Which country-code domains you cannot just register

What restricted means

A restricted ccTLD is one where the registry limits who may be the registrant, or attaches a condition that a buyer outside the country cannot meet on their own. The reasons vary: some registries were set up to serve a national community, some are required by law to keep a local point of contact, and some enforce identity rules for accountability.

The practical question for a buyer is always the same. Can I register this directly, and if not, what stands in for the thing I am missing? The answer is usually a local company or a trustee. What differs is how much the registry's own rules constrain that arrangement, which is what the individual explainers work through.

The kinds of restriction

Registrant must qualify

The registry checks the holder itself. You need to be a citizen, a resident, or a locally registered company. A contact address is not enough, and neither is a trademark. This is the strictest kind, and it is where trustee services do the most work.

.no.eu.fr.it.ca.au.hu

Local contact required

Any party can be the registrant, but the registration must name a contact or representative with an in-country address, usually for service of legal documents. A local-presence service supplies that contact without you becoming the holder.

.de.br.sg.jp

Identity verification

The domain is open in principle, but the registry runs real-name or document checks, and in some cases hosting the content locally needs a separate government filing.

.cn

The full list

Filter by restriction type or by whether an EEA address is enough. Rows marked Read have a full, dated explainer; the rest are one-line summaries being expanded.

FilterRestrictionAnyRegistrant must qualifyLocal contact requiredIdentity verificationEEA address is enough

TLD	Country	Restriction	EEA enough	Trustee	Cheapest / yr	Explainer
.de	Germany	Local contact required	No	Yes	Not priced	Read
.eu	European Union	Registrant must qualify	Yes	Yes	Not priced	Read
.fr	France	Registrant must qualify	Yes	Yes	Not priced	In progress
.no	Norway	Registrant must qualify	No	Yes	Not priced	Read
.it	Italy	Registrant must qualify	Yes	Yes	Not priced	In progress
.ca	Canada	Registrant must qualify	No	Yes	Not priced	In progress
.au	Australia	Registrant must qualify	No	Yes	Not priced	In progress
.br	Brazil	Local contact required	No	Yes	Not priced	In progress
.cn	China	Identity verification	No	Yes	Not priced	In progress
.jp	Japan	Local contact required	No	Yes	Not priced	In progress
.sg	Singapore	Local contact required	No	Yes	Not priced	In progress
.hu	Hungary	Registrant must qualify	Yes	Yes	Not priced	In progress

12 of 12 shown. Rows with a linked TLD have a full, dated explainer. The rest are one-line summaries being expanded.

Which ones an EEA company can register directly

If you have a company established in the EU or EEA, these accept it as the registrant with no trustee needed:

• .eu (European Union). Open to EU/EEA citizens, residents and organisations. A non-EEA company needs an eligible party to hold it.
• .fr (France). Open to individuals and organisations in the EEA plus Switzerland. Others need a trustee.
• .it (Italy). Open to citizens and organisations of the EU/EEA, Switzerland, San Marino and Vatican City.
• .hu (Hungary). Open to any person or organisation resident or established in the EEA.

For every other TLD on the list, a company in one EEA country does not satisfy another country's requirement, and you are back to a local entity or a trustee.

Frequently asked questions

Last updated September 2026. Only .no is fully researched against its registry policy so far; the others carry summaries pending full explainers. Spotted an error? Email [email protected].