Country extension · Portugal
.gov.pt domain name
What you need to know about .gov.pt: who can register it, which details are required and how transferring works.
Specifications
The key details of .gov.pt
- Country
- Portugal
- Registry
- dns.pt
- Registration period
- 1 to 10 years
- Renewal period
- 1 year
- Domain name length
- 3 to 63 characters
- Time to registration
- up to 2 working days
- Transfer code length
- 6 to 16 characters
- Transfer lock available
- no
- Number of nameservers
- 1 to 13
Features
- DNSSEC: no
- IPv6: yesThe nameservers for this extension can also be reached over IPv6.
- Special characters: no
- Whois privacy: no
- Trustee: no
Requirements
Who can register a .gov.pt?
- A .gov.pt domain name can only be registered by organisations that are part of the government structure of the Portuguese Republic.
- The domain name must match the registrant's name, an abbreviation or acronym of it, or the name of a project or activity that the registrant carries out or plans to carry out.
- Registration goes through CEGER, the centre that manages the Portuguese government's IT network. CEGER's own rules apply in addition to the general rules.
- For Portuguese domain names, the name must not conflict with the law, public order or public decency.
- The name must not match an existing or planned top-level domain name, or an internet protocol, application or term.
- The name must not cause confusion about who the registrant is, for example by matching someone else's well-known brand.
- Geographical names are not allowed, except for the governing authority responsible for that area.
- Since 30 June 2026, the registrant's contact details must be verified in advance by email and by phone. If verification fails, the registration cannot be completed.
Additional details for registration
- You provide the registrant's tax number or VAT number, without the country code.
- You also provide the technical contact's tax number or VAT number, without the country code.
- Bear in mind that your email address and phone number will be verified before the registration can be completed.
Documents
- Within five days of your application, the registry may email you asking for additional details or documents. You upload these through the portal of the Portuguese registry DNS.PT.
- If the registry later doubts whether your details are accurate or complete, it may ask for proof. You usually need to provide this within 8 days.
- To change the name or contact person while keeping the same tax number, you send in a completed form with supporting documents, as a PDF of no more than 10 MB.
Good to know when registering
- After you apply, there's a five-day period in which the registry may have your details checked. If so, the registry will email you instructions.
- If you don't provide the requested documents in time, the registry will cancel the registration.
- The registry also checks the domain name's technical contact.
- If you can't provide requested proof later on, the registry may delete the domain name.
Transfer
Transferring a .gov.pt
- To transfer your .gov.pt domain name to another registrar, you need a transfer code.
- You request the transfer code from the registry yourself and pass it on to the new registrar, who uses it to start the transfer.
The transfer code
- You get the transfer code from the registry, not from your current registrar.
- Log in to the registry's portal at https://registo.dns.pt using the registrant's login details. If you've lost them, use the forgotten password option.
- In the portal, open your domain name's details, go to the linked contacts and, under actions, choose the option to transfer domain management.
- The transfer code will then be emailed to the registrant's email address.
Owner
Change of registrant
Change of registrant
- If the registrant's tax number changes, this counts as a genuine change of ownership. This is handled by the registry.
- For a change of ownership, the registry emails the current registrant a link. The current registrant must approve the change within 8 days.
- The new registrant is then notified and also has 8 days to accept the change.
- Both the old and the new registrant need an account on the registry's portal. You get the login details from the registry.
- If the current registrant wants to cancel a change of ownership that has already started, they can do so on the registry's portal: https://registo.pt.pt/.
- If the tax number stays the same and only, for example, the company name or contact person changes, you send in a form with proof. This doesn't affect the domain name's registration term.
- For a change of ownership or a change of contact details too, the details must be verified first. Otherwise the change cannot be processed.
Renewal, cancellation and quarantine
- After cancellation, the domain name first enters a period in which the deletion is pending.
- A domain name that has expired can still be restored.
- If you've explicitly had the domain name deleted, you can no longer restore it.
More information
Registry rules and links
- Registry website dns.pt
- Registry whois online.dns.pt
- Dispute resolution policy online.dns.pt
Compiled from the registry's rules. Registries sometimes change their rules; if in doubt, the registry's terms take precedence. Updated on 11/11/2026.