An investment licence in Iraq

In briefAn investment licence is sought from the National Investment Commission or from the investment commission of a governorate not organized in a region, and in the Kurdistan Region from the Region’s investment board, under Investment Law No. 13 of 2006, as amended. The commission must decide the application within forty-five days of filing. The Baghdad office explains which body is approached, the licence and the advantages within the limits of the text.

The Law Office of Ali Barakat in Baghdad follows an application for an investment licence: which commission is approached, what the application must contain, the time limits for a decision and for a challenge, and what concerns land and advantages within the limits of Investment Law No. 13 of 2006, as amended. A licence does not take the place of recording a company, of banking dealings, or of a tax assessment. The text sets out the path.

What is the legal basis?

The source is Investment Law No. 13 of 2006, published in the Official Gazette, issue 4031 of 17/1/2007. It was amended by the First Amendment, published in issue 4143 of 8/2/2010, and by Law No. 50 of 2015, the Second Amendment, published in issue 4393 of 4/1/2016. The articles set out below follow the text displayed in the Database on 13/11/2026, which is the text after amendment within the limits the Database shows.

Article 1 defines “the Commission” as the National Investment Commission (الهيئة الوطنية للاستثمار), or the Region’s commission, or the governorate commission, as the case may be. The Region’s commission is the investment commission in the Region responsible for investment planning and for granting investment licences in the Region. The governorate commission is the investment commission in a governorate not organized in a region, responsible for investment planning and for granting investment licences in the governorate. An Iraqi investor, for the purposes of this Law, is a person who holds an investment licence and who holds Iraqi nationality if a natural person, or who is a legal person recorded in Iraq. A foreign investor is a person who does not hold Iraqi nationality if a natural person, or a legal person recorded in a foreign country, once the licence has been obtained.

Alongside the investment licence, the Law of the General Authority for Free Zones No. 3 of 1998, published in issue 3722 of 18/5/1998, remains a special statute for free zones. It is the subject of the Law of the General Authority for Free Zones.

Which commission is approached?

Article 4 forms a body named the National Investment Commission, which has legal personality, is responsible for drawing the national investment policy, setting its controls and monitoring their application, and is concerned with strategic investment projects and projects of a federal character. It is attached to the Prime Minister. It is directed by a board of administration in the composition Article 4 sets out.

Article 5 forms, in the regions and in the governorates not organized in a region, investment commissions that have legal personality, with power to grant investment licences, to plan investment and to encourage it, and with power to open branches in the areas under them, in coordination with the National Investment Commission. The Region’s commission is attached to the Prime Minister of the Region and is subject to the oversight of the Region’s council. The governorate commission is attached to the Governor and is subject to the oversight of the governorate council, in a manner that does not conflict with this Law. The commissions of the regions and governorates coordinate their work with the National Investment Commission, and draw their plans in a manner that does not conflict with federal investment policy.

In Baghdad the question is whether the project is one of the strategic or federal-character projects with which the National Investment Commission is concerned, or whether the Baghdad Investment Commission is approached. That distinction is the subject of when to approach the Baghdad Investment Commission and when the National Commission. In the Kurdistan Region, the Kurdistan Board of Investment (هيئة استثمار إقليم كوردستان) is approached, without mixing that path with the National Commission’s path, as in the Kurdistan Board of Investment. Legislation of the Region may also apply there, alongside this framework, within the limits that legislation sets. Industrial investment land in Basrah is covered informationally from the Baghdad office, with no branch there, in industrial investment land in Basrah.

How is a licence sought, and what are the time limits for a decision and a challenge?

The commission accepts applications for an investment licence for projects whose capital is not less than the minimum set by the Council of Ministers or by the Regional Council of Ministers, as the case may be, by a regulation issued on a proposal from the commission, under Article 7. The commission must obtain the approval of the Council of Ministers before granting the licence if the value of the investment project is more than two hundred and fifty million dollars. The commission must decide licence applications within a period not exceeding forty-five days from the date the application is filed. The commission’s decisions on approved investment projects are binding for the purposes of this Law.

The investor obtains the licence in addition to obtaining the other licences, in order to enjoy the advantages and exemptions the commission offers, under Article 19. The licence is granted on an application that includes: the application form prepared by the commission; a project financing plan accompanied by a guarantee from the financing body, being an accredited financial institution; the projects the investor or the investor’s partners have carried out in Iraq or abroad, and the bodies supporting the investor in carrying out the project; the details of the project and the economic feasibility; and a timetable for completion. After obtaining the licence, the investor is given a special investor identity organised by instructions and controls issued by the National Investment Commission and approved by the Council of Ministers.

The commission issues the licence through a one-stop window that includes authorised delegates from the ministries and the bodies concerned, under Article 20. Through that window the commission approaches the sectoral bodies, through those delegates, to obtain their approval. Those bodies must issue their decision — approval, refusal, or a request for amendment — within fifteen days of being notified. Failure to reply within that period is treated as approval. A refusal must be reasoned. If the period expires, or if the refusal is unreasoned or arbitrary, the one-stop window may recommend that the licence be granted to the head of the commission concerned, or to the board of administration, as the case may be. After the licence is issued, all government bodies must cooperate with the commission to complete the requirements for starting the project, within thirty days of the date of issue.

If a difference arises between a decision of the National Investment Commission and another body concerned in granting a formation licence, other than the Region’s commissions, the difference is referred to the Prime Minister for decision, under Article 20, third paragraph.

If an application for formation is refused, the applicant may request the head of the Region’s commission or of the commission of a governorate not organized in a region to reconsider, within fifteen days of notification of the refusal. The head of the commission concerned must decide the request within seven days of its being recorded in that office. The applicant may object to the National Investment Commission within fifteen days of the date of the refusal decision, and the Commission must decide the objection within fifteen days of its being recorded in the office of its head. If the National Investment Commission itself refuses an application filed with it, the applicant may request it to reconsider within fifteen days of notification of the refusal. It must decide within seven days of the request being recorded in the office of the head of the Commission, and its decision may be objected to before the Council of Ministers within fifteen days of notification.

If an investment licence is withdrawn, the investor may file a grievance with the head of the granting commission within fifteen days of the grievance being recorded with the commission. Failure to reply within that period is treated as a rejection of the grievance. An applicant whose grievance has been rejected, in fact or by operation of that rule, may file a grievance with the head of the National Investment Commission within fifteen days of notification of the rejection. The head of the Commission must decide within fifteen days of the grievance being recorded in that office. If the grievance is rejected, or if the period expires without it being considered, the applicant may challenge the decision before the court the Law has designated. The text does not name a particular court.

The steps of the application, in order, are set out in how an investment licence is sought and who grants it.

Time limits for the licence and for challenges under Investment Law No. 13 of 2006, as amended
Step	Time limit	Body
The commission’s decision on the licence application	Not more than 45 days from filing	The National Commission, the governorate commission or the Region’s commission, as the case may be
The sectoral body’s reply to the one-stop window	15 days from being notified (silence is approval)	The sectoral body that is consulted
Cooperation of government bodies after the licence is issued	30 days from issue	The government bodies concerned
A request to reconsider a refusal by a Region or governorate commission	15 days from notification of refusal; decision within 7 days	The head of the Region’s or governorate commission
An objection to the National Commission against a local refusal	15 days; decision within 15 days	The National Investment Commission
A request that the National Commission reconsider, then an objection to the Council of Ministers	15 days to request reconsideration (decision within 7 days), then 15 days to the Council of Ministers	The National Commission, then the Council of Ministers
A grievance against withdrawal of the licence, then a grievance to the head of the National Commission	15 days at each stage, with the decision periods in Article 20	The granting commission, then the head of the National Commission

Land and advantages within the limits of the text

The commission aims to simplify registration and licensing, to establish a one-stop window, and to facilitate obtaining the immovable property needed to establish projects, in coordination with the bodies concerned, under Article 9. An Iraqi or foreign investor has the right to lease immovable property, or to take it under musataha (مساطحة), from the State or from the private or mixed sectors, in order to establish investment projects on it, for a period not exceeding fifty years, renewable with the approval of the granting commission and the body concerned, having regard to the nature of the project and its economic feasibility, under Article 10, together with special rules on owning land for residential and industrial projects that cannot be reduced to a single sentence. A restriction on disposal is entered on the title deed until the investor has performed the investor’s obligations, as confirmed by the granting commission. If an investor who has been granted ownership of immovable property under this Law fails to perform those obligations within the period set in the agreement, the Real Estate Registration Department, on a request from the commission, cancels the recording and returns the property to its previous owner against repayment of the sale price, after collecting a fair rent for that period, under Article 10.

Advantages and exemptions are linked to obtaining the licence. Rates and periods of exemption are read from the text in force on the topic page.

What does the office follow?

From its premises in Baghdad, the office explains which commission is approached, the contents of a licence application, the time limits for a decision, a challenge and a grievance set out in Articles 7 and 20, what concerns land within the limits of Article 10, the difference between the path of the National Commission, a governorate commission and the Region’s commission, and the free-zones statute as a separate text.

Legal basis and sources

Frequently asked questions

Is an investment licence always sought from the National Investment Commission?

No. The National Commission is concerned with strategic projects and projects of a federal character. The commissions of the governorates not organized in a region grant licences in the governorate. In the Region, the Region’s investment board is approached. Which body is approached is a separate page.

Within what period must the commission decide the application?

Article 7 requires a decision within a period not exceeding forty-five days from the date the application is filed. If the value of the project exceeds two hundred and fifty million dollars, the approval of the Council of Ministers must be obtained before the licence is granted.

What follows if the sectoral body remains silent?

Article 20 treats the sectoral body’s failure to reply within fifteen days of being notified as approval.

The types of document the application must contain are set out in Article 19. The form itself is prepared by the commission.

Topics in this area

Always check the text in force and its amendments in the official source.

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