RFC 6530 · PROPOSED STANDARD · 2012

Overview and Framework for Internationalized Email

Overview

RFC 6530, “Overview and Framework for Internationalized Email”, is a Proposed Standard document published in February 2012 by J. Klensin, Y. Ko. It obsoletes RFC 4952, RFC 5504, RFC 5825. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.

Abstract

Full use of electronic mail throughout the world requires that (subject to other constraints) people be able to use close variations on their own names (written correctly in their own languages and scripts) as mailbox names in email addresses. This document introduces a series of specifications that define mechanisms and protocol extensions needed to fully support internationalized email addresses. These changes include an SMTP extension and extension of email header syntax to accommodate UTF-8 data. The document set also includes discussion of key assumptions and issues in deploying fully internationalized email. This document is a replacement for RFC 4952; it reflects additional issues identified since that document was published. [STANDARDS-TRACK]

Abstract as published in the RFC, via rfc-editor.org.

What “Proposed Standard” means

An entry-level standards-track specification: stable, peer-reviewed and a solid basis for implementation, though it may still evolve before becoming an Internet Standard.

Read this RFC

The canonical text of RFC 6530 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.

Relationships to other RFCs
This RFC obsoletes
RFC 4952 RFC 5504 RFC 5825
Other RFCs from 2012

Who Is Online

In total there are 73 users online: 0 registered, 67 guests and 6 bots.

Most users ever online was 1,226 on 13 Jun 2026, 3:56 am.

Bots: AhrefsBot Applebot Facebook Majestic Other Bot SemrushBot

Users active in the past 15 minutes. Total registered members: 354