diff --git a/cp/app/Controllers/ContactsController.php b/cp/app/Controllers/ContactsController.php
index 069207f..c4131e0 100644
--- a/cp/app/Controllers/ContactsController.php
+++ b/cp/app/Controllers/ContactsController.php
@@ -227,11 +227,11 @@ class ContactsController extends Controller
                 $fax = $normalizedFax['success'];
             }
 
-            if (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
+            if (!validateUniversalEmail($email)) {
                 $this->container->get('flash')->addMessage('error', 'Unable to create contact: Email address failed check');
                 return $response->withHeader('Location', '/contact/create')->withStatus(302);
             }
-
+            
             if (!$authInfo_pw) {
                 $this->container->get('flash')->addMessage('error', 'Unable to create contact: Email contact authinfo missing');
                 return $response->withHeader('Location', '/contact/create')->withStatus(302);
@@ -959,7 +959,7 @@ class ContactsController extends Controller
                 return $response->withHeader('Location', '/contact/update/'.$identifier)->withStatus(302);
             }
 
-            if (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
+            if (!validateUniversalEmail($email)) {
                 $this->container->get('flash')->addMessage('error', 'Unable to update contact: Email address failed check');
                 return $response->withHeader('Location', '/contact/update/'.$identifier)->withStatus(302);
             }
diff --git a/cp/bootstrap/helper.php b/cp/bootstrap/helper.php
index 2db8b51..4b8f062 100644
--- a/cp/bootstrap/helper.php
+++ b/cp/bootstrap/helper.php
@@ -541,4 +541,39 @@ function validateLocField($input, $minLength = 5, $maxLength = 255) {
     return mb_strlen($input) >= $minLength &&
            mb_strlen($input) <= $maxLength &&
            preg_match($locRegex, $input);
+}
+
+function validateUniversalEmail($email) {
+    // Normalize the email to NFC form to ensure consistency
+    $email = \Normalizer::normalize($email, \Normalizer::FORM_C);
+
+    // Remove any control characters
+    $email = preg_replace('/[\p{C}]/u', '', $email);
+
+    // Split email into local and domain parts
+    $parts = explode('@', $email, 2);
+    if (count($parts) !== 2) {
+        return false; // Invalid email format
+    }
+
+    list($localPart, $domainPart) = $parts;
+
+    // Convert the domain part to Punycode if it contains non-ASCII characters
+    if (preg_match('/[^\x00-\x7F]/', $domainPart)) {
+        $punycodeDomain = idn_to_ascii($domainPart, IDNA_DEFAULT, INTL_IDNA_VARIANT_UTS46);
+        if ($punycodeDomain === false) {
+            return false; // Invalid domain part, failed conversion
+        }
+    } else {
+        $punycodeDomain = $domainPart;
+    }
+
+    // Reconstruct the email with the Punycode domain part (if converted)
+    $emailToValidate = $localPart . '@' . $punycodeDomain;
+
+    // Updated regex for both ASCII and IDN email validation
+    $emailPattern = '/^[\p{L}\p{N}\p{M}._%+-]+@([a-zA-Z0-9-]+|\bxn--[a-zA-Z0-9-]+)(\.([a-zA-Z0-9-]+|\bxn--[a-zA-Z0-9-]+))+$/u';
+
+    // Validate using regex
+    return preg_match($emailPattern, $emailToValidate);
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cp/resources/views/admin/contacts/createContact.twig b/cp/resources/views/admin/contacts/createContact.twig
index 81804ce..2307df3 100644
--- a/cp/resources/views/admin/contacts/createContact.twig
+++ b/cp/resources/views/admin/contacts/createContact.twig
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
                                     <!-- Internationalized Name -->
                                     <div class="mb-3">
                                         <label for="intName" class="form-label required">{{ __('Name') }}</label>
-                                        <input type="text" class="form-control" id="intName" name="intName" required="required">
+                                        <input type="text" class="form-control" id="intName" name="intName">
                                         <label class="form-check form-switch mt-1">
                                           <input class="form-check-input" type="checkbox" id="discloseNameInt" name="disclose_name_int">
                                           <span class="form-check-label" for="discloseNameInt">{{ __('Disclose in WHOIS') }}</span>
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
                                     {% if registrars and not registrar %}
                                         <div class="form-group mb-3">
                                             <label for="registrarDropdown" class="form-label required">{{ __('Select Registrar') }}</label>
-                                            <select id="registrarDropdown" name="registrar" class="form-control">
+                                            <select id="registrarDropdown" name="registrar" class="form-control" required="required">
                                                 {% for registrar in registrars %}
                                                     <option value="{{ registrar.id }}">{{ registrar.name }}</option>
                                                 {% endfor %}
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
                                     <!-- Internationalized Address: Street Details -->
                                     <div class="mb-3">
                                         <label for="street1" class="form-label required">{{ __('Street') }} 1</label>
-                                        <input type="text" class="form-control" id="street1" name="street1" required="required">
+                                        <input type="text" class="form-control" id="street1" name="street1">
                                     </div>
                                     <div class="mb-3">
                                         <label for="street2" class="form-label">{{ __('Street') }} 2</label>
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@
                                     <!-- Internationalized Address: City, SP, PC, CC -->
                                     <div class="mb-3">
                                         <label for="city" class="form-label required">{{ __('City') }}</label>
-                                        <input type="text" class="form-control" id="city" name="city"  required="required">
+                                        <input type="text" class="form-control" id="city" name="city">
                                     </div>
                                     <div class="mb-3">
                                         <label for="sp" class="form-label">{{ __('State/Province') }}</label>
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@
                                     </div>
                                     <div class="mb-3">
                                         <label for="cc" class="form-label required">{{ __('Country') }}</label>
-                                        <select class="form-select" id="cc" name="cc" required="required">
+                                        <select class="form-select" id="cc" name="cc">
                                             {% for country in countries %}
                                                 <option value="{{ country.alpha2|lower }}">{{ country.name }}</option>
                                             {% endfor %}
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@
                                     <!-- Email -->
                                     <div class="mb-3">
                                         <label for="email" class="form-label required">{{ __('Email') }}</label>
-                                        <input type="email" class="form-control" id="email" name="email"  required="required" autocapitalize="none">
+                                        <input type="text" class="form-control" id="email" name="email"  required="required" autocapitalize="none">
                                         <label class="form-check form-switch mt-1">
                                           <input class="form-check-input" type="checkbox" id="discloseEmail" name="disclose_email">
                                           <span class="form-check-label" for="discloseEmail">{{ __('Disclose in WHOIS') }}</span>
diff --git a/cp/resources/views/admin/contacts/updateContact.twig b/cp/resources/views/admin/contacts/updateContact.twig
index 44ca901..0e476c8 100644
--- a/cp/resources/views/admin/contacts/updateContact.twig
+++ b/cp/resources/views/admin/contacts/updateContact.twig
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@
                                     
                                     <!-- Internationalized Name -->
                                     <div class="mb-3">
-                                        <label for="intName" class="form-label required">{{ __('Name') }}</label>
-                                        <input type="text" class="form-control" id="intName" name="intName" required="required" value="{{ postal_int.name }}">
+                                        <label for="intName" class="form-label{% if not postal_loc.name %} required{% endif %}">{{ __('Name') }}</label>
+                                        <input type="text" class="form-control" id="intName" name="intName"{% if not postal_loc.name %} required="required" {% endif %}value="{{ postal_int.name }}">
                                         <label class="form-check form-switch mt-1">
                                           <input class="form-check-input" type="checkbox" id="discloseNameInt" name="disclose_name_int" {% if postal_int.disclose_name_int == '1' %}checked{% endif %}>
                                           <span class="form-check-label" for="discloseNameInt">{{ __('Disclose in WHOIS') }}</span>
@@ -66,8 +66,8 @@
 
                                     <!-- Internationalized Address: Street Details -->
                                     <div class="mb-3">
-                                        <label for="street1" class="form-label required">{{ __('Street') }} 1</label>
-                                        <input type="text" class="form-control" id="street1" name="street1" required="required" value="{{ postal_int.street1 }}">
+                                        <label for="street1" class="form-label{% if not postal_loc.street1 %} required{% endif %}">{{ __('Street') }} 1</label>
+                                        <input type="text" class="form-control" id="street1" name="street1"{% if not postal_loc.street1 %} required="required" {% endif %}value="{{ postal_int.street1 }}">
                                     </div>
                                     <div class="mb-3">
                                         <label for="street2" class="form-label">{{ __('Street') }} 2</label>
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@
 
                                     <!-- Internationalized Address: City, SP, PC, CC -->
                                     <div class="mb-3">
-                                        <label for="city" class="form-label required">{{ __('City') }}</label>
-                                        <input type="text" class="form-control" id="city" name="city"  required="required" value="{{ postal_int.city }}">
+                                        <label for="city" class="form-label{% if not postal_loc.city %} required{% endif %}">{{ __('City') }}</label>
+                                        <input type="text" class="form-control" id="city" name="city"{% if not postal_loc.city %} required="required" {% endif %}value="{{ postal_int.city }}">
                                     </div>
                                     <div class="mb-3">
                                         <label for="sp" class="form-label">{{ __('State/Province') }}</label>
@@ -92,8 +92,8 @@
                                         <input type="text" class="form-control" id="pc" name="pc" value="{{ postal_int.pc }}">
                                     </div>
                                     <div class="mb-3">
-                                        <label for="cc" class="form-label required">{{ __('Country') }}</label>
-                                        <select class="form-select" id="cc" name="cc" required="required">
+                                        <label for="cc" class="form-label{% if not postal_loc.cc %} required{% endif %}">{{ __('Country') }}</label>
+                                        <select class="form-select" id="cc" name="cc"{% if not postal_loc.cc %} required="required"{% endif %}>
                                             {% for country in countries %}
                                                 <option value="{{ country.alpha2|lower }}" {% if postal_int.cc|lower == country.alpha2|lower %}selected{% endif %}>{{ country.name }}</option>
                                             {% endfor %}
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@
                                     <!-- Email -->
                                     <div class="mb-3">
                                         <label for="email" class="form-label required">{{ __('Email') }}</label>
-                                        <input type="email" class="form-control" id="email" name="email"  required="required" autocapitalize="none" value="{{ contact.email }}">
+                                        <input type="text" class="form-control" id="email" name="email"  required="required" autocapitalize="none" value="{{ contact.email }}">
                                         <label class="form-check form-switch mt-1">
                                           <input class="form-check-input" type="checkbox" id="discloseEmail" name="disclose_email" {% if contact.disclose_email == '1' %}checked{% endif %}>
                                           <span class="form-check-label" for="discloseEmail">{{ __('Disclose in WHOIS') }}</span>