Sohar Port: New Import Code Registration — Complete 2026 Guide

What Is a New Import Code Registration?

It is the enrolment that puts your company on Oman's customs client register as a party permitted to lodge import declarations. Once it exists, the registration is what identifies you as consignee on every Bayan entry you file.

The prerequisite is an Omani commercial registration with trading activities that cover what you intend to import. That registration on its own does not confer clearance capability; customs enrolment is a separate step on top of it. Companies whose only presence is in the UAE cannot enrol directly. Their options are to establish an Omani entity, to appoint an Omani importer of record, or to structure the movement as transit if the goods are ultimately bound for the UAE anyway.

Oman's GCC membership does not shortcut any of this. The GCC Common Customs Law and the common tariff are shared, so classification work carries across, but every member state keeps its own client register and its own enrolment rules.

Who Needs a New Import Code?

• Newly registered Omani companies importing commercially for the first time through Sohar
• Entities taking space in Freezone Sohar and receiving raw material, equipment or feedstock through the adjoining port
• Omani subsidiaries and branches newly established by UAE or foreign parent groups to act as importer of record in Oman
• Industrial operators commissioning a plant in the Sohar area who will import machinery, spares and process inputs on their own account
• Companies that have until now shipped through a local agent's or supplier's registration and want the import record in their own name

That final group is worth pausing on. Importing under another party's registration works until it stops working: the customs record and the associated import documentation sit with someone else, the Oman VAT position is not yours to control, and unwinding the arrangement later is more involved than enrolling cleanly at the outset. If your entity may already hold a dormant Omani customs record from an earlier period, we check that before applying for a new one rather than creating a duplicate.

Documents Required for New Import Code Registration

Oman's customs administration is enrolling a locally registered legal person, so the file has to establish the Omani entity, its permitted activities and who may act for it. For a mainland Omani company, expect:

• Omani commercial registration certificate, with activities that cover the goods you intend to import
• Chamber of Commerce and Industry membership certificate where it applies to your activity
• Constitutive contract or articles of association for companies with more than one shareholder
• Identity documents for the owner or manager, and for the person who will hold signing authority on customs matters
• Oman VAT registration details where the company is registered with the Oman Tax Authority
• Company bank and contact details for verification
• Written authorisation appointing Al Nakheel as clearing agent

A Freezone Sohar entity presents its free zone licence and registration documents in place of the mainland commercial registration, and the enrolment is scoped to free zone entries.

Step-by-Step: How Al Nakheel Registers Your Import Code

1. Structure review. We confirm which Omani entity will be importer of record, whether cargo is landing for Omani home use, for Freezone Sohar, or in transit to the UAE. That decision shapes the enrolment and it is easier to make now than to unwind later.
2. Existing record search. We check whether the entity already appears on Oman's customs register before filing anything new.
3. Activity match. The commodities you plan to import are checked against the activities on the Omani commercial registration, and any sector approvals needed from Omani ministries are identified at the same time.
4. Filing with the Directorate General of Customs. The enrolment is submitted through the Omani customs channel under our agent authorisation.
5. Query response. Where the authority asks for clarification or a further document, we handle it directly with them.
6. Activation and live test. On issue we confirm the registration to you in writing and, where a first shipment is already booked, verify it accepts on a live Bayan entry.

How Long Does New Import Code Registration Take?

Where the Omani commercial registration is in order, the activities cover the goods and the corporate documents agree with one another, enrolment is a short administrative process measured in working days. The delays come from the file rather than the authority. In our experience the recurring causes are activities that do not extend to the commodity, signing authority that is not properly documented, shareholder or manager details that read differently across documents, and sector approvals that were never started. Send us the commercial registration and a description of the goods and we will tell you which of these applies before you begin.

Can I Import Goods Before My Code Is Registered?

The vessel will discharge whether or not your registration exists, but no Bayan entry can be filed in your name until it does. From the end of the free storage period, port storage and the shipping line's container demurrage both begin to accrue. On bulk and industrial consignments the exposure is larger still, because vessel laytime and downstream plant scheduling do not pause for paperwork.

Where a first shipment is already committed and the Omani entity is not yet enrolled, there are interim routes: clearing through an Omani importer of record, or filing the movement as transit if the goods are actually bound for the UAE. Both carry consequences for the VAT position and for whose name the import record sits in, and neither is a substitute for enrolling properly. Begin the registration before the purchase order, or at the latest before the goods are loaded at origin.

Import Code Registration vs. Renewal — What Is the Difference?

Registration creates an Omani customs record where your entity has none. Renewal keeps an existing Omani record aligned with your current commercial registration. The distinction is not always obvious from the outside, and getting it wrong wastes time in both directions. Some companies apply afresh over a dormant record from an earlier trading period, which produces a duplicate that then has to be untangled. Others assume their UAE importer code simply needs renewing to work at Sohar, when Oman has no record to renew and what they actually need is a first enrolment. We check the Omani register before filing and tell you which of the two you are doing.

Frequently Asked Questions