# Which AWS SES region should I choose?

Source: https://help.meisa.io/articles/choose-an-aws-ses-region

Pick one region and use it for everything: verifying your domain, requesting production access, and the **Region** you choose in Meisa. If you have no strong reason, use **US East (N. Virginia) (us-east-1)**. If you need your sending data to stay in the EU, use **Europe (Ireland) (eu-west-1)** or **Europe (Frankfurt) (eu-central-1)**.

## Why the region matters

In Amazon SES, almost everything is separate per region:

- **Domain identities.** A domain verified in us-east-1 is not verified in eu-west-1.
- **Sandbox and production access.** Production access is approved for one region at a time. Moving to a new region means a new request.
- **Sending quota.** Your daily limit and per-second rate are set per region.
- **Configuration sets and SNS topics** that Meisa creates for delivery tracking live in the region you connected.

So if your keys say one region and your domain is verified in another, Meisa will not see the domain and sending will fail.

## Regions you can choose in Meisa

The **Region** list in the **Connect Amazon SES** form offers:

| Region name | Code |
|---|---|
| US East (N. Virginia) | us-east-1 |
| US East (Ohio) | us-east-2 |
| US West (N. California) | us-west-1 |
| US West (Oregon) | us-west-2 |
| Europe (Ireland) | eu-west-1 |
| Europe (London) | eu-west-2 |
| Europe (Frankfurt) | eu-central-1 |
| Asia Pacific (Mumbai) | ap-south-1 |
| Asia Pacific (Singapore) | ap-southeast-1 |
| Asia Pacific (Sydney) | ap-southeast-2 |
| Asia Pacific (Tokyo) | ap-northeast-1 |

If your SES account is set up in a region that is not on this list, email hi@meisa.io before you start.

## How to choose

1. **Already using SES?** Use the region where your domain is already verified and production access is approved. Check it in the SES console: the region name is shown at the top right, and **Account dashboard** says whether you are in the sandbox there.
2. **Data rules.** If your customers or your contract require EU processing, pick an EU region.
3. **Otherwise**, pick us-east-1. It is the default in Meisa and AWS launches SES features there first.

Delivery speed to inboxes is not noticeably different between regions, so do not overthink this.

## How to check and switch the region in the AWS console

1. Open the SES console (type "SES" in the AWS search bar and choose **Amazon Simple Email Service**).
2. Click the region name at the top right of the console, next to your account name.
3. Choose your region. Every SES page you open now applies to that region.

## Changing region later

1. In the new region, request production access and wait for approval.
2. In Meisa, open **Email setup**, click the **More actions** menu (three dots) on your SES provider and click **Edit**.
3. Change **Region** and click **Save changes**.
4. Right away, before sending anything, open the **More actions** menu again and click **Set up delivery tracking**. Meisa creates the tracking configuration set in the new region. Until you do this, sends can fail because the old region's configuration set does not exist in the new one.
5. In the **Domains** section, click **View records** on your domain, then **Refresh records**. Meisa adds the domain to SES in the new region and shows its new DKIM records.
6. Add the new DKIM records at your DNS host (the old ones can stay). AWS verifies the domain in the new region once it sees them, often within an hour. You can confirm it in the SES console under **Identities**, with the new region selected. See [Add Meisa's DNS records at your DNS host](/articles/add-dns-records-at-your-dns-host).

Plan the switch for a quiet time: until the domain verifies in the new region, your senders cannot send.

## Related articles

- [Connect Amazon SES to Meisa](/articles/connect-amazon-ses)
- [Move AWS SES out of the sandbox (request production access)](/articles/request-ses-production-access)
- [Verify your sending domain (DKIM, SPF and DMARC)](/articles/verify-your-sending-domain)