Can a foreigner register a .no domain?

The rules below are drawn from Norid's Domain Name Policy for .no, version dated August 2025, and cited by section so you can check them.

Who can hold a .no domain

The policy recognises two kinds of subscriber, with different requirements for each.

Organisations

Under section 5.1 the applicant must be an organisation registered in the Norwegian Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities (Enhetsregisteret, run by the Brønnøysund Register Centre), and must be one of the organisation types listed in Appendix E. Not every registered entity type qualifies.

Two conditions matter more than people expect:

• The organisation must in fact conduct business, or have activities and a presence consistent with what its Central Coordinating Register entry says.
• It must document its existence if Norid asks.

It also needs a Norwegian postal address.

Private individuals

Individuals have been eligible since 2014. Under section 5.3 you must be over 18, registered in the Norwegian National Population Register (Folkeregisteret) with a Norwegian national identity number, and hold a Norwegian postal address.

The numbers that bound it

Side by side

What the policy says about trustees

Nothing directly. Trustee and local-presence services are not mentioned in the policy at all. That silence is the point: no clause authorises the arrangement, and several clauses shape how it works. These are the ones to understand before you buy one.

You are not buying ownership

Sections 1.4 and 14.2 are explicit. Registration grants a right of use, not an ownership right, and it does not create any greater right to the name than the applicant already had.

The identifier is the right-holder

Under section 14.3 the subscriber is identified by organisation number or national identity number, and that identifier is what indicates who holds the right to use the domain. If a trustee is the subscriber, the trustee's organisation number is on record as the right-holder, not yours.

The subscriber carries the liability

Section 15.2 puts full responsibility on the applicant, including criminal liability and liability for damages, for the consequences of registering and using the name. Norid does not check any of this in advance.

A registration on wrong information can be undone

Under section 12.1(4) a registration made on incorrect information supplied by or on behalf of the applicant may be deleted, normally with 60 days' notice under section 12.4. Separately, under section 17.5, Norid itself can complain that a domain was registered contrary to the signed declaration, within three years of registration.

Getting the domain back out

Exit is the part buyers underestimate. Under section 11.1 transferring a .no domain is not a change of record: the existing subscription is discontinued and a new one created for the new subscriber. Section 11.2 makes that conditional on three things.

1. The new subscriber meets the policy requirements.
2. The existing subscription has not expired.
3. The outgoing subscriber agrees to surrender the domain.

How registration works

You apply through a registrar

Section 7.1 requires applications to come from a registrar holding an agreement with Norid. You cannot apply directly, and under section 13.2 Norid will not take payment from you directly either. Since the policy took its current form in 2001 there is no requirement to justify your right to a name; Norid does not assess it (section 15.2). It is first come, first served.

Name servers must work before registration

Under section 6.1 at least two name servers must be specified, and all of them must be correctly configured for the domain and functional when the application reaches Norid. Only fully delegated domains are registered. You do not have to run the name servers yourself (section 6.3). This trips up people who buy the domain before setting up DNS.

The declaration you sign

Appendix G, signed electronically through your registrar, warrants that the registration does not infringe third-party rights, does not breach Norwegian law, and does not falsely imply public authority. A missing signature counts as erroneous information under section 12.1(4). Subscriptions run one year from the registration date (section 15.4).

Name format and length

Under section 3 a .no name is 2 to 63 characters, using the letters a to z, digits, hyphens, and a defined set of Nordic and Sámi characters including æ, ø, å, š, ŧ and ŋ. The first and last character must be a letter or digit.

What the public lookup shows

Norid runs a public lookup service (section 16.2). How much it reveals depends on subscriber type: organisations, sole proprietorships and private individuals are each shown differently. Under a trustee arrangement the trustee's details appear, not yours, which some buyers treat as a privacy feature and is better understood as a side effect of the trustee being the right-holder.

Cost

Registrar pricing for .no is being collected and is not published here yet. Norid's own subscription fee is set in Appendix K of the policy; registrar retail prices vary and each needs its own checked date. When the data is ready it will appear on the .no trustees page with a source and date on every figure. Nothing will be published as an estimate.

If you are not Norwegian: two routes

Register a Norwegian entity

An AS (private limited company) or a NUF (Norwegian-registered branch of a foreign company) gives you an organisation number and full eligibility for up to 100 domains. It carries real obligations: accounting, filing, and for an AS, share capital. It is the clean route if you are trading in Norway.

Use a trustee

Faster and cheaper up front. The trustee becomes the subscriber of record and you hold contractual rights against them rather than registry rights. Compare .no trustee providers, prices and exit terms.

Frequently asked questions

Last updated September 2026. Registry policies change. If you spot something out of date, email [email protected].