.UK domain registration requirements

Quick Answer

.UK registrations may have eligibility, contact, document or local-presence requirements. Review the current requirements in this guide before ordering, and make sure the registrant data exactly matches any supporting documents.

Before You Begin

Use legal names and addresses that match the supporting documents.
Confirm the registrant meets the extension's eligibility rules.
Keep an accessible email address for registry or NiceNIC verification.

NiceNIC Instructions

.UK is the ccTLD for the United Kingdom. You can also register a.CO.UK domain name with us, as well as.ORG.UK and.ME.UK domains. GDPR regulations have made providing additional information for registration of the .UK domains optional. Accordingly, NiceNIC also does not require that you specify your identity type (i.e., non-UK individual or organization) or provide any additional information such as company number unless you choose to.

However, you do need to make sure that the Registrant Name and contact information that you supply for your UK domains are valid, up-to-date, and meet Registry standards. Please check What does good registrant data look like? for more information. The Registrant name (company or individual) of a .UK domain must contain at least 4 characters, and of these 3 or more must be letters. I.e., if a domain name is registered for organization the 'Company name' field must contain at least 4 characters, and of these 3 or more must be letters.

Otherwise registration will fail with error: Parameter value syntax error, with processor code '2005' and reason 'V328 Registrant name does not meet minimum requirements as this field must contain at least 4 characters and of these 3 or more must be letters'. Due to the GDPR changes, it is possible to use PO Boxes for new registrations. To comply with GDPR standards, the .UK Registry does not show domain contact information in WHOIS.

However, if the domain owner themselves are required to show their contact data in the public WHOIS (as with government or nonprofit organizations, for example), they can choose to opt-in, thereby publicly displaying their contact information.

How to Verify

Confirm that the order is active rather than pending document review. Check the registry status and make sure the saved registrant data matches the approved information.

Troubleshooting

The registrant selected the wrong eligibility category.
The name, organization or address differs between the order and document.
A document is expired, unclear, incomplete or unsupported.
A local-presence, intended-use or nexus rule has not been satisfied.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the registry request more information?

Yes. Registry and compliance reviews may request additional evidence even after an order is submitted.

What happens if the information does not match?

The registration may remain pending or be rejected until the registrant data and documents are corrected.

When should I submit a ticket?

Submit a ticket before ordering if eligibility is unclear, or after ordering if the registry requests information not covered by the upload flow.

Related NiceNIC Guides

If the issue continues after you complete the checks above, submit a NiceNIC support ticket with the affected domain or product, the exact error message, the time of the issue and the troubleshooting already completed.