Registering a .bg domain looks simple, but the registry has its own rules and it is good to know them before you pay. Who can be the owner, what documents are submitted, what name is allowed and what happens if the domain is not renewed in time.
This guide goes through choosing a name, checking that it is free, the registration itself and connecting the domain to hosting. The facts about the rules come from the General Terms of the Register.BG registry, version 4.12, in force since 9 August 2026. At the end there is a checklist.
Who can register a .bg domain?
The registry of .bg is Регистър.БГ ООД (Register.BG). Its General Terms divide owners into three groups (point 3).
| Group | Who belongs to it |
|---|---|
| Companies and organizations | Those with a court or commercial registration in Bulgaria or in an EU state, with a founding act from a Bulgarian state body, created under an agreement between Bulgaria and other states, or registered abroad but with a branch or trade representation registered in Bulgaria |
| Individuals | Persons with legal capacity who are Bulgarian citizens, foreigners with the right of permanent residence in Bulgaria, and citizens of an EU state |
| Persons from abroad | Persons registered abroad who authorize a third party, which has to belong to the first two groups |
So a Bulgarian company, a company from another EU state and a Bulgarian citizen can be owners. Every domain has one owner (point 2.3.8), who bears full legal responsibility for what happens in the domain (point 2.3.9). Register the domain to the company or to yourself, not to an agency or an acquaintance. Changing the owner later needs a contract between the two parties, notarized or signed with electronic signatures (point 8.6).
What documents does the registry ask for?
The application is filled in online through the registrar you choose, with a declaration that you accept the General Terms (point 4). The documents are in Bulgarian or English, or officially translated. Identity is proven in one of two ways (Appendix 1).
With an electronic signature the identity is established by the signature itself and no other documents are needed. Without one, the documents are signed by the representative and submitted through the registrar, by ordinary post (point 4.3). The table shows what is required.
| Owner | What to submit without an electronic signature |
|---|---|
| Company or organization | An original application signed by the representative, and a certificate of the current status of the court or commercial registration. If a proxy signs, also a notarized power of attorney in the original. Some types of entities have extra requirements (Appendix 1) |
| Individual | A notarized application or personal presence with an ID card (a foreigner with a permanent residence certificate). If a proxy signs, also a notarized power of attorney |
| Person from abroad | An original application from the authorized person and proof of the owner's registration. The authorized person is identified as a company or as an individual |
Documents for the right to use the name are optional (point 4.2). If you submit them, the domain is protected. Without them it is unprotected, unless it has been maintained continuously for more than five years (point 1.6).
The registry recommends submitting them before the registration if you have such a basis. If the name is the full name of the owner, the identity documents are also the basis (Appendix 2, point П2.1). The difference shows in a dispute, because an unprotected domain can be taken away in favor of an applicant with an earlier basis for using the name (point 11.4.1).
How to choose a name for the domain
The rules for the name are in point 5 of the General Terms.
- Latin letters from A to Z, digits and the hyphen are allowed. Cyrillic is allowed too, under the conditions below.
- The first and the last character are a letter or a digit. It is recommended that the first is a letter.
- The length is 3 to 63 characters. Two-character names are an exception that is given only at an auction (points 5.2.4 and 7.5), and we do not cover them here.
- A name in Cyrillic uses only Cyrillic letters and contains at least one of б, г, д, ж, и, й, л, п, ф, ц, ч, ш, щ, ъ, ь, ю, я. Otherwise it is written in Latin letters.
- The names of municipalities, regions and countries are reserved, and so are words such as register, domain and dns (point 5.3). Obscene and offensive names are not allowed, nor names that can cause confusion (point 5.4).
Choose a name that is yours, for example the name of the company or of the brand. Registering a domain does not give you rights to the name (point 2.3.10) and the registration can be challenged. A short name without hyphens is easier to dictate over the phone.
What .бг is and why it is not the same as .bg
.бг is a separate top-level domain, not another spelling of .bg. According to IANA, .bg is managed by Register.BG and .бг by Imena.BG AD, and each registry has its own General Terms.
In .бг only letters of the Bulgarian alphabet, digits and a hyphen are allowed, with at least three characters. A Latin name is not allowed there, so primer.bg has no .бг version. A name in Cyrillic or only digits is applied for as a pair of domains for one owner under the rules of Imena.BG (point 17.6).
How to check that the name is free
The registry itself gives the surest answer. On its site register.bg there is a page “Справка по име на домейн (WHOIS)” (a domain name lookup), which asks for the name and a code from an image. From the command line you ask the same registry directly, and on Windows use the page.
# From your computer, read-only
whois -h whois.register.bg primer.bg
For a taken name you get a line like registration status: busy, active and the name servers. For a free one you get registration status: available. The registry limits requests, and if you ask about many names in a row it answers Query limit exceeded, so wait then.
A free name is not yours until you file an application. If it is taken, you can put an application in a waiting queue until it is released (point 2.3.7).
What happens when you register a .bg domain
The registration goes through a registrar of your choice. The list of accredited ones is on the Registrars page of register.bg, and the registry itself also works as a registrar.
- You choose the name and enter the owner's data and working email addresses for contacts. They have to be valid for the whole term of the registration (point 6.2).
- You confirm the application within a day, with an electronic signature or from the email the registry sends to the address in the application (points 7.1.2 and 7.1.3).
- From the confirmation the application is valid for 30 calendar days. In that time you submit the documents, fix the irregularities and pay (points 7.1.4 and 7.1.5).
- The registrar checks the documents within three working days and sends them to the registry (point 7.4.1).
- You enter at least two name servers (point 6.3). You can do it yourself through the registrar's interface (point 7.2.1).
- When the documents are in order and the domain is configured, you create a pro forma invoice and pay. While the documents have irregularities, a pro forma invoice cannot be created (point 7.3.1).
- The registry registers the domain after it establishes the documents, the configuration and the payment (point 7.4.2).
If the application still does not meet the requirements when the check period ends, the registry ends the procedure and releases the name (points 7.1.6 and 7.1.7).
How to connect the domain to hosting
Registering does not connect the domain to hosting. The connection is in the name servers recorded at the registry and in the DNS records they hold. There are two ways.
The first is with the hosting's name servers. The hosting gives you two, you enter them at the registrar and the zone is kept at the hosting. In cPanel the zone records are in Zone Editor.
The registry wants at least two servers (point 6.3), which have to answer a check from its server (point 6.4), and the consent of the administrator of each of them (point 6.5). The hosting cannot change them on its own for you, because the registry acts only on a request from the administrative contact or the owner's representative (point 12.1). If you do not know them, ask your host.
The second is DNS elsewhere, for example at the registrar or in Cloudflare. Then the name servers belong to the DNS provider, and a record with the server's address points to the hosting.
; DNS zone of primer.bg, at the DNS provider
primer.bg. 3600 IN A 203.0.113.10
www.primer.bg. 3600 IN CNAME primer.bg.
Check what others see on the internet. On Windows use nslookup -type=NS primer.bg.
# From your computer, read-only
dig NS primer.bg +short
dig A primer.bg +short
dig A www.primer.bg +short
The change does not show at once, and Cloudflare says to wait up to a day. If you are also moving the site from another host, move it first and check it, and point the domain last. How to do it without downtime is described in the guide How to move a WordPress site to a new host without downtime. Once the domain points to the server, AutoSSL can issue an HTTPS certificate for it.
How to keep the domain from expiring
The domain is renewed through the registrar. The rules give a period up to 30 calendar days before the term ends to choose the services, create a pro forma invoice and pay it (point 7.3.2). If you are late, the consequences follow a schedule.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Up to 30 days before the term ends | You renew through the registrar (point 7.3.2) |
| 7 days after the end, without payment | Maintenance of the domain is suspended (point 9.3.1.1) |
| 40 days after the end, without established payment | The registration ends and the name is released to others (point 9.3.3) |
The registry does not commit to keeping domains of owners who have ended their maintenance (point 9.8).
Write down the expiry date from the registrar's panel and set a reminder at least a month earlier. Use an email address that will work for the whole term, because the registry sends messages about the state of the registration to the addresses from the application (point 6.2). When the owner's data changes, update it at the registry within a month (point 8.7).
How to change the registrar later
The rules allow a change of registrar at any time, after you pay the registration and maintenance fees to the new one (point 10.12). The registry handles it as an application for registration and maintenance of a new domain (point 10.13). The payment page on register.bg says that for domains not served by Register.BG, the change is allowed if the domain's term has not expired, and the payment is made on the new application. So you do it before the term ends.
Ask the new registrar what happens to the term you have already paid. The details are in the guide to domain transfer.
Checklist
- I know who the owner will be and they belong to one of the three groups in point 3. The domain is in the name of the company or me, not an agency.
- I have an electronic signature or ready identity documents according to Appendix 1.
- The name is 3 to 63 characters, with allowed characters only, and does not start or end with a hyphen.
- I checked the name at the registry and it says
available. - The contact email works and will keep working for the whole term.
- I have two name servers from the hosting or DNS records at the DNS provider, and the old records are copied.
- I wrote down the expiry date and set a reminder at least a month earlier.
If you would rather not do it yourself
Not every case needs paper documents. If you have an electronic signature, it proves your identity. The registration itself goes through an accredited registrar and is in your name, so you do it yourself. Once the site on the domain is up, monthly maintenance takes over its monitoring, updates, vulnerabilities and backups every month, wherever it is hosted.
Frequently asked questions
Who can register a .bg domain?
According to Register.BG's General Terms, the owner can be a company or organisation registered in Bulgaria or an EU state, a Bulgarian citizen, a citizen of an EU state or a foreigner with the right of permanent residence in Bulgaria. A person registered abroad can authorise a third party from those groups. Every domain has one owner, so register it to your company or to yourself, not to an agency or an acquaintance.
What documents are needed to register a .bg domain?
With an electronic signature, the signature establishes your identity and no other documents are needed. Without one, a company submits an original application signed by its representative and a certificate of current status, while an individual submits a notarised application or appears in person with an ID card. The documents go through the registrar, by ordinary post.
What is a protected .bg domain?
A domain is protected if you submit documents for the right to use the name, and if the name is the owner's full name, the identity documents count as that basis. Without them it is unprotected, unless it has been maintained continuously for more than five years. The difference shows in a dispute, because an unprotected domain can be taken away in favour of an applicant with an earlier basis for the name.
What name can I choose for a .bg domain?
The name is 3 to 63 characters, with Latin letters, digits and a hyphen, and the first and last characters are a letter or a digit. A name in Cyrillic uses only Cyrillic letters and contains at least one of б, г, д, ж, и, й, л, п, ф, ц, ч, ш, щ, ъ, ь, ю, я. The names of municipalities, regions and countries are reserved, as are words such as register, domain and dns, and obscene or misleading names are not allowed.
Are .bg and .бг the same?
No. .бг is a separate top-level domain with its own registry, Imena.BG AD, and its own General Terms, while .bg is managed by Register.BG. A Latin name is not allowed in .бг, so primer.bg has no .бг version.
How do I check whether a .bg domain is free?
The surest answer comes from the registry itself, on the "Справка по име на домейн (WHOIS)" page at register.bg. For a taken name you get a line like registration status: busy, active, and for a free one registration status: available. A free name is not yours until you file an application, and for a taken one you can put an application in a waiting queue until it is released.
How do I connect my .bg domain to my hosting?
Registration alone does not connect the domain to hosting. Either enter the two name servers your host gives you at the registrar, or keep DNS elsewhere, such as Cloudflare, and point the domain to the server with a record holding its address. Copy all DNS records before you change the name servers, and Cloudflare says to allow up to a day for the change.
What happens if I do not renew my .bg domain in time?
Seven days after the term ends without payment, maintenance of the domain is suspended, and 40 days after the end without established payment the registration ends and the name is released to others. You renew through the registrar up to 30 days before the term ends. Write down the expiry date and set a reminder at least a month earlier.
Sources
- Регистър.БГ ООД, General Terms for the registration and maintenance of domains in the .bg zone, version 4.12 (in Bulgarian)
- Регистър.БГ ООД, Reports (WHOIS)
- Регистър.БГ ООД, Accredited registrars
- Регистър.БГ ООД, Payment
- Имена.БГ АД, General Terms for the registration and maintenance of names in the .бг zone, version 1.4 (in Bulgarian)
- IANA, Delegation record for .BG
- IANA, Delegation record for .БГ
- Cloudflare, Full setup
- cPanel, Zone Editor