The endings you cannot simply buy

A country-code domain can be entirely unregistered and still be out of reach. Several registries sell only to registrants with a connection to the country — a company number, an address, a citizenship, a local contact. A lookup will never tell you this, because the registry was not asked.

Two different questions

Is the string registered? A lookup answers that. Am I eligible to hold it? Only the registry's own policy answers that, and the answer is set per TLD, changes over time, and is not machine-readable. Check the registry before you build a plan around a country-code domain.

Registries that impose a connection requirement

Widely-used country codes with eligibility conditions. Policies change — confirm at the registry before relying on any row.
TLD	Condition in outline
`.ae`	United Arab Emirates. Registrants generally need a UAE presence or a local administrative contact.
`.au`	Australia. An “Australian presence” is required — typically an ABN, ACN or an Australian trade mark application.
`.ca`	Canada. Canadian Presence Requirements apply to the registrant, with a defined list of qualifying categories.
`.cn`	China. A local company is generally required, and hosting carries separate filing obligations.
`.de`	Germany. An administrative contact with a German postal address is required.
`.eu`	European Union. Open to persons in the EU, and to EU/EEA citizens wherever resident.
`.fr`	France. Registrants must be in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.
`.it`	Italy. Restricted to registrants in the European Union.
`.jp`	Japan. A physical address in Japan is required.
`.no`	Norway. Organisations must appear in the Norwegian register; individuals must be resident.
`.us`	United States. A US nexus is required: citizen, resident, or an organisation with a US presence.

The trustee arrangement, and what it costs you

Where a registry requires a local contact rather than local ownership, registrars sell a trustee or proxy service: they supply the qualifying contact and you hold the name. It works, it is widely used, and it has two costs worth weighing before you build a brand on it.

The first is recurring: a trustee fee on top of the domain, every year, for as long as you hold it. The second is structural: your continued eligibility depends on a commercial relationship with a third party. If that service lapses, or the provider exits the market, your eligibility lapses with it. For a domain carrying your primary brand, that is a dependency worth understanding rather than discovering.

Endings that look national and are not

Several country codes have been marketed globally and carry no connection requirement at all — .io, .ai, .co, .me, .tv, .cc among them. They are convenient, and they are also country-code domains administered under arrangements that can change. Renewal pricing in particular has moved sharply in some of these, with little notice and no ceiling, because a ccTLD registry is not bound by the price-change constraints that apply to generic TLDs under ICANN contracts.

That is not a reason to avoid them. It is a reason to know that the renewal price you pay this year is not a promise about next year, and to keep the generic equivalent if you can afford to.

Questions

I have a company in the country. Does that automatically qualify me?

Usually, but the qualifying categories are specific and it is worth reading them rather than assuming. Some registries accept a registered company only; others accept a trade mark, a resident individual, or a branch. A few require the registrant name on the domain to match the registered entity exactly, which trips people up when they register in a founder's name and the registry expects the company's.

What happens if I register through a trustee and then move to the country?

You can generally transfer the registration to yourself once you qualify directly, ending the trustee arrangement. Do it deliberately rather than letting the service lapse, and confirm the transfer completed — a registrant change and a registrar change are different operations and both can stall.

Can a registry take a domain back if I stop qualifying?

Policies vary, but eligibility is typically a continuing condition rather than a one-off gate, and registries do suspend or cancel registrations that no longer meet it. If your qualification rests on something that can end — a company that might be dissolved, a residency that might change, a trustee contract — treat the domain as contingent on that thing continuing.

Reviewed 2026-09-20. Registry policies change without notice — every row above should be confirmed at source before you rely on it.