Marshall Islands

Starting a Business in

Marshall Islands

Listed below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles an entrepreneur must overcome in order to incorporate and register a new firm, along with their associated time and set-up costs.  It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income (GNI).

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Private Limited Liability Company
  • City: Majuro

About This Topic

To see indicator data for all economies, see the Starting a Business page. To see how economies rank, see the Rankings page.

No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Check the uniqueness of the proposed company name

The Registrar of Corporations performs a name search.
1 day USD 100
2 Have company charters and documents notarized

Notarization can be done at the Attorney General’s Office.
1-2 days USD 10
3 Register the company with the Registrar of Corporations

To register the company with the Registrar of Corporations, the promoters must file the following documents:
- Articles of incorporation, including company name, duration, purpose, registered address, names of directors, number of shares, and so forth.
- Corporate charter (copy).
- Bylaws (copy).
- Incorporation fee receipt (copy).
- Foreign investment business license receipt, if applicable (copy).
- Affidavit of shareholders.
5 days USD 250
4 Obtain the employer identification number at the Marshall Islands Social Security Administration

The employer identification number is also the company’s tax identification number.
2 days USD 20
5 Apply for a business license from the relevant licensing authority

Business licenses are issued by the local government in about 7 business days by filing a company charter along with an application form.

Representative fee schedule for business licenses (in Majuro):
- Retail business license: USD 150.
- Banks: USD 5,000.
- Professional: USD 3,000.
- Hotels: USD 500.

7 days USD 150, depending on numbers and types of licenses