The .fr rule is about where the holder is established, not whether it is French. Any company in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland qualifies, and a French company is only one way to get there.
If you already have a company anywhere in the EEA or Switzerland, it can hold the .fr today, with no French entity. If you have none, a French SASU costs about €176 in fixed fees to form and roughly €225 a year before tax and accounting, against about €37 a year for our pick on the .fr trustees page.
Which entities qualify
Paragraph 90 of Afnic's Naming Policy admits any legal person with its registered office or main establishment in an EU member state, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. Nothing requires a French presence, and Afnic's technical specification makes every company identifier, SIREN included, optional. That gives a business outside the area two French routes and one outside France:
The third route is an entity elsewhere in the area. A subsidiary in Estonia, costed on the .eu company page, also qualifies for .fr, and for .eu and .it as well.
A French SAS or SASU
A SASU is a simplified joint-stock company with one shareholder, who can be a person or a company, and a minimum capital of €1. Since January 2025 registration goes only through the government's single online portal (the guichet unique).
- Registration: €33.83 in greffe and INPI fees for a new SAS with an establishment, according to Infogreffe.
- Legal notice: a regulated flat fee, in 2026 €142 excluding VAT for a SASU and €199 for a SAS in mainland France.
- Registered office: a domiciliation contract is accepted as proof of premises. Published Paris prices start at €17 a month excluding VAT, with a three-month minimum.
- Time: if the file is complete, the greffe registers the company within one working day, and the SIREN follows automatically.
Every year the company files its accounts at the greffe (about €11 in fees), within a month of approving them, or faces a €1,500 fine. It pays the local business tax (CFE) from its second year, on a minimum base set by the commune; for turnover up to €10,000 the base is between €250 and €597 before the local rate is applied. Accounting fees are on top, and we have not priced them.
A French branch of your company
A branch (succursale) registers your existing company in France without creating a new one. Infogreffe charges €60.38. You need your articles of association, a register extract less than three months old, both translated into French where needed, proof of premises (a domiciliation contract is accepted), and the identity and a sworn statement of the branch manager.
Watch out
A branch may not be enough
Five years against a trustee
| Route | Set-up | Each year | Five years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Existing EEA or Swiss company | None | €8 to €12 renewal | €40 to €60 |
| Trustee (Netim) | None | €37 (€25 service, €12 domain) | €185 |
| French SASU | About €176 | About €225 (address, filing, domain), plus CFE and accounting | From about €1,300 |
Figures exclude VAT. The SASU row uses the lowest published domiciliation price and an OVHcloud .fr renewal. CFE and an accountant will add to it every year from the second.
What Afnic checks
Afnic verifies the holder's address in an eligible country and, for a company, that it exists and is active. Under article 3.2 anyone can ask Afnic to check a holder through a form on its website. If the holder cannot show it is eligible, Afnic suspends its portfolio for up to seven days, blocks it for up to 30, and then deletes it.
Key point
Where a real entity pays for itself
Keep reading on .fr
Sources
- Afnic, Naming PolicyVersion dated July 2026. Articles 3.2 and 5.1.
- Afnic, technical integration guide for .frCompany identifiers are optional fields.
- Service-Public, société par actions simplifiée
- Infogreffe, registering a SAS
- Infogreffe, registering a branch of a foreign company
- Service-Public, legal notice rates 2026
- Service-Public, filing annual accounts
- Service-Public, cotisation foncière des entreprises (CFE)
- LegalPlace, domiciliation
Last updated September 2026. This is not tax or legal advice. Check your case with a French accountant before forming a company.