.US domain policies

There are certain names that are not available for registration. Consistent with ICANN and gTLD procedures, all existing TLDs and two-character country codes are reserved from registration. For a list of reserved names, click here.

Prospective Registrants in the .US TLD must fall in one of three U.S. Nexus categories and must certify that they have a "bona fide presence in the United States." When registering a .US domain, prospective registrants must indicate their use of the domain by selecting one of the Nexus categories.

Note: By agreeing to the policies of the registry, registrants agree to having one of the requirements below. Nothing further is required from the reseller to prove the registrant has a legitimate registration.

Nexus category 1

A natural person (i) who is a United States citizen, (ii) a permanent resident of the United States of America or any of its possessions or territories, or (iii) whose primary place of domicile is in the United States of America or any of its possessions.

Nexus category 2

A United States entity or organization that is (i) incorporated within one of the fifty (50) U.S. states, the District of Columbia, or any of the United States possessions or territories or organized, or otherwise constituted under the laws of a state of the United States of America, the District of Columbia or any of its possessions or (including a federal, state, or local government of the United States, or a political subdivision thereof, and unincorporated organizations based in the United States).

Nexus category 3

An entity or organization (including a federal, state, or local government of the United States, or a political subdivision thereof) that has a bona fide presence in the United States of America or any of its possessions or territories.

• If foreign entity, applicant must state country of citizenship.
• Check from category list, basis for compliance with Nexus requirement - regularly sells goods in the United States; regularly provides services in the United States; regularly engages in business activities, trade or other business (commercial or non-commercial including not-for-profit) relations in the United States;
• Maintains an office or other property within the United States.

Nexus requirements can be entered during the registration process, and altered via the Manage Web Interface.

Note: By agreeing to the policies of the registry, Registrants agree to having one of these requirements. Nothing further is required from the Reseller to prove the Registrant has a legitimate registration.

For an up to date version of the official Nexus Requirements from the Neustar registry, please see the usTLD Nexus Requirements document located here: https://www.about.us/policies/ustld-nexus-requirements

The registry operator conducts weekly random checks for US nexus requirements. They select a small sample (approximately 0.5% of new registrations) and send the selected registrants a Nexus confirmation email (attached to this article).

Each selected registrant will have 30 days to respond to the registry operator. If the registrant fails to respond, the registry operator will attempt a second contact with the registrant. If there is no response to the second contact, the registry operator will delete the domain name. The registry operator is not refunding registration fees for deleted names.

Tucows will receive a copy of any Nexus Confirmation emails sent to domain names registered under our accreditation. We anticipate this will affect only small numbers of registrants.