gTLD Application Requirements
Understand the technical, financial, legal, and operational capabilities required to successfully apply for and operate a top-level domain extension.
Overview of Requirements
ICANN's New gTLD Program establishes rigorous requirements to ensure that only capable, responsible organizations operate registry services. These requirements span technical infrastructure, financial resources, operational capabilities, and legal compliance.
Understanding these requirements early in your planning process is essential. Failure to meet any requirement can result in application rejection or extended evaluation, increasing costs and delaying your TLD launch.
Legal Entity
Must be established corporation, organization, or government
Financial
$227,000 fee + preparation and operational funds
Technical
RSP partnership or self-operated registry capability
String
3-63 characters, A-Z only (ASCII), must not confuse
Who Can Apply?
Legal Entity Requirement
Applicants must be established legal entities at the time of application. ICANN does not accept applications from individuals or entities that do not yet exist.
Eligible entity types include:
- Corporations — Public or private companies
- Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) — Registered and in good standing
- Non-Profit Organizations — Charitable, educational, or community organizations
- Government Entities — National, regional, or local governments
- Educational Institutions — Universities, colleges, schools
Individuals CANNOT Apply
Unlike domain name registration where individuals can register domains, the gTLD application program is exclusively for organizations. You must have:
- Legal existence at the time of application
- Corporate formation documents
- Good standing in your jurisdiction
- Authorization to conduct registry business
No Pending Joint Ventures
Entities formed specifically for the gTLD application that do not yet exist at the time of application are not eligible. Any joint ventures or special purpose entities must be fully formed and operational before the application window opens.
String Requirements
Your TLD string (the part after the dot) must meet ICANN's technical and policy requirements:
Character Requirements
- Minimum 3 characters — To avoid confusion with two-letter country codes (ccTLDs)
- Maximum 63 characters — Technical DNS limit
- Letters A-Z only (ASCII) — No numbers in ASCII strings (numbers only in IDN A-labels like xn--)
- No hyphens at start or end — Hyphens cannot be the first or last character
- No hyphens in positions 3 and 4 — Reserved for IDN encoding
Confusion and Similarity
Your string must not create confusion with:
- Existing TLDs (both gTLDs and ccTLDs)
- Reserved strings or ICANN-related names
- Country or territory names (unless you have government support)
- International intergovernmental organization names
- Other applied-for strings (contention)
IDN String Requirements
For Internationalized Domain Names (non-ASCII scripts):
- Must use Punycode encoding (xn-- format) for DNS
- Must comply with relevant script rules
- Variant management required for equivalent characters
- Cannot mix incompatible scripts
Trademark Requirements for Brand TLDs
If applying for a Brand TLD:
- Must have registered trademark matching the string
- Trademark must be valid and in good standing
- Must obtain SMD file from Trademark Clearinghouse
- Additional $500 Spec 13 evaluation fee applies
Technical Requirements
Registry Service Provider (RSP) Requirement
All applicants must use a pre-evaluated Registry Service Provider (RSP) or demonstrate capability to self-operate a registry.
Pre-Evaluated RSPs
ICANN has pre-evaluated RSPs through:
- First RSP Pre-Evaluation: November 2024 - May 2025
- Second RSP Evaluation: April 2026 (concurrent with application window)
Major pre-evaluated RSPs include: CentralNic, Identity Digital, Verisign, GoDaddy Registry, and AFNIC.
Self-Operated Registry Option
Organizations may choose to operate their own registry infrastructure if they can demonstrate:
- Technical capability to operate DNS infrastructure
- 24/7/365 operations capability
- EPP (Extensible Provisioning Protocol) implementation
- WHOIS service capability
- Data escrow capability
- DNSSEC implementation
- Security and abuse mitigation systems
Core Technical Capabilities
DNS Infrastructure
- Minimum two authoritative nameservers
- Geographic diversity (different continents recommended)
- Separate network paths and ASNs
- IPv6 support mandatory
- 99.99% availability requirement
- DDoS mitigation capability
EPP (Extensible Provisioning Protocol)
- RFC 5730-5734 compliance
- Domain, host, and contact mappings
- Launch phase mapping for Sunrise/Claims
- Secure authentication and access control
DNSSEC
Mandatory for all new gTLDs:
- Zone signing using algorithm 8 (RSA/SHA-256) minimum
- Secure key management practices
- Regular key rollovers
- DS record publication in parent zone
Data Escrow
- ICANN-approved escrow agent required
- Daily incremental deposits minimum
- Weekly full deposits minimum
- All registration data, zone files, configuration
Financial Requirements
Application Fee
$227,000 USD per string applied for, payable to ICANN at time of submission through TAMS.
Funding Sources
You must demonstrate access to adequate funding through:
- Corporate cash reserves
- Committed credit facilities
- Investor commitments
- Parent company guarantees
- Other verifiable funding sources
Required Financial Documentation
- Audited financial statements for the past three years
- Projected financial statements for the first three years of operation
- Detailed budget breakdown for start-up and ongoing operations
- Funding sources documentation
- Continuing Operations Instrument or Letter of Credit
Continuing Operations Instrument (COI)
Registry operators must maintain financial assurance for continuity:
- Minimum amount typically $100,000 - $500,000 depending on TLD size
- Can be a letter of credit, surety bond, or cash deposit
- Must be from an ICANN-approved financial institution
- Must remain in effect throughout registry operation
Operational Capabilities
Personnel Requirements
Operating a registry requires qualified personnel across multiple functions:
Key Personnel Roles
- Registry Manager: Overall responsibility for TLD operations
- Technical Operations: DNS, registry systems, infrastructure management
- Compliance Officer: Ensuring adherence to ICANN policies and agreements
- Customer Support: Registrar and registrant support services
- Security Officer: Security policy and incident management
For smaller operations, these roles may be combined or outsourced to a Registry Services Provider, but responsibility remains with the registry operator.
24/7/365 Operations
Registry operations must be continuous:
- 24/7 monitoring of all critical systems
- On-call personnel for incident response
- Established escalation procedures
- Communication channels with ICANN and registrars
Operational Procedures
You must have documented procedures for:
- Domain registration lifecycle management
- Registrar accreditation and management
- Abuse handling and mitigation
- Dispute resolution (UDRP, URS) coordination
- Data retention and privacy compliance
- Incident response and escalation
- Business continuity and disaster recovery
Geographic TLD Requirements
For Geographic TLDs (city, region, or country names):
Government Support Letter Required
- Letter of support from appropriate government entity
- Must be from relevant jurisdiction (city, regional, or national)
- Must endorse the application
- Additional $18,000-$25,000 geographic name review fee
Community Benefit
Must demonstrate how the TLD benefits the local community:
- Promotion of local businesses and tourism
- Creation of local digital identity
- Support for local cultural initiatives
- Economic development benefits
Registration Restrictions
Geographic TLDs typically implement location-based restrictions:
- Proof of residence or business presence in the area
- Nexus requirements connecting registrants to the location
- Premium allocation for local government and institutions
Documentation Checklist
Preparing a complete application requires extensive documentation:
Corporate Documentation
- Certificate of incorporation/formation
- Good standing certificates (all jurisdictions)
- Corporate bylaws or operating agreement
- Board resolutions authorizing TLD application
- Ownership structure diagrams
- Related party disclosures
Financial Documentation
- Three years audited financial statements
- Current interim financial statements
- Three-year financial projections
- Funding commitment letters
- Continuing Operations Instrument or LOC
- Detailed operating budget
Technical Documentation
- Registry system architecture diagrams
- RSP agreement (if applicable)
- DNS infrastructure specifications
- Data center details and certifications
- Security policies and procedures
- Disaster recovery and business continuity plans
- Escrow agent agreement
TLD-Specific Documentation
- Registration policies
- String selection rationale
- Intended use description
- Pricing schedule (if applicable)
- Trademark documentation (Brand TLDs)
- Government support letter (Geographic TLDs)
- Community endorsement (Community TLDs)
Ready to Meet the Requirements?
Our team can help you assess your readiness and prepare for a successful application.