Form a Marshall Islands company
Marshall Islands company search 2026

Marshall Islands company search: a free registry check, with no names inside

Updated 13 November 2026From the Registrar of Corporations' pages and memosAbout 7 minutes to readSearching from your country
The short answer

Use the free IRI Entity Search, run for the Registrar of Corporations. Type at least four letters of the name, or the entity number. No account, no fee.

It shows the company, its date of existence, its status and any publicly filed documents. Directors, officers and shareholders aren't filed publicly, so no search shows them. A good standing certificate can be confirmed online by its tracking number or QR code.

Open the Entity Search Confirm a certificate
Free, no account 2 free online checks: the entity search and the certificate lookup Both run by International Registries for the Registrar of Corporations.

Marshall Islands companies run shipping fleets, holding structures and DAOs, and almost none of them have ever had an office in Majuro. The registry confirms they exist in seconds. Who stands behind them was never filed in the first place.

Key takeaways

  • The IRI Entity Search is free: four letters of a name, or the entity number.
  • Results show existence, status and publicly filed documents.
  • There's no requirement to file directors, officers or shareholders anywhere public.
  • Since 4 May 2026, good standing certificates carry a tracking number anyone can confirm online.
  • Owners are kept by the company and shown to its agent within 60 days if asked.
Chapter 2

What's on a Marshall Islands company's public file

The Registrar's own answer is plain: there's no requirement that officers, directors or shareholders be filed in any public registry. What does get filed is the founding paperwork.

  • Company name and purposes
  • Registered agent and its addressThe Trust Company of the Marshall Islands, for every non-resident entity
  • Authorised shares
  • The incorporator's name and addressUsually the formation agent, not the owner
  • Amendments filed since
  • Directors and officersUnless the company chooses to file them
  • Shareholders and LLC members
  • Beneficial owners
  • Accounts and the yearly substance report

Some companies file their officers and directors voluntarily, for example when a bank wants them on record. Most don't.

2
Key takeaway

The public file names the agent and the incorporator, not the people running it.

Chapter 3

How to confirm a Marshall Islands good standing certificate is genuine

From 4 May 2026 the Registrar redesigned the certificate. Each one carries a unique tracking number, and the electronic version a QR code and an apostille.

  1. Find the tracking number or QR code

    On any certificate issued from 4 May 2026.

  2. Open IRI's document lookup

    The verification portal takes the tracking number, or scan the QR code.

    Free
  3. Compare what comes back

    Same entity, same date, same status. Any difference means the paper in your hand isn't the one IRI issued.

An older certificate, issued before May 2026, has no tracking number. Ask for a fresh one; good standing certificates can be issued the same day.

3
Key takeaway

A certificate without a tracking number is old. Ask for a new one.

Chapter 4

Marshall Islands documents only the company can order

The registry publishes no corporate fee schedule, and the prices you'll see quoted around the web are usually for its ship registry instead. In practice these come through the company and its registered agent:

Certificate of good standingRegistrar, same dayExistence and standing, with the tracking number. The paper banks ask for.
Certificate of incumbencyThrough the agentNames the directors and officers from the company's own records. Where you see who runs it.
Certified copies of filingsRegistrarThe articles and amendments, certified as true copies.
ApostilleRegistrar's officesDeputy Registrars of Corporations are themselves apostille authorities, so the stamp comes from the same place as the document.

The Marshall Islands is in the Apostille Convention, so one apostille is all another member country should need.

4
Key takeaway

For who runs a company, ask for an incumbency. For proof it's alive, good standing.

Chapter 5

Who owns a Marshall Islands company?

There's no central or public register of owners. The obligation sits with the company itself, and runs in a cycle:

Keep the recordEvery owner of more than 25%, held by the company.
Attest each yearA yearly attestation that the record is current.
Show it on demandTo the registered agent within 60 days, if asked.

Authorities reach the owners through that agent, and banks through their own checks and tax reporting. A counterparty reaches them only by asking the company.

5
Key takeaway

Owners are on record with the company, reachable by authorities, invisible to searches.

Chapter 6

Searching a Marshall Islands DAO LLC

Decentralised autonomous organisation LLCs sit on their own registry, run by MIDAO, not on the IRI search. They're the open exception: the certificate of formation and the smart contract identifiers are public there, and standing can be looked up by name or number.

So if a counterparty's name ends in DAO LLC and IRI returns nothing, search MIDAO before you worry.

6
Key takeaway

DAO LLCs are searched on MIDAO, and show their smart contracts.

Chapter 7

How to check a Marshall Islands company before doing business

  1. Run the Entity Search yourself

    By entity number. Active, and the name matches letter for letter.

  2. Ask for a fresh good standing

    One with a tracking number, then confirm it on IRI's portal.

  3. Ask for an incumbency certificate

    From the registered agent, to see the directors and officers.

  4. Ask for a board resolution

    Naming whoever signs with you.

  5. Ask who the owners are

    The company holds the record. A real counterparty in a real deal will tell you, often under a confidentiality letter.

7
Key takeaway

Two free checks online, then three questions to the company.

Chapter 8

What your own Marshall Islands company shows

When we form your company, we sign the articles as incorporator. So a stranger running the Entity Search on your company finds the company's name, its purposes, its share capital, the registered agent, and Heirson as incorporator. Not you.

Your company keeps its own directors, shareholders and owner record, shown to the agent only if it asks, and your bank knows you through its own checks. Our Marshall Islands company is US$699 a year, the first year included, with the yearly substance report filed for you. Renewal and report dates are in Marshall Islands annual fees and filings.

8
Key takeaway

Search your company and you'll find us as incorporator, not your name.

Chapter 9

Marshall Islands company search questions, answered

?
Is there a public Marshall Islands company registry search?
Yes. The IRI Entity Search is free and open to anyone, by name or entity number. It shows existence, status and filed documents, not people.
Can I find the owner of a Marshall Islands company?
Not from any public source. Owners are kept by the company and shown to its agent on request. Ask the company directly.
How do I check a Marshall Islands good standing certificate is real?
Enter its tracking number or scan its QR code on IRI's document verification portal. Certificates from 4 May 2026 carry both.
Who can order a certificate of good standing?
In practice the company, through its registered agent or an IRI office. It can be issued the same day.
Are Marshall Islands documents apostilled?
Yes. The Marshall Islands is in the Apostille Convention, and Deputy Registrars of Corporations issue apostilles themselves.
Do you form Marshall Islands companies?
Yes: US$699 a year, the first year included, with Heirson as incorporator.

Changelog

  • 13 November 2026: first published, including the May 2026 good standing certificate with tracking number.
Your own company

Searching the Marshall Islands because you'd form there?

Tax exemption by statute, no directors or shareholders on the public file, substance report filed. US$699 a year.

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