How to register
Who can register a .be domain name? Anyone, from businesses to organisations to individuals, can register a .be domain. You need not be a Belgian resident, or, if you operate a business, it need not be based in Belgium. When you register a domain name you acquire an annual right of use of the domain name. You cannot therefore buy a domain name or view it as your property.You can only apply for a domain name via one of our registrars. These are companies who have entered into a contract with DNS.be, through which they are entitled to register domain names. You will find a list of these registrars on this website. Should you wish to register a domain name with a suffix other than .be, please refer to the list of authorities responsible for other top-level domains.
Applying for a domain name: step by step
1. Choose a name
A domain name must be unique. To check whether a given name is still available fill it in in the check box you will find at the top of every page of our website. Domain names must meet with a number of technical requirements: - minimum 2 characters among the letters "a to z", the numbers "0 to 9" and the hyphen "-";
- maximum of 63 characters;
- must not begin or end with a hyphen;
- must not contain a hyphen "-" on the 3rd and 4th position.
You can find more details in the terms and conditions.
Having chosen a domain name you must then contact a registrar. You will find a list of these registrars on our website.
When registering a .be domain name you lend your explicit agreement to the general terms and conditions for end users.
The registrar you have chosen will give these conditions to you at the time of registration, either for formal signature, or for explicit acceptance during (online) registration. If your registrar did not present you with these conditions, you can always view them here.
4. Provide the registrar with the necessary details
You will need to provide the registrar with the following details: Trading name (where appropriate) + contact person: name + phone no. + address + valid e-mail address! A valid e-mail address is of the utmost importance, because it is our only direct means of communication with you, the registrant: it will be used to send you the transfer code of your domain name. DNS.be may withdraw a domain name if it has no active e-mail address.
Remark
It is important to know in advance who is the registrant: individual or organisation. More info.
The registrar will fill in an electronic form (or you can fill it in yourself if you register online). Be sure to check that the details are correct! It is important that the details you give are actually your own, and not those of the registrar or an intermediary (e.g. web designer).
Registration is completely automatic, your registrar will forward the form to us. The domain name will be automatically registered for a period of one year. The registrar will be sent confirmation of this. Once the domain name has been registered, the corresponding fee will be automatically debited from the registrar's account. It is not possible to correct a misspelled domain name; the registrar will have no other option but to register the correct name and pay a second fee.
Newly registered domain names are activated immediately.
When registered, your domain name will be immediately stored in the WHOIS database. Your details will be available to everyone, on the basis that everyone is entitled to know exactly who is the registrant of a given domain name or its associated website. Obviously, the WHOIS database is subject to restrictions, as a means of preventing misuse. Anyone who retrieves a domain name will be subject to the WHOIS Disclaimer, which essentially stipulates that the information cannot be used for commercial purposes.
9. Fees
More info about the rates can be found here.