CNRC name reservation: how to reserve your company name in Algeria

Before you set up a company, you need to make sure its name is not already taken. The CNRC keeps the national file of company names. The name application asks it to check your proposals and, if one of them is free, to reserve it for you.

The CNRC then issues a name certificate. Many practitioners still call it the 'negative certificate', because it shows that no company already exists under that name. It is the same document.

The certificate does three things:

• It blocks the name for 6 months while you prepare the next steps.
• It lets the notary draft the articles of association under the exact name reserved.
• It is one of the documents in the trade register application.

Anyone setting up a commercial company needs this step: SARL (limited liability company), EURL (single-member limited company), SPA (joint-stock company), SNC (general partnership) or another form under the Commercial Code. It comes before the articles of association are signed.

• The future manager or one of the founding partners can file it.
• Someone else can file it for you with a power of attorney.
• For the online request, the person who opens the Sidjilcom account files it.

A sole trader (natural person) registers under their own first and last name and does not go through this step. The self-employed status (auto-entrepreneur) does not go through the trade register either.

1. 1

   Prepare four names

   Pick four proposals ranked by preference. Avoid very common words on their own ('Conseil', 'Services'): they are often taken.

2. 2

   Run a prior-name search

   On Sidjilcom, check that no company already exists under these names or a very close one.

3. 3

   Fill in the form

   State the legal form, the four names in order, the planned activity and the applicant's identity. Sign.

4. 4

   File the application

   At the local CNRC office, or online on Sidjilcom once your account is open.

5. 5

   Pay the 800 DA

   At the counter, pay the search fee at BNA and keep the receipt. Online, meet the payment deadline shown by the portal.

6. 6

   Collect the certificate

   Check the spelling of the name granted and the legal form. Note the date: you have 6 months.

7. 7

   Go to the notary

   Give the certificate to the notary for the articles of association, then prepare the trade register application.

At the local CNRC office

Each wilaya has a local CNRC office. You collect the form, fill it in, pay the search fee at BNA and come back with the receipt. If one of the names is free, you receive the certificate.

Online on Sidjilcom

The CNRC portal, sidjilcom.cnrc.dz, lets you run a prior-name search and file the name application without travelling at the first stage. You open an account, enter your proposals and the legal form, and the portal then tells you the deadline to pay and collect the certificate.

What about the head office address?

The name application does not need an address yet. The notary will need one right after, for the articles. If your company will be domiciled at Neuron Cowork in Dely Brahim, the notarised domiciliation contract serves as proof of head office: 6,000 DA per month, contract ready within 3 days at most.

Once issued, the certificate holds the name for you for 6 months. Within that time you must sign the articles at the notary, publish the legal notice and file the registration application.

In practice, the name is the first step of a company set-up. Then come the notary appointment and publication in the BOAL (Official Bulletin of Legal Notices) before you file with the CNRC.

• Proposing only one name: if it is taken, you must file a full new application.
• Choosing a name very close to an existing company: it may be refused.
• Changing the spelling between the certificate and the articles (accent, hyphen, extra word): the CNRC checks they match.
• Stating one legal form and then choosing another at the notary (EURL instead of SARL, for example).
• Letting the 6-month validity lapse without registering or extending the reservation.
• Believing the certificate protects the name as a trademark: trademarks are filed separately with INAPI.