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.Pro Eligibility Requirements Frequently Asked Questions
Who can register a .Pro domain name?
At this time, only members of the engineering, medical, legal and accounting professions will be eligible to register for .Pro domains.The .Pro professional eligibility requirements are intended to restrict domain name registrations within the .Pro top-level domain to persons and organizations that are licensed or otherwise credentialed by the appropriate government agencies or organizations to provide professional services to the public in the legal, medical and accounting fields.
Eligible registrants may register one or more of four major profession-specific domains:
Profession
TLD
Engineers
.eng.pro
Attorneys
.law.pro
.jur.pro
.bar.pro
Accountants
.cpa.pro
.aca.pro
Physicians
.med.pro
In the future, additional variations of these domains will be available to take into account local, professional and linguistic differences in the various regions in which .Pro domain names will be offered.
Where are the eligibility criteria specified?
The .Pro eligibility criteria are established in the Registry's Agreement with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Moreover, RegistryPro, the operator of the .Pro top-level domain will establish registry policy in consultation with an Advisory Board made up of representatives of professional organizations. It is the responsibility of registrants to provide truthful and accurate information about their professional status when registering for a .Pro domain name.What are the basic eligibility criteria?
Generally, to be in compliance with the professional eligibility requirements, a registrant must be either:• An individual who is currently licensed as (i) an engineer, (ii) a Certified Public Accountant, (iii) a physician (including a medical doctor), or (iv) an attorney at law, who is currently licensed to practice in any of the following supported jurisdictions:
United States
Canada
UK
Germany;
or,
• An organization, that provides engineering, accounting, legal or medical professional services, and has an employee who satisfies one of the above criteria and registers on behalf of such entity or organization. Examples of such organizations include: engineering consultation firms, accounting firms, hospitals, legal publishers, medical supply companies, or even the law department of a large company.
Registrants outside the supported jurisdictions are eligible for Defensive Name Registrations. Additional jurisdictions will be added shortly. All .Pro domain name registrants must remain in compliance with the professional eligibility requirements at all times during their registration.
How will .Pro review the eligibility of registrants in the .Pro domain?
What distinguishes the .Pro TLD from other domain extensions is its unique registration requirements. RegistryPro will require that registrants self-certify that they are professionals who meet the requirements of their profession and jurisdiction and provide information license and identity information which can be independently cross-referenced either through an online review process or a manual verification process established by an authorized Registrar.Will eligibility be reviewed again after registration?
Eligibility for registration in the .Pro domain will be verified at the time of registration and will also be periodically re-verified, at a minimum annually, at the time of a registrants' digital certificate annual renewal.To implement the .Pro Professional Eligibility Requirements, RegistryPro will:
1. Require that each Registrar certify that as a condition to registration of a .Pro domain name, that the professional eligibility of each registrant is verified,
2. Require that each registrar's agreement with registrants include terms and conditions relating specifically to .Pro domains (for example, regarding professional eligibility and the requirement that the registrant remain in good standing in his/her profession throughout the term of their domain name registration). Examples of such terms and conditions can be found in the DomainPeople Registration Agreement .What is the Verification Process?
Registrars shall enforce the Professional Eligibility Requirements and must verify the personal identity of each registrant as a condition of registration. To satisfy the registration requirements, Registrars may:(i) contract with RegistryPro for individual identity and professional verification services,
(ii) conduct personal identity and professional eligibility verification manually, or
(iii) contract with other third-parties for automated verification services.What personal and professional information will a registrant have to provide to the Registry to successfully complete the authentication and verification process known as the "AV Check"?
Professional Eligibility: All registrants of resolving .pro domain names must demonstrate that they meet the professional eligibility requirements of the .pro registry. Eligibility is demonstrated by presenting a set of personal authentication and professional verification (A/V) data. The accuracy of the A/V data must be verified, and it must be confirmed that the individual indicated by the A/V data is aware of and authorized the initiation of the check. This person must be given the power to approve or veto any actions, such as completion of the registration of a domain name that may be taken as a result of a successful check.A .pro registrant may either be an individual professional or a professional organization. When the registrant is an organization, there must be a qualifying professional who meets the normal eligibility standards for an individual registrant. This individual must certify that they are an employee of the registrant organization and that the organization provides services directly related to the individual's profession.
Please refer to the RegistryPro website for a complete description of professional eligibility for the .pro restricted gTLD.
The following A/V data must be provided to the Registry for the subject of the A/V check:
- First Name
- Last Name
- Date of Birth
- Profession Type
- Country of Jurisdiction
- License Number
- Licensing Authority
The Registry will email the customer directly with the results of the A/V check and will include instructions on how to obtain an email or website digital certificate to use with the domain name.
Please Note: As authenticating and validating a potential .Pro registrant is a costly process, the cost of a .Pro third-level registration includes a non-refundable A/V service provided by RegistryPro. The Registry will process the information that is submitted through the online A/V interface and if the check fails, an additional A/V request must be submitted by DomainPeople at a cost of $100USD.
