Yes, absolutely. You can register a .ae domain name anytime. There are no eligibility criteria and no need for any form of pre-approvals. Like .com domains and many other domains worldwide, .ae domains are free to register by anyone. That said, there are a few things to consider.
.ae domain registration is handled by the .ae domain administration (.aeDA) department at TDRA, the UAE government’s body responsible for regulating the telecommunications sector and enabling digital transformation.
The .aeDA is responsible for the setting and enforcement of all policies with regard to the operation of the .ae country code top-level domain. It follows the ‘Registry – Registrar Model’ to provide clarity of the roles within the industry, and to provide competitive pricing and service models for registrants.
A registrant is an aspirant who wants to register a domain for themselves or for use by their organization. The ‘Register – Registrar Model’ allows for the roles of accredited registrars, who are licensed to enable registration services on their websites. These services cover the entire domain life cycle — registration, renewal, management, and discontinuation — from the registrar’s online service. So here, the relationship is directly between a domain registrar and the domain’s registrant, the person registering the domain, and most registrars in the UAE have good customer service.
The .aeDA also considers resellers, like Ismi, legitimate parties to the domain registration process and allows registrars to extend domain registration services through the appointment of resellers. A reseller does not have access to the domain registry and routes all domain requests through a domain registrar with whom they’re set up. That way, the service is available to many more customers, especially those who prefer using the services of trusted third parties.
Here’s how everything usually works. In the DIY model, you can register a domain by finding a licensed .ae domain name registrar. That way, you can look up domain names, find one that’s available, and continue with registration. Most of the time, registration simply requires your details, a form of payment like a credit or debit card, or PayPal, and that’s it. Thereafter, the domain gets registered instantly and is connected to the domain name servers you enter while registering.
And that’s where things get confusing for most first-time domain buyers. A domain name is just a name for your website, not the website itself or the space that hosts it. So you need to order web hosting where your website gets published and link your domain to the web hosting provider’s domain name servers. That connection takes your website live.
Unless you’re a marketing and technology whiz kid or guru, DIY fails right in two places — figuring out the right domain name, and taking care of the technical part that follows thereafter. At Ismi, we help with domain name registration, prior to and after you place an order, so you have no issue when registering your domain. As a .ae reseller, we understand that domain names have nuances like figuring out the right name, the right spelling, in some cases, checking for connotations, and combing through a maze of unavailable domains since the .ae domain registry is huge.
To find the right domain name, simply send an email to support@ismi.ae
or connect with us on WhatsApp, give us an idea of what kind of domain name you’re looking for, and a couple of keywords matching your project name. Thereafter, we’ll come up with a list of available items and help you get set up. Once the domain name is registered, we can recommend the right kind of web hosting plan depending on your website, and also take care of setting up your domain name servers.
When all is said and done, you’ll have a working website, and the Ismi team behind it to help you out. So yes, any individual or organization can register a .ae domain name. However, getting it set up right can be a tad difficult. And we take care of just that bit.