1. Openprovider
  2. Domains
  3. Documentation per TLD

.be

This article describes the procedures and requirements of .be domain names.
Click on the subject below to open the dropdown for more information.

Registration

Successful domain registration via RCP or XML API or REST API requires:

  • two or more nameservers or a nameserver group
  • registrant data needs to be real and valid. Fake data may lead to suspension by the registry.

 

Contact verification

  • From 1st March 2022, DNSbelgium has implemented a new contact verification process, please find more information about it in this article : New DNSbelgium Registrant Verification Process
  • The status "Not verified" means that the domain name is not selected for verification and it has no impact on the domain name. In other words, the domain name will be active directly.
  • The status "Pending" means the domain is selected for verification and you will receive an email from the registry.
  • In case the verification fails due to an incorrect name, create a new handle with the correct details and start a TRADE to update the domain. Adjusting the name in the handle itself or attaching a different handle during the validation proces is not supported.
  • In case the registrant is unable to locate the email from the BE registry or deleted it by accident, the registrant can contact the registry directly via verification@dnsbelgium.be



Contact verification
In some special cases, the registry will automatically start a contact verification process. This happens for registration requests that might be suspicious (based on multiple parameters). The domain name will not resolved while a verification process is active. The domain registrant and reseller are informed as well about this process. As soon as the registrant proves his or her identity to DNS Belgium, the domain will be unsuspended.

If the data is not updated within 14 days, the domain will get deleted, transferred to the .BE Registry itself and can not be updated or restored via the control panel anymore.
A restore from quarantaine is possible, but comes with extra costs.

Whois information

Starting from June, 2023 the .be registry will no longer display a phone number with the WHOIS details, even if the domain name holder is an organization or a company. This is to comply with GDPR regulations.

A search in the public WHOIS (via web, command line or RDAP) shows the following data:
- Nothing if it is a private person - organization field is not filled in
- The address if it is a legal entity (organization, company) - organization field is filled in

Notes:

  • Starting from January 15, 2024 all .BE domain names will have 1 day renewal offset. This won't be applied to existing domains that expire before March 15th, 2024. 
  • During registration process, .be will send a verification email to the domain owner. This email can be resend only once, if the owner fails to complete verification.
  • Registrar or Domain name holder can request the email verification again from: https://www.dnsbelgium.be/en/registrant-verification.
Transfer

Successful domain transfer via RCP or XML API or REST API requires:

  • two or more nameservers or a nameserver group
  • an authorization code provided by:
    • in case of external transfer - the .be registry > www.dnsbelgium.be
    • in case of internal transfer* - the current Openprovider reseller

The authorization code provided by the registry is valid for 7 days.

A valid EXTERNAL authorization code has 5 blocks of 3 characters, for example 123-345-678-901-234

 

Internal Transfer


*Notification is shown in RCP when internal transfer applies.
Follow these internal transfer steps, as an external transfer-code will not work with internal transfers. An internal code can only be generated by the reseller who manages the domain. This can not be generated in an openprovider account where the domain is not managed.

The registrant can NOT be changed during an internal transfer (unlike an external transfer, where this is supported)

This can only be done once the internal transfer is finished, via the "Trade" option which you can find in your control panel here: https://cp.openprovider.eu/domain/trade1.php
A Trade requires a valid transfercode from the BE registry.
Please see section Update for more information about trades.

Note: If you get the error message "An unknown error has occurred!" when trying to perform an internal transfer, please check and make sure that the domain has nameservers/NS groups assigned to it before the transfer.



Additional notes on a .be transfer

  • Transfer from quarantine is possible, additional costs apply. More information.
  • In the rare case that a .be registrar stops its business, its domains will be transferred to a special registrar account of DNS Belgium. Transfers from this account will not restart their registration period; instead, the expiration date will remain unchanged.
  • A bulk transfer is possible, more information can be found here.

Authorization code required yes
Method of confirmation authcode
Registration period after transfer restarts
Average transfer time Realtime
Advanced and simple transfers available Contact our Sales department to check if easy transfer of 100 or more .be domains is available.
Outgoing transfer

 

In case the error "clientTransferProhibited" is shown when requesting an external transfer code via Openprovider, the transfer lock is enabled in your control panel. Unlock the domain via the domain detail page and try again.

In case the error ""Array" is shown, please check if the domain is still active in your account.

You can also use the following link to request the code: https://www.dnsbelgium.be/en

 

Update

Owner change (trade)

In case an error is shown during the trade or update that the data is not matching with the .be Registry, please check this link to resolve that problem.

Other update

  • requested via RCP or XML API or REST API
  • processed realtime
  • registrant can not be updated, trade is required.

The following rules apply in order to decide whether a trade or normal update is required:

    • Organization to a different organization: trade (also if it's only the trading name that changes)
    • Organization to a private individual: trade (also if the private individual was the previous contact person of the organization)
    • Organization to the same organization, but another contact name: regular update (also if other contact data, like address or e-mail, changes)
    • Private individual to a different private individual: trade
    • Private individual to an organization: trade (also if the organization's contact is similar to the previous private individual)

 

In exceptional cases a monitored update can be requested for € 25,- (excl vat) per domain.

Deletion / Restore

Delete

  • requested via RCP (Reseller Control Panel)  or XML API or REST API
  • processed realtime
  • will result in a quarantine period

Restore / reactivate

Detailed extension information
Registry
Technical information
  • DNSSEC support: yes
  • Minimum length: 2 characters
  • Maximum length: 63 characters
  • Allowed characters: a-z 0-9 -. A domain name mustn't consist of a hyphen (-) on the third and fourth position at the same time.
  • IDN: yes, please see the list of possible special characters
  • Registration period: 1 year
  • Renewal date offset: 1 days
    The number of days before the registry's expiration date, that Openprovider requires the domain to be renewed or expired. More info.
    Note that the dates as shown in your Openprovider account are always leading, even if they do not match the renewal date offset mentioned here.
  • Soft quarantine period: n/a days
    During this period, following after an expiration, the domain can be restored for free. This period does not apply if the domain is deleted explicitly. More info.
  • Quarantine period: 38 days
    During this period, an expired or deleted domain name can be reactivated at an additional fee.
Restrictions
  • Local presence required? no
  • Does Openprovider provide local presence services? no
  • Local activity required? no
  • Correct nameserver configuration required? no
  • The Domain(s) can be registered without further limitations.
  • Please always indicate real data of registrant, avoid setting ZIP as '000000', address as 'german german', always use real and correct state, province, city. Do not set fake data to avoid domain revocation. If you use fake data registry may suspend your domain until registry receive real documents proving your ID. Domain owner will receive email notification in a case of fake data usage.
Policies
Registration agreement The registry requires that a registration agreement is in place between the provider and the domain holder. The text of this registration agreement and any required supplements is the following:

Due to the regular changes in registry rules and configuration or missing information from registry side, and despite our effort to keep our knowledge base up-to-date, information in the knowledge base may be outdated or incorrect. If you encounter some issue, please report it through the "HotJar" feedback collector on the bottom right, or (if it is blocked by your browser) by clicking the "Submit a request" link below. No rights can be derived from the information in this knowledge base. If there is discrepancy between the knowledge base and the process in Openprovider, the process in Openprovider is leading.

Was this article helpful?
Additional questions? Submit a request