirms which of these apply to your case.
The documents you will be asked for
What the regulator usually asks for.
- Identity documents of every director and subscriber; for a foreign national, an attested passport copy and photograph.
- The proposed name, and the objects of the company.
- The registered office address.
- Any additional papers the regulator lists for a foreign director.
How an advocate helps from where you are
What an advocate does.
- Chooses the form with you, and drafts the founding documents.
- Files the reservation and incorporation through the online system.
- Deals with the queries the regulator raises, which is where most applications stall.
- Registers the company for tax afterwards; see the page on tax.
What to ask before you agree
- Which form fits what this business will do, and why?
- What happens when the regulator raises queries, and who answers them?
- Will you register the company for tax afterwards, or is that separate?
- What do you need from me, and by when?
- What is your fee, and what is not included in it?
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Also relevant
Words you will meet
- SECP
- The regulator that registers companies in Pakistan.
- eZfile
- The regulator’s online system for incorporation.
- private limited company
- The usual forms of company.
- incorporation
- Bringing the company into existence.
Sources
Official pages read on 11 September 2026. The page says only what these say, and what an advocate does; nothing specific to your case.
Checked
11 September 2026
Pakistan. Sources listed at the end of the page.