.com.al for Foreign Companies: Register Your Brand with Free Local Presence
The number 1 .al domain registrar.
Many foreign companies register their brand as .al and stop there. But in Albania .com.al is the traditional address for businesses, and if someone else registers your-brand.com.al, customers may land on a site that isn’t yours.
The rules say .com.al is for companies registered in Albania. This article explains how a foreign company can still register it, legally and at no extra cost.
The rule: .com.al needs an Albanian company
The registry, AKEP, asks every .com.al registrant to prove that they are a company registered in Albania. A foreign company without an Albanian branch can’t meet this on its own. Most international registrars therefore either don’t offer .com.al or tell foreign customers they can’t have it.
The solution: Host.al’s local presence
Host.al offers local presence for .com.al: we provide the Albanian presence the registry requires, and you keep the use of the domain for your brand.
- Free. There is no fee for the local presence. You pay only the normal .com.al price.
- Your brand, your website. You decide where the domain points, and you manage its DNS and renewals from my.host.al.
- Run by an accredited registrar. Host.al is accredited by AKEP and ICANN and manages close to 16,000 .al domains.
Who uses it
- International brands protecting their name in the Albanian market.
- Companies entering Albania before their local branch is registered.
- Agencies registering domains for foreign clients.
What you need
- The company name, address and contact details of the brand owner.
- The .com.al name you want. Check it with the domain search.
- Tell us at checkout, or contact us, that you need local presence.
Approval by AKEP usually takes up to 24 hours and at most 3 working days.
Register .al and .com.al together
The safest choice is to register both your-brand.al and your-brand.com.al and point one at the other. .al is open to anyone, so no local presence is needed for it. See prices for every extension on the .al domains page, or read the full guide to registering a .al domain.
Empower your business with Host.al
Recommended posts
Yes, non Albanian citizens or companies can register .al domains...
Host.al, Albania’s largest .al domain registrar proudly announces it now operates as an ICANN Accredited Registrar under its sister company, Zana Tech Inc...