The registration of a .FR domain name is subject to specific eligibility and validation rules defined by Afnic, the registry managing the .FR extension. Please review the following criteria carefully before registering your .FR domain.
Eligibility Criteria
The registration of a .FR domain name can be requested by:
Individuals who reside in a Member State of the European Union.
It is the place of residence, not the nationality, that determines eligibility.
Corporate entities with their registered or main office located within the European Union.
Public entities, such as:
- The State (France or other EU Member States)
- Local authorities
- Their establishments or organizations
A registered trademark, whether in France or in the EU, is no longer sufficient on its own to justify eligibility for a .FR domain.
Administrative Contact Requirements
The Administrative Contact for the domain must:
- Be a legal entity or individual with a verified residency or establishment in an EU Member State.
- Pass the same eligibility and data verification checks as the registrant.
If the registrant is an individual, they cannot also be listed as the Technical Contact.
Eligibility & Reachability Verification
After the domain is registered, Afnic will perform two types of checks:
1. Eligibility Check
- For corporate entities: Verifies legal existence and establishment within the EU.
- For individuals: Verifies residential address in the EU.
2. Reachability Check
- Validates the accuracy and reliability of the registrant and administrative contact data, including:
- Postal address
- Phone number
- Email address
Important: Providing accurate and verifiable contact information is essential. Failure to meet these checks may result in the suspension or deletion of your domain.
Domain Syntax Rules
When registering a .FR domain name, the following technical rules apply:
General Rules (Classic domains)
- Must be at least 2 characters long.
- May contain letters a–z, numbers 0–9, and hyphens (-).
- Cannot begin or end with a hyphen.
- Cannot contain hyphens in both the 3rd and 4th positions (e.g.
ab--cd.fris invalid). - Maximum length: 63 characters.
- Must not consist solely of an active country code (e.g., “fr.fr”).
IDN (Internationalized Domain Names)
- May include Unicode characters from Latin, Cyrillic, or Greek scripts.
- All characters in the domain (before the .fr) must belong to the same script.
- Digits 0–9 and hyphens may be used with all scripts.
- Must not start or end with a hyphen.
- Hyphen in 3rd and 4th position is allowed only when preceded by
xn--(valid IDN encoding).