Enter Andorra market with a .AD Domain

Yes, and this has been the position since 2024. The registry's own procedure page states that the domain is "open to holders without having to prove a specific right" and that there is no Andorran trademark or trade name requirement; any natural or legal person may apply. Residence, incorporation, an address or a representative in Andorra are not asked for either. The one structural condition is to go through an accredited registrar — the registry does not register directly.

No. The registry closes this with two separate sentences: no priority has to be documented, and applications are not subject to prior validation; requests are processed automatically and names are allocated in strict order of arrival. This is the sharpest break from the pre-2024 regime — obtaining a .ad name once required showing an Andorran trademark or trade name, and today it does not. The only remaining limits concern the name string itself.

Three characters today. The registry has announced that one- and two-character names are currently held in its own reserve and will be released later; measurement agrees, since single and double letter attempts show as unregistered in WHOIS while three-letter names have been held since 2022. The upper limit is 63 characters. A name may not start or end with a hyphen and may not carry two consecutive hyphens in the third and fourth positions.

Yes. When listing permitted characters the registry names the Catalan-specific letters explicitly (à, ç, è, é, í, ï, l·l, ò, ó, ú, ü) and adds the characters from the internationalised domain name table published by IANA. The rule against two consecutive hyphens in the third and fourth positions is expressly waived for IDN encodings, which confirms that the punycode form is supported by design. Ask your registrar to confirm the exact character list before you settle on an accented name.

Up to ten. The registry states this on two separate pages: names are registered in annual periods, a minimum of one year and a maximum of ten. Renewal happens manually or automatically depending on the holder's choice and what the registrar supports. For older names carried over through the 2024 transition the default renewal term is one year, and the holder may opt for additional annual periods up to ten. Long-term registration is genuinely available here.

Yes, whenever you like. The registry says so plainly: you can change your registrar at any time and transfer your domain to the new one you choose, and transfer is defined as a separate operation in the registry's fee policy. For names carried over from the 2024 transition that still sit with the registry's interim record, the first move carries no extra registry charge and is requested by e-mail. You can start from the domain transfer page.

The extension has its own arbitration procedure: adDRP, in force since 4 September 2024, run entirely online and administered by the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center; it is mandatory for all .ad holders. The decisive detail for an applicant abroad sits in the list of grounds: the procedure rests not only on Andorran rights but explicitly on foreign trademarks as well. You can therefore use a trademark registered in another country even without an Andorran one.