IEC registration is an online application in form ANF-2A on the DGFT portal, and the government fee is ₹500. The Importer Exporter Code you receive is your business PAN, issued once DGFT's online checks on the PAN, bank account and signatory pass, and it has permanent validity, though DGFT deactivates it if you skip the yearly update between April and June. This guide covers who needs one, the documents DGFT asks for today, the fees, the timeline and the reasons applications stall.
Who needs IEC registration?
Any person or business importing or exporting goods needs an IEC unless specifically exempt, under para 2.05(a) of the Foreign Trade Policy 2023. Exporters of services or technology need one only when they claim benefits under the Policy.
- DGFT accepts applications from proprietorships, partnership firms, LLPs, companies, trusts, HUFs and societies.
- Only one IEC is issued against a PAN, and it covers all branches, divisions, units and factories (Handbook of Procedures paras 2.10 and 2.12). A new warehouse or factory is added as a branch, not given a second code.
- A proprietor's IEC is issued on the proprietor's own PAN, so a company or LLP formed later needs its own.
The exempt categories, such as personal imports and small border trade, are covered in the guide to our free IEC Code Lookup.
What documents are needed for IEC registration?
DGFT's IEC help file (version 4.1, February 2026) asks for up to three scanned proofs, each a PDF of no more than 5 MB. Everything else is checked online: the PAN, the name as per PAN and the date of birth or incorporation against the Income Tax database, and a company's CIN against the MCA.
| Document | Who uploads it | What DGFT accepts |
|---|---|---|
| Proof of establishment, incorporation or registration | Partnerships, registered societies, trusts, HUFs and others, where the portal asks for it | The entity's own constitution or registration document |
| Address proof | Every applicant | Sale deed, rent agreement, lease deed, electricity bill, landline or postpaid mobile bill, MoU or partnership deed; a proprietor may also use Aadhaar, passport or voter ID |
| Owner's NOC | Applicants whose address proof is in someone else's name | NOC from the premises owner, merged with the address proof in one PDF |
| Bank proof | Every applicant | Cancelled cheque with the entity's pre-printed name, or a bank certificate |
You also need someone who can sign online. That means a digital signature certificate (DSC) or Aadhaar e-sign of the proprietor, a partner or a director, and a bank account whose holder name is the same as the firm name.
What are the IEC registration fees?
The fee for a new IEC is ₹500 under Appendix 2K of the Foreign Trade Policy, as it stands after DGFT's latest amendment, Public Notice 02/2025-26 of 15 April 2025. You pay it online at the end of the application, through the Bharatkosh payment gateway.
| Action on DGFT | Government fee |
|---|---|
| New IEC application | ₹500 |
| Modification of IEC details | ₹200 |
| Annual update between April and June | Nil |
| Annual update after the April to June period | ₹200 |
DGFT can amend Appendix 2K, so check the amount on the payment screen before you pay. A DSC, if you need one, is bought separately from a certifying authority licensed by the CCA. Ofin's professional fee for IEC registration starts at ₹2,499.
How to apply for an import export code online
The application runs end to end on dgft.gov.in and ends with an e-IEC sent to your email; FTP para 2.05(c) makes both the application and later updates fully online. The steps below follow DGFT's help file.
- Register on dgft.gov.in as an Importer/Exporter and confirm the OTPs sent to your email and mobile.
- Open Apply for IEC and enter the general information: type of entity, name, PAN, name as per PAN and date of birth or incorporation. A company enters its CIN and the portal fetches its director details from the MCA.
- Enter the address and PIN code. The portal assigns the jurisdictional DGFT Regional Authority from the PIN and asks for the address proof.
- Add every proprietor, partner, director, karta or managing trustee.
- Add the bank accounts. Since February 2026 you must declare all active accounts linked to the PAN, and DGFT checks each with NPCI (Trade Notice 23/2025-26).
- Accept the declaration, sign with your DSC or Aadhaar e-sign and pay ₹500.
- Download the e-IEC. DGFT also sends the code to Customs (CBIC), and My IEC shows the CBIC transmission status.
How long does IEC registration take?
When every online check passes, DGFT generates the IEC automatically on submission. The usual wait is the bank check: NPCI usually responds within seconds, but DGFT's help file warns that some banks take up to two weeks, and the IEC is created only after the account is confirmed.
While the bank's answer is pending, the application shows "Under Automatic Review" and is approved or rejected without anyone at DGFT acting on it. A "Failed" result for any account stops you from submitting at all until the details match the bank's records.
Example. Bluepeak Foods Private Limited (a made-up company) submits its application on 4 November 2026. Two of its three bank accounts verify at once, but the third shows "In Progress", so the file waits under automatic review. When that bank confirms on 12 November 2026, the IEC is approved the same day. Bluepeak's first annual update then falls between 1 April and 30 June 2027.
Why IEC applications get rejected or stuck
Almost every problem is data that does not match an official record: the PAN database, the bank's books or the signatory's DSC. DGFT validates these online, so a mismatch blocks the application instead of producing a query you can answer.
- Name not as per PAN. Enter the full name exactly as registered with the Income Tax Department, middle name included.
- Bank account in another name. The account holder name must match the firm name, and every active account linked to the PAN must be declared.
- Wrong DSC. For entities other than proprietorships and HUFs, DGFT accepts only an organisation DSC whose organisation name matches the name in PAN records. A director's personal DSC fails that check; Aadhaar e-sign by a member is the alternative.
- Address proof in someone else's name. A rent agreement signed by a director personally, or a relative's electricity bill, needs the owner's NOC in the same PDF.
- A PAN that already has an IEC. The portal will not take a second application on that PAN, even if the old code is numeric. Link the existing IEC to your login instead.
- An address that does not receive post. DGFT validates IEC addresses through physical delivery of post.
What happens after registration
The IEC is the key that Customs, your bank and export councils use to identify you, so the next steps all build on it. Three matter before the first shipment, plus one deadline every year.
- Register on ICEGATE, the Customs portal, which validates your IEC and GSTIN and uses the email and mobile number held by DGFT and GSTN. See ICEGATE registration.
- Register your bank's AD code with Customs before you file a shipping bill, along with the account that receives refunds and incentives: AD code registration.
- Check what your product needs, such as APEDA registration or an RCMC, with the Export Registration Finder.
- Update or confirm the IEC every April to June, and record changes in address, bank or constitution within 30 days (HBP para 2.14(b)). Ofin's IEC renewal service handles both.
Changes to IEC registration in 2025 and 2026
Two changes since November 2025 shape a new application: online validation of IEC details against official records, and NPCI checks on every bank account. Both move verification onto the portal itself, while the IEC fees stayed the same.
- 20 November 2025. Public Notice 32/2025-26 amended Handbook of Procedures para 2.08 so that IEC details are validated online with the records of ministries, departments and banks, and merged form ANF-1A into a revised ANF-2A.
- February 2026. Bank details given at issue and at every modification are validated with NPCI in real time (Trade Notice 23/2025-26, dated 6 February 2026).
- Fees unchanged. DGFT's latest amendment of Appendix 2K (Public Notice 02/2025-26, 15 April 2025) added a fee for import monitoring registrations and kept ₹500 for an IEC application and ₹200 for an annual update made after the April to June period.
How Ofin handles your IEC registration
Ofin's CAs, CSs and legal professionals check your PAN details, address proof, bank proof and signing method before anything is filed, to avoid a failed DGFT check. We prepare and file the ANF-2A application online, guide you on the documents and support you until the e-IEC is issued, from ₹2,499. The work is 100% online and we reply within 24 hours. Share a few details to get a fixed-price proposal.
