Enter the Lebanon market with a .LB Domain

Not at present. Article 5 of the policy in force states plainly that the LBDR does not offer domain name registration under .lb directly, and the registry's zone list consists of five zones: com.lb, org.lb, edu.lb, net.lb and gov.lb. So a name in the form «example.lb» cannot be obtained; what you can register is «example.com.lb». The same article adds that the LBDR reserves the right to change that policy.

It follows from your organisation's legal status. A commercial entity applies under com.lb, a not-for-profit under org.lb, an educational body under edu.lb, an internet service provider under net.lb; gov.lb is reserved for Lebanese government organisations. The policy adds one flexibility: an organisation meeting the requirements of several zones may register the same name in more than one zone.

Yes. Article 6.6 of the policy requires registrants under com.lb, edu.lb, net.lb, org.lb and gov.lb to have a Lebanese postal address; it is a single-sentence rule covering all five zones. The registry may also request proof of postal address, an identity document or a power of attorney where it considers this necessary. A trademark certificate, by contrast, has not been required for registration since 2021.

An accredited registrar. Article 8 of the policy states that the registry operates in registry-registrar mode and does not register domain names directly. The registrar collects the signed LBDR-A form and the zone-specific documents and files the application. The name does not go live at once: it waits until the registrant validates the contact details online and accepts the policy, after which it is added to the zone file and propagates within two hours.

Yes, and this rule is unusual among extensions. Article 9 of the policy requires at least two authoritative name servers and insists that, by the time the application reaches the LBDR, all of them are correctly set up as authoritative for the name: only fully delegated domains are registered. In other words, the DNS side has to be prepared before, not after, registration. A name that later stops resolving is also listed among the grounds for deletion.

120 days in total. The registry's life-cycle document sets out the chain: 30 days of «Renew Grace Period» after expiry, during which the name stays active and can be renewed; then 30 days of «Redemption Period», when the name is not active but the registrar can restore it; then 60 days of «Delete Pending», when only the registry can restore it and the system automatically charges a restore penalty. After that the name is deleted.

Yes. Article 11.4 of the policy states that the domain name is independent of the registrar and that the registrant may freely change registrar. The losing registrar is obliged to issue the authentication code free of charge within 5 working days; the gaining registrar enters that code in the system to start the transfer. You can begin from the domain transfer page. Changing the registrant organisation is a separate matter and counts as a new application.

Article 5 of the policy already governs that scenario: if the LBDR changes its decision it will announce the change, and when .lb opens directly it will give priority during a launch period to existing second-level registrants. Where the same name is registered in more than one zone, the order will be settled by auction, by registration date with the oldest registrant ranked higher, or by a combination of the two. The date of your current registration therefore matters.