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Country Codes for MCA / RBI Filings – ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 Reference
Why Country Codes Matter in MCA / RBI Filings
When filing documents with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) or the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that involve foreign entities, investments, or transactions, you are required to specify the country using a standardised code. The applicable standard is ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 – a two-letter country code system maintained by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Common filings where country codes are required:
- FLA Return (Foreign Liabilities and Assets Return to RBI)
- FC-GPR (Foreign Currency – General Permission Route, for FDI reporting)
- FC-TRS (Foreign Currency – Transfer of Shares)
- Form XBRL / AOC-4 (country of incorporation of foreign subsidiaries)
- Annual Return (MGT-7) – Foreign holdings and country details
- DIR-3 KYC – Nationality of directors
- DIR-12 – Nationality of new directors
- Company Master Data – Country of incorporation for foreign companies
ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 Country Code List
The following is the complete list of ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 country codes as currently maintained:
| Country | Alpha-2 Code | Numeric Code |
|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | AF | 004 |
| Albania | AL | 008 |
| Algeria | DZ | 012 |
| Andorra | AD | 020 |
| Angola | AO | 024 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | AG | 028 |
| Argentina | AR | 032 |
| Armenia | AM | 051 |
| Australia | AU | 036 |
| Austria | AT | 040 |
| Azerbaijan | AZ | 031 |
| Bahamas | BS | 044 |
| Bahrain | BH | 048 |
| Bangladesh | BD | 050 |
| Barbados | BB | 052 |
| Belarus | BY | 112 |
| Belgium | BE | 056 |
| Belize | BZ | 084 |
| Benin | BJ | 204 |
| Bhutan | BT | 064 |
| Bolivia | BO | 068 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | BA | 070 |
| Botswana | BW | 072 |
| Brazil | BR | 076 |
| Brunei Darussalam | BN | 096 |
| Bulgaria | BG | 100 |
| Burkina Faso | BF | 854 |
| Burundi | BI | 108 |
| Cabo Verde | CV | 132 |
| Cambodia | KH | 116 |
| Cameroon | CM | 120 |
| Canada | CA | 124 |
| Central African Republic | CF | 140 |
| Chad | TD | 148 |
| Chile | CL | 152 |
| China | CN | 156 |
| Colombia | CO | 170 |
| Comoros | KM | 174 |
| Congo (Democratic Republic) | CD | 180 |
| Congo | CG | 178 |
| Costa Rica | CR | 188 |
| Croatia | HR | 191 |
| Cuba | CU | 192 |
| Cyprus | CY | 196 |
| Czech Republic | CZ | 203 |
| Denmark | DK | 208 |
| Djibouti | DJ | 262 |
| Dominica | DM | 212 |
| Dominican Republic | DO | 214 |
| Ecuador | EC | 218 |
| Egypt | EG | 818 |
| El Salvador | SV | 222 |
| Equatorial Guinea | GQ | 226 |
| Eritrea | ER | 232 |
| Estonia | EE | 233 |
| Eswatini | SZ | 748 |
| Ethiopia | ET | 231 |
| Fiji | FJ | 242 |
| Finland | FI | 246 |
| France | FR | 250 |
| Gabon | GA | 266 |
| Gambia | GM | 270 |
| Georgia | GE | 268 |
| Germany | DE | 276 |
| Ghana | GH | 288 |
| Greece | GR | 300 |
| Grenada | GD | 308 |
| Guatemala | GT | 320 |
| Guinea | GN | 324 |
| Guinea-Bissau | GW | 624 |
| Guyana | GY | 328 |
| Haiti | HT | 332 |
| Honduras | HN | 340 |
| Hungary | HU | 348 |
| Iceland | IS | 352 |
| India | IN | 356 |
| Indonesia | ID | 360 |
| Iran | IR | 364 |
| Iraq | IQ | 368 |
| Ireland | IE | 372 |
| Israel | IL | 376 |
| Italy | IT | 380 |
| Jamaica | JM | 388 |
| Japan | JP | 392 |
| Jordan | JO | 400 |
| Kazakhstan | KZ | 398 |
| Kenya | KE | 404 |
| Kiribati | KI | 296 |
| Korea (North) | KP | 408 |
| Korea (South) | KR | 410 |
| Kuwait | KW | 414 |
| Kyrgyzstan | KG | 417 |
| Lao PDR | LA | 418 |
| Latvia | LV | 428 |
| Lebanon | LB | 422 |
| Lesotho | LS | 426 |
| Liberia | LR | 430 |
| Libya | LY | 434 |
| Liechtenstein | LI | 438 |
| Lithuania | LT | 440 |
| Luxembourg | LU | 442 |
| Madagascar | MG | 450 |
| Malawi | MW | 454 |
| Malaysia | MY | 458 |
| Maldives | MV | 462 |
| Mali | ML | 466 |
| Malta | MT | 470 |
| Marshall Islands | MH | 584 |
| Mauritania | MR | 478 |
| Mauritius | MU | 480 |
| Mexico | MX | 484 |
| Micronesia | FM | 583 |
| Moldova | MD | 498 |
| Monaco | MC | 492 |
| Mongolia | MN | 496 |
| Montenegro | ME | 499 |
| Morocco | MA | 504 |
| Mozambique | MZ | 508 |
| Myanmar | MM | 104 |
| Namibia | NA | 516 |
| Nauru | NR | 520 |
| Nepal | NP | 524 |
| Netherlands | NL | 528 |
| New Zealand | NZ | 554 |
| Nicaragua | NI | 558 |
| Niger | NE | 562 |
| Nigeria | NG | 566 |
| North Macedonia | MK | 807 |
| Norway | NO | 578 |
| Oman | OM | 512 |
| Pakistan | PK | 586 |
| Palau | PW | 585 |
| Panama | PA | 591 |
| Papua New Guinea | PG | 598 |
| Paraguay | PY | 600 |
| Peru | PE | 604 |
| Philippines | PH | 608 |
| Poland | PL | 616 |
| Portugal | PT | 620 |
| Qatar | QA | 634 |
| Romania | RO | 642 |
| Russia | RU | 643 |
| Rwanda | RW | 646 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | KN | 659 |
| Saint Lucia | LC | 662 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | VC | 670 |
| Samoa | WS | 882 |
| San Marino | SM | 674 |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | ST | 678 |
| Saudi Arabia | SA | 682 |
| Senegal | SN | 686 |
| Serbia | RS | 688 |
| Seychelles | SC | 690 |
| Sierra Leone | SL | 694 |
| Singapore | SG | 702 |
| Slovakia | SK | 703 |
| Slovenia | SI | 705 |
| Solomon Islands | SB | 090 |
| Somalia | SO | 706 |
| South Africa | ZA | 710 |
| South Sudan | SS | 728 |
| Spain | ES | 724 |
| Sri Lanka | LK | 144 |
| Sudan | SD | 729 |
| Suriname | SR | 740 |
| Sweden | SE | 752 |
| Switzerland | CH | 756 |
| Syria | SY | 760 |
| Taiwan | TW | 158 |
| Tajikistan | TJ | 762 |
| Tanzania | TZ | 834 |
| Thailand | TH | 764 |
| Timor-Leste | TL | 626 |
| Togo | TG | 768 |
| Tonga | TO | 776 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | TT | 780 |
| Tunisia | TN | 788 |
| Turkey | TR | 792 |
| Turkmenistan | TM | 795 |
| Tuvalu | TV | 798 |
| Uganda | UG | 800 |
| Ukraine | UA | 804 |
| United Arab Emirates | AE | 784 |
| United Kingdom | GB | 826 |
| United States of America | US | 840 |
| Uruguay | UY | 858 |
| Uzbekistan | UZ | 860 |
| Vanuatu | VU | 548 |
| Venezuela | VE | 862 |
| Vietnam | VN | 704 |
| Yemen | YE | 887 |
| Zambia | ZM | 894 |
| Zimbabwe | ZW | 716 |
Frequently Used Country Codes in Indian Compliance Filings
The following countries are most commonly encountered in Indian corporate compliance filings:
| Country | Alpha-2 Code | Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| India | IN | Domestic entity |
| United States | US | Major FDI source; US-based holding companies |
| United Kingdom | GB | Pre-Brexit and current UK FDI |
| Singapore | SG | FDI routing hub; holding companies |
| Mauritius | MU | Treaty-based FDI routing |
| Netherlands | NL | European holding structures |
| Cayman Islands | KY | Offshore funds and PE structures |
| British Virgin Islands | VG | Offshore entity structures |
| Japan | JP | Japanese FDI |
| Germany | DE | German FDI |
| France | FR | French FDI |
| China | CN | Chinese FDI (Press Note 3/2020 applies) |
| UAE | AE | Gulf-based FDI |
| Canada | CA | Canadian FDI |
| Australia | AU | Australian FDI |
| South Korea | KR | Korean FDI |
ISO 3166-1 Alpha-3 Codes (Three-Letter)
In some RBI forms and international contexts, 3-letter country codes (Alpha-3) may be required. Key examples:
| Country | Alpha-2 | Alpha-3 |
|---|---|---|
| India | IN | IND |
| United States | US | USA |
| United Kingdom | GB | GBR |
| Singapore | SG | SGP |
| Mauritius | MU | MUS |
| UAE | AE | ARE |
| China | CN | CHN |
| Japan | JP | JPN |
| Germany | DE | DEU |
| France | FR | FRA |
Notes for Professionals
- Country codes are case-insensitive in most MCA and RBI systems, but are typically entered in uppercase.
- For FLA returns, RBI uses ISO country codes in the prescribed Excel utility.
- For FC-GPR and FC-TRS filings on the RBI’s FIRMS portal, you will be required to select the country from a dropdown that is mapped to ISO codes.
- In XBRL filings, country codes appear in the taxonomy elements for country of incorporation.
- The British Virgin Islands (VG) and Cayman Islands (KY) are separate jurisdictions with their own ISO codes, often used in PE and VC fund structures.
- Always use the current ISO code – some codes have changed over time (e.g., following the renaming of countries). For example, North Macedonia was formerly coded MK (Macedonian: MK remains valid).