.us Domain
The United States' Official Country Domain
Register your .us domain from just £11.99/yr. Free DNS management, email forwarding, and 10GB mailbox included with every domain.
This domain has registration restrictions
Only US citizens and residents, US entities, and foreign organisations with a bona fide presence in the United States may hold a .us domain, and the requirement continues for the life of the registration. Read the full eligibility rules.
What is a .us domain?
The .us domain is the country code TLD for the United States, managed by GoDaddy Registry (under contract with NTIA). While .com dominates in the US market, .us offers an explicitly American identity. Registration is restricted to US citizens, permanent residents, and entities with a US presence. This restriction gives .us credibility as a verifiably American domain. The extension has gained traction with local government, education, and community organisations.
Who should register .us?
US-based businesses, American local government, community organisations, and UK companies with a US subsidiary or registered agent.
Why choose .us?
- Official US country code with nexus requirement
- Explicitly American identity distinct from generic .com
- Popular with US local government and public organisations
- Managed by GoDaddy Registry under federal contract
Who runs .us, and since when
Registry data from the .us delegation record held by IANA, which maintains the internet's root zone. Eligibility comes from the registry's own policy, and the prices are ours.
- Extension type
- Country-code (ccTLD)
- Registry operator
- Registry Services, LLC
- The organisation that runs the extension
- In the root zone since
- 1985
- Delegated 15 February 1985
- Who can register
- US citizens, residents and organisations, or foreign entities with a US presence
- Checked against the registry's own policy
- Our price
- £11.99 a year
- Ex VAT. Renews at the same price
The .us nexus rule, and how it gets checked
The .us domain entered the root zone in February 1985, older than almost anything you can register today, and for its first fifteen years it was not a consumer product at all. It was organised as a map. Businesses sat under their town, which sat under their state, using the two-letter state codes assigned by the US Postal Service, so an address looked like company.alexandria.va.us. Alongside the localities ran affinity branches that still exist: k12 for public school districts, lib for libraries, cc for community colleges, fed and state for government. That legacy is why American local authorities, school districts and public bodies are so well represented on this extension, and why private companies mostly are not.
The nexus rule
Registration is restricted, and the restriction is the whole character of the extension. The usTLD Nexus Requirements Policy sorts every registrant into one of three categories: a natural person who is a US citizen, a permanent resident, or primarily domiciled in the United States; a US entity incorporated or constituted under the laws of a US state, the District of Columbia or a territory, which includes governments and non-commercial organisations; or a foreign entity or organisation with "a bona fide presence in the United States". A UK company would be relying on the third, and the policy spells out what that means. You regularly carry out lawful activities there, such as selling goods or providing services to US customers, or you maintain an office or other facility there. Doing either "solely or primarily" to obtain the domain does not count.
It is a continuing requirement rather than a box ticked once. Registry Services runs spot checks, and a name pulled for revalidation has to be backed with documents: a US passport or birth certificate for a citizen, a green card for a permanent resident, a deed, lease or tax ID for a US organisation, a bill of sale showing a US buyer for a foreign entity relying on category three. Fail the check and the name goes on a thirty-day hold while your registrar is given the chance to correct it. If nothing is corrected, the registration is cancelled, the name returns to available and the registration fee is not refunded.
There is also no privacy on a .us, at any price. The usTLD Privacy Services Policy forbids registrars, resellers, affiliates and contractors from offering anonymous or proxy registration, and stops a registrar putting its own contact details in the registrant field. Whatever you supply is what the public sees. Our steer: buy a .us when the American identity is the point and you can evidence the connection. A UK business with an ambition rather than an office should buy the .com.
Who is allowed to register .us?
Only US citizens and residents, US entities, and foreign organisations with a bona fide presence in the United States may hold a .us domain, and the requirement continues for the life of the registration.
- Nexus Category 1
- A natural person who is a United States citizen, a permanent resident of the US or any of its possessions or territories, or whose primary place of domicile is in the US. A statement of citizenship or legal permanent residency is required, and a registration without it is rejected outright.
- Nexus Category 2
- A US entity or organisation incorporated within one of the fifty states, the District of Columbia or a US possession or territory, or otherwise constituted under those laws. Federal, state and local government bodies and US-based non-commercial organisations fall in here, which is why so much of American local government sits on this extension.
- Nexus Category 3
- A foreign entity or organisation with a bona fide presence in the United States, which is the only route open to a UK company. You must regularly perform lawful activities in the US related to why the organisation exists, such as selling to US customers, or maintain an office or facility there. Activity arranged solely or primarily to obtain the domain is excluded by the policy.
- What you certify
- At registration you certify that you satisfy the nexus requirement, state which category you fall under, and certify that the listed name servers are located within the United States. The policy states that a registration missing any of those three certifications is rejected rather than held.
- If you do not qualify
- Compliance has to continue for as long as you hold the name, and Registry Services runs spot checks with documentary evidence demanded from the registrant. A registration that does not satisfy nexus goes on a thirty-day hold; if the registrar has not corrected it in that window the registration is cancelled, the name returns to available and the fee is not refunded.
Rules taken from the usTLD Nexus Requirements Policy. Registry policy can change, so check before you buy if the answer matters to you.
Not sure whether you qualify? Ask us before you order and we will check the registry rules with you. We would rather answer the question than take an order the registry will refuse.
Is .us the right choice for you?
We would rather sell you the right extension once than the wrong one twice.
.us works well if
- You have a US subsidiary, a US office or real trading activity there, and you want an address that says American rather than merely global.
- You are a public body, a school, a library or a community organisation in the United States, which is the community this extension was designed around and still serves.
- You want the eligibility rule working for you. Because .us is checked and .com is not, an address ending in .us is a statement your competitors cannot make without qualifying too.
- The name you want is gone in .com but free in .us, and you would rather have a clean two-word name than a padded or hyphenated alternative.
Look elsewhere if
- You have American ambitions but no office, no US customers and nothing to show a compliance check. The nexus rule is a continuing obligation, not a formality.
- You need your registrant details kept private. There is no privacy or proxy option on .us at any price, and offering one is prohibited to registrars outright.
- You expect American consumers to prefer it. In the United States .com is the default in a way it is nowhere else, and .us can read as second choice.
- You want certainty of tenure without maintenance. A name that fails a spot check goes on a thirty-day hold and can be cancelled with no refund of what you paid.
Selling to Americans without a US presence to evidence? The .com is the safer buy and carries no eligibility risk. See .com pricing.
.us vs .com: which should you register?
In most countries the national extension outsells the .com at home. The United States is the exception, and the reason is chronology: .com was already the default American business address long before anyone thought of .us as something an ordinary company might buy, so the home crowd never migrated.
That leaves .us a narrower but real job. It is a verified claim: every holder has certified a connection to the United States and can be asked to prove it, which no .com holder is ever asked to do. For a government body, a school district or a business whose Americanness is the selling point, that verification is the product. For everybody else, .com is what customers type and what they will assume you meant if you say .us out loud.
The split we would suggest: register the .com as the address you print, and take the .us where the American identity does real work, such as a US regional site. Hold both where the budget allows, because the rule that makes .us worth having is also the rule that can take it away.
| .us | .com | |
|---|---|---|
| Who may register | US citizens, residents, US entities, or foreign entities with a US presence | Anyone worldwide |
| Eligibility checked | At registration and by spot check afterwards | Never |
| WHOIS privacy | Prohibited outright | Sold as a paid add-on |
| Geographic signal | United States | None |
| In the root zone since | 1985 | 1985 |
| Good names left | Some, in most categories | Very few without hyphens |
.us domain questions, answered
What people ask us before registering a .us domain.
Can't find what you're looking for?
Ask us directlyOnly through Nexus Category 3, which covers a foreign entity or organisation with a bona fide presence in the United States. In practice that means you regularly carry out lawful activities there, such as selling goods or providing services to US customers, or you maintain an office or other facility there. The policy specifically excludes activity arranged solely or primarily to obtain the domain, so opening a mailbox in Delaware for the purpose does not qualify you. If you cannot evidence it, buy the .com.
The name goes on a thirty-day hold and your registrar is notified and given the chance to correct the information with you. If nothing is corrected in that window the registration is cancelled, the name returns to available for anyone to take, and the registration fee is not refunded. Registry Services runs these spot checks on selected registrations rather than reviewing everything, so a name can sit quietly for years and then be asked to prove itself.
No, and it is not a matter of paying more. The usTLD Privacy Services Policy prohibits registrars and their resellers, affiliates, partners and contractors from offering anonymous or proxy registration for any .us name, and separately bars a registrar from using its own contact details in the registrant record. The reasoning is the nexus rule: accurate public data is how the registry enforces eligibility. If publishing your details is a problem, this is the wrong extension for you.
It depends which category you registered under. A US citizen supplies a passport or birth certificate showing their name. A permanent resident supplies a green card. A US organisation supplies a valid deed, lease, tax ID or other official document showing the entity and its US address, dated within the last two years. A foreign entity in category three supplies a bill of sale naming a US buyer. The registry recommends redacting identifier numbers first.
They are the original .us, and they still work. The extension was built as a hierarchy of political geography under RFC 1480: two-letter state and territory codes from the US Postal Service, localities beneath them, and affinity branches for schools (k12), libraries (lib), community colleges (cc) and government (fed and state). Delegated Managers administer parts of that space under agreement with the registry. It is why a US school district or city agency often has a long .us address rather than a short .com.
Usually only for a specific job. If the .com is your address and it is working, a second registration should have a purpose: a US regional site, a campaign aimed at American buyers, or blocking a name you would not want somebody else running. Remember that the .us carries a continuing eligibility rule with no refund if it fails a check, so it is not a domain to register and forget about. If you cannot name what it is for, keep the money.
Included with Your .us Domain
DNS Management
Full DNS zone editor to manage A, CNAME, MX, TXT, and all record types.
Email Forwarding
Set up professional email addresses and forward to any inbox.
Auto-Renewal
Never lose your domain with automatic renewal protection.
Free 10GB Mailbox
One 10GB mailbox (POP3/IMAP) included with every domain, on any TLD.
Other Geographic Domains Extensions
Register your .us domain today
Secure your .us domain from just £11.99/yr. Free DNS management, email forwarding, and 10GB mailbox included.
