Before you request a .gov domain

To request a .gov domain, you must be a government employee—or be working on behalf of the government—in a technological, administrative, or executive capacity. Requests from officials in a senior role (e.g., a CIO, a city manager) may be processed faster.

If you have important deadlines to meet, plan ahead and start the request process as soon as possible. It may take several weeks for your request to be evaluated. The guidance below is meant to help you understand the process and navigate it efficiently.

Purpose of the domain request form

We’ll use the information you provide to verify your organization’s eligibility for a .gov domain. We’ll also verify that the domain you request meets our guidelines.

Steps to take before you request your .gov domain

Complete your request as quickly as possible by taking these actions.

Eligibility: Make sure your organization is eligible to have a .gov domain.
Domain name: Choose an available .gov domain that complies with our requirements.
Authorizing official: Find out who your authorizing official is and make sure they approve your request.
Request form: Gather all the information you’ll need to complete your domain request.
Account: Create a Login.gov account. You’ll need a Login.gov account to request a .gov domain. Login.gov provides a simple and secure process for signing in to many government services with one account.

Before you can request your first .gov domain, we’ll require you to verify your identity with Login.gov. This is a necessary layer of security that requires you to prove you are you, and not someone pretending to be you. You’ll need a state-issued ID, a Social Security number, and a phone number for identity verification. You’ll be prompted to verify your identity when you begin the domain request process.

Completing the request form might take 15 minutes

If you have your Login.gov account and have gathered all the information you need, completing your domain request might take around 15 minutes.

You can request one domain per online service

For non-federal agencies, we generally approve one domain per online service per government organization. We'll evaluate additional requests on a case-by-case basis.

You don’t need to defensively register variations of your domain name. While this practice may be common when registering domains open to the general public, the .gov domain space is not first come, first serve. We'll only assign a domain to the organization whose real name or services actually correspond to the domain name.

Information you’ll need to complete the domain request form

We’ll ask you questions about your organization and the domain you want. Here’s what you’ll need to know to complete the form. There’s more information about each of these sections below.

Type of government organization you represent
Organization name and mailing address
Your authorizing official
Current websites for your organization (if you have one)
.Gov domain you want
Purpose of your domain
Your contact information
Other employees from your organization

Type of government organization you represent

You’ll choose from the list below.

Federal: an agency of the U.S. government’s legislative, executive, or judicial branches
Interstate: an organization of two or more states
State or territory: one of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands
Tribal: a tribal government recognized by the federal or a state government
County: a county, parish, or borough
City: a city, town, township, village, etc.
Special district: an independent government that delivers specialized, essential services
School district: a school district that is not part of a local government

Organization name and mailing address

We’ll ask you the name and mailing address for the organization you represent. Your organization might be part of a larger entity. If so, enter the name of your part of the larger entity.

If your domain request is approved, the name of your organization and your city/state will be listed in .gov’s public data.

Your authorizing official

Your authorizing official is a person within your organization who can authorize your domain request. This person must be in a role of significant, executive responsibility within the organization. Read more about who can serve as an authorizing official.

What we’ll need to know about your authorizing official:

Name
Role in your organization
Email address

We typically don’t reach out to the authorizing official, but if contact is necessary, our practice is to coordinate with you, the requestor, first.

Current websites for your organization

We’ll ask about your organization’s current public websites. We can better evaluate your domain request if we know about domains you’re already using. If you already have a .gov domain, include that in your list.

.Gov domain you want

Here’s the part where you’ll tell us the .gov domain you want. We’ll try to give you your preferred domain, but we first need to make sure it meets our requirements. We’ll work with you to find the best domain for your organization.

Your domain name must:

Be available
Relate to your organization’s name, location, and/or services
Be clear to the general public. Your domain name must not be easily confused with other organizations.

Names that uniquely apply to your organization are likely to be approved over names that could also apply to other organizations.

Requests for your organization’s initials or an abbreviated name might not be approved, but we encourage you to request the name you want.

Read more about our domain name requirements.

Purpose of your domain

We’ll ask you to explain how you plan to use your .gov domain. Will you use it for a website and/or email? Read about activities that are prohibited on a .gov domain.

Your contact information

We’ll ask you to provide your contact information. While reviewing your domain request, we may need to reach out with questions. We’ll also email you when we complete our review.

Your contact information won’t be made public and will be used only for .gov purposes.

Other employees from your organization

To help us determine your organization’s eligibility for a .gov domain, it’s helpful to have contact information for other employees from your organization.

They should be clearly and publicly affiliated with your organization and familiar with your domain request.
They don’t need to be involved with the technical management of your domain (although they can be).
We typically don’t reach out to these employees, but if contact is necessary, our practice is to coordinate with you first.

What happens after you request your .gov domain

We’ll review your request. This review period can take 30 business days. Due to the volume of requests, the wait time is longer than usual. We appreciate your patience.

During our review we’ll verify that:

Your organization is eligible for a .gov domain
You work at the organization and/or can make requests on its behalf
Your requested domain meets our naming requirements

After your domain is approved, we’ll ask you to provide the following information:

Domain name server information (required)
Additional domain managers
Security email for public use

Before your approved .gov domain can be used, you’ll need to connect it to your DNS hosting service. At this time, we don’t provide DNS hosting services.

Start your domain request

If you’re ready to request your domain, then let’s get started. You don’t have to complete the process in one session. You can save what you enter and come back to it when you’re ready.

Start a .gov domain request