The French overseas domains .re, .pm, .tf, .wf and .yt are the country code top-level domains of Réunion, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the French Southern and Antarctic Territories, Wallis and Futuna and Mayotte; Afnic, the registry of .fr, manages them under the same Naming Policy as .fr, which opens them to individuals residing, and to organisations having their registered office or main establishment, in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.
Each of these five territories has its own two-letter extension, but none of them has its own rulebook. The same document, the Afnic Naming Policy, decides who may hold a .re or a .yt and who may hold a .fr. This guide sets out that rule as Afnic writes it, the few points where the overseas extensions differ from .fr, and what a holder outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland can do. Every eligibility statement below follows the version of the policy dated 6 July 2026, the version in force when this guide was written.
Five territories, one registry
Article 1.1 of the Naming Policy lists the extensions it covers: .fr for mainland France and Corsica, .re for Réunion, .yt for Mayotte, .pm for Saint Pierre and Miquelon, .wf for Wallis and Futuna and .tf for the French Southern and Antarctic Territories. Afnic's own pages give the history of each one:
| Extension | Territory | Ocean | Open to registration |
|---|---|---|---|
| .re | Réunion | Indian Ocean | since July 2001 |
| .yt | Mayotte | Indian Ocean | since December 2011 |
| .tf | French Southern and Antarctic Territories | Indian Ocean | since 2004 |
| .pm | Saint Pierre and Miquelon | Atlantic Ocean | since December 2011 |
| .wf | Wallis and Futuna | Pacific Ocean | since December 2011 |
Afnic was appointed registry for these extensions by two ministerial orders (arrêtés) dated 22 June 2026 and published in the French Official Journal of 26 June 2026, one covering .re and .tf (together with .mq, .gp and .gf) and the other .yt, .pm and .wf, and the French public service concession for each of them was assigned to Afnic in June 2026. Registration goes exclusively through registrars accredited by Afnic: article 3.1 of the policy states that Afnic does not act as a registrar, so a request can never be sent to it directly.
Who can register a French overseas domain
Article 5.1 of the Naming Policy is the eligibility rule, and it is the same for every extension the policy covers. The registration or renewal of a domain name "can be requested by any natural person residing and any legal person having its registered office or main establishment" in one of the European Union member states, or in one of the following countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. The French version, which prevails in case of difficulty of interpretation (article 9.2), says the same and adds that the rule applies in each of the top-level domains.
Three points follow directly from that text:
- Residence, not nationality. A private person qualifies by living in one of these countries. A French citizen living in Canada does not meet the rule; a Portuguese citizen living in Belgium does.
- Registered office or main establishment for organisations. A company, an association or any other legal person qualifies through the place of its registered office or main establishment. A company with its registered office in Italy can hold a .re; a company with its registered office in Singapore and no main establishment in one of these countries cannot.
- No tie with the territory itself. The rule does not ask the holder of a .yt to be in Mayotte, or the holder of a .pm to be in Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Any eligible holder in the European area described above may register any of the five.
The policy adds two duties that apply to every holder. The holder and the administrative contact must be reachable: both must give, and keep in working order, a telephone number and an email address, as well as accurate information to establish their identity, kept up to date through their registrar for as long as the domain is active (article 5.1). And the holder must designate an administrative contact and a technical contact when applying, and keep them for the life of the domain (article 5.2). The administrative contact can be the holder or a third party, including the registrar, but the same eligibility rules apply to it as to the holder.
How the overseas domains compare with .fr
Because the same policy governs all six extensions, most rules are identical. The differences are few, and they are written in the policy itself:
| Rule | .fr | .re | .pm and .yt | .tf and .wf |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who may register (article 5.1) | Residents and organisations of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland | Same rule | Same rule | Same rule |
| Names of one or two characters (article 2.2, point 21) | Not in the list of exclusions | Not authorised | Not authorised | Not authorised |
| Zones closed on 15 March 2013 (article 2.7, point 43) | tm.fr, asso.fr and com.fr: existing names maintained | asso.re and com.re: existing names maintained | None named | None named; under point 45, as in the closed zones (point 44), only operations in accordance with the policy are accepted and only qualification operations on the holder's reachability and existence are carried out |
| Validity period (article 2.8) | From one to ten years | Same | Same | Same |
| Restricted publication for private persons (article 8.4) | By default | Same | Same | Same |
| Dispute resolution (article 7.2) | Syreli and PARL EXPERT | Same | Same | Same |
Two of these differences deserve a word. First, article 2.2 rules out names of one and two alphanumeric characters for .pm, .re, .tf, .wf and .yt. A name such as ab.re cannot be registered, whatever the holder. Second, article 2.7, points 43 to 45, deals with the zones closed to registration on 15 March 2013 (tm.fr, asso.fr, asso.re, com.fr and com.re). Domain names already registered there are maintained, but only operations in accordance with the policy are accepted, and only qualification operations concerning the reachability and the existence of the holder are carried out. Point 45 states that the same applies to domain names registered under .tf and .wf.
The other rules of the policy apply equally to all six. Requests are handled on a first come, first served basis (article 2.3). Some names are subject to prior review, and Afnic keeps the list on its website (article 2.4). Afnic's own reserved terms cannot be registered (article 2.6), and neither can names such as re.fr, pm.fr, yt.fr, tf.fr or wf.fr. When a private person registers a domain, the restricted publication option applies by default: no personal data is published in the Whois database, only technical information (article 8.4).
How Afnic checks eligibility
Afnic does not examine applications before registration, except for the terms subject to prior review (article 3.1). The holder's statements are the basis of the registration, under the holder's responsibility (article 5.3). Afnic can, however, check eligibility and reachability afterwards. For .tf and .wf, points 44 and 45 of article 2.7 limit qualification operations to the reachability and the existence of the holder. Article 3.2 describes a qualification procedure made of two distinct processes: a verification process, which has no effect on the holder's portfolio, and a substantiation process, during which the holder must provide supporting evidence. A substantiation can be started by Afnic, after an unconvincing verification, or after a substantiated complaint from a third party. When the evidence does not come, the policy provides for the suspension, then the blocking, then the deletion of the holder's portfolio, and the situation can be rectified at any time by sending the evidence.
In practice this means that a holder that cannot show, at the end of a substantiation, that it meets the rule of article 5.1 can lose not only the domain in question but its whole portfolio (article 3.2), which Afnic's Procedure Guide defines as all the domain names of the holder identified by its nic-handle. Meeting the eligibility rule is a condition for as long as the domain is held, not only on the day of registration.
What about Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana?
The other French overseas territories are in different situations. According to Afnic, .gp (Guadeloupe), .gf (French Guiana) and .mq (Martinique) were delegated to an Internet service provider until 2026; the French public service concession for them was assigned to Afnic in June 2026, with a technical and legal transition before the end of 2026. Chapter 10 of the Naming Policy sets transitional rules for these three: once their management has moved to Afnic's infrastructure, no new names of one or two characters will be registered, and no new names under their existing naming zones will be allowed, while the holders of names already registered there may keep using and renewing them. That transitional period ends no later than 30 September 2027. New Caledonia (.nc) is managed by its Office des Postes et Télécommunications (OPT), and IANA lists the Government of French Polynesia as the manager of .pf. The codes .bl (Saint Barthélemy) and .mf (Saint Martin), created in 2007, are not delegated.
Registering a French overseas domain from outside the eligible countries
A holder that does not reside, or have its registered office or main establishment, in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland does not meet article 5.1, which applies to the holder itself, and designating an eligible administrative contact (article 5.2) does not change that. The registration then needs a holder that does meet it. That is the role of a local presence service, which can act as the registrant of record when the registry rules require it. The table below shows, for .fr and the five overseas extensions, the condition as our extension pages state it and whether Domgate provides a local presence for each one. It is built from our extension pages and changes with them.
| Domain Extension | Country | Registry condition | Local presence by Domgate |
|---|---|---|---|
| .fr | France | Yes (European Union member States) or Island, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland | Provided by Domgate |
| .re | Reunion | Yes | Provided by Domgate |
| .pm | Saint Pierre and Miquelon | Yes | Provided by Domgate |
| .tf | French Southern and Antarctic Lands | Yes if not EU resident | Provided by Domgate |
| .wf | Wallis and Futuna | Yes | Provided by Domgate |
| .yt | Mayotte | Yes | Provided by Domgate |
List checked on October 13, 2026. The rows come from our extension pages and change with them.
Where the table says Provided by Domgate, the local presence is ordered with the domain on the extension page; where it says Provided on request, our local presence page gives the way to ask. In both cases a written agreement records that the domain is registered for you or your client, who keeps its use and the right to have it transferred. A local presence does not change the rules of the registry: a term on the prior review list still needs Afnic's authorisation (article 2.4), and the holder and the administrative contact must stay reachable (article 5.1).
A holder already established in an eligible country (the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland) needs no local presence: a company with its registered office in Spain or a private person residing in Switzerland can register any of the five through a registrar accredited by Afnic for that extension (article 4.2), under the same eligibility rule as a .fr.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to live in Réunion to register a .re domain?
No. Article 5.1 of the Afnic Naming Policy asks for residence, or a registered office or main establishment, in a European Union member state, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. A holder anywhere in that area may register a .re, and the same applies to .pm, .tf, .wf and .yt.
Can a company from the United States register a .yt or a .pm?
Not in its own name, unless it has its registered office or main establishment in one of the eligible countries. Otherwise the registration needs a local presence: the table above shows whether Domgate provides one for each extension.
Why can I not register a two-letter name under .re?
Article 2.2 of the Naming Policy, point 21, does not authorise the registration of domain names of one and two alphanumeric characters under .pm, .re, .tf, .wf and .yt. The rule applies to every applicant.
Which version of the rules applies to my registration?
The version of the Naming Policy published on Afnic's website as in force on the date Afnic receives the request (article 1.3). A new version applies at once to new domain names, and to existing ones when an administrative operation is requested or when they are renewed. The policy is drafted in French and in English, and the French version prevails in case of difficulty of interpretation (article 9.2).
Sources
- Afnic Naming Policy, version dated 6 July 2026 (articles 1.1, 1.3, 2.2 to 2.8, 3.1, 3.2, 4.2, 5.1 to 5.3, 7.2, 8.4, 9.2 and chapter 10)
- Charte de nommage de l'Afnic, version du 6 juillet 2026 (the French version, which prevails)
- Afnic Procedure Guide, January 2024 edition (glossary: portfolio, nic-handle)
- Afnic, Naming policies and the list of terms subject to prior review
- Arrêté du 22 juin 2026 (.mq, .gp, .gf, .re and .tf) and arrêté du 22 juin 2026 (.yt, .pm and .wf), French Official Journal of 26 June 2026
- Afnic, French overseas Top-Level Domain names
- Afnic, .RE: the internet of Réunion
- IANA, .re, .pm, .tf, .wf and .yt in the Root Zone Database, and .nc and .pf
- Domgate extension pages: .re, .pm, .tf, .wf, .yt and .fr
- Domgate, Local presence
