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Last Revised: 2024-01-11 11:58:27
On Aug. 31, 2013, ICANN adopted the Expired Registration Recovery Policy, which requires registrars to disclose important information to Registrants and prospective customers about expiration notices, fees, and redemption procedures (for more information click here).
This article contains links to all required elements in the new policy. Below information is based on .com domain names.
1. What happens after domain names expire?
Once a domain name expires, it goes through few stages before being released to the general public. Hostinger sends five renewal emails to the Registered Name Holder prior to the expiration date. If the registrant pays the domain renewal invoice before expiration, the domain is renewed automatically.
Days after expiration may vary depending on TLD.
Days after expiration | Action |
Day 0 | The domain name can be renewed manually by the registrant at no extra cost for the next 36 days. |
Day 37 | Domain enters Redemption Grace Period for a total of 30 days. The domain name can be renewed by the registrant for the cost of redemption fee. |
Day 67 | We return the domain name to the registry. |
A registrant may renew an expired domain name at no extra cost until the domain is in Renewal Grace Period. Afterwards, the original registrant can attempt to redeem the domain up until day 67. The redemption fee of the most domains currently is $80.00 USD + Renewal Fee + VAT (.com.co 180 USD + Renewal Fee + VAT, .frl 150 USD + Renewal Fee + VAT, .store 120 USD + Renewal Fee + VAT, .ws 120 USD + Renewal Fee + VAT) and is subject to change under the terms of the Domain Name Registration Agreement. If you do not redeem your domain name prior to the end of the Registry's Redemption Grace Period the Registry will release your name and it will become available for registration on a first-come-first-served basis. For certain ccTLDs (.ru, .dk, .hu, .nu, .pl and .se) there is no Redemption Grace Period.
For .com domain names, whose registrar is Hosting Concepts B.V. (Openprovider) (you can always check your domain name registrar information in WHOIS Lookup), you will have a 10-days Renewal Grace Period calculated from the domain expiration date, during which you may renew your domain name free of charge.If you fail to implement the renewal before the end of indicated period, the domain name will be deleted and you also run the risk of having your domain name being acquired by a third party. If you wish to restore a .com domain after the 10 days Renewal Grace Period, please contact our Customer Support to check if there are any possibilities for your domain name to be restored.
2. What is our process for handling expired domain names?
The process we, the registrar, follow for expired domain names depends on your domain name extensions and their renewal settings. Prior to expiration, we send two emails to remind you to renew your domain names.
If your domain names are set to automatically renew, we attempt to renew the registrations for you 30 days before expiration.
If you set your domain names to manually renew and you let your domain names expire, we notify you via email again on the day of expiration.
For expired .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .us, .name or .mobi domain name registrations, we hold your domain name for approximately 60-70 days before canceling it.
3. Automatic Renewal
If your domain name is set to automatically renew, we try to charge you 30 days before your domain name registration expires.
4. Manual Renewal
If your domain name is not set to automatically renew, when your domain name registration expires, we proceed with the following steps before canceling it:
- On the day of your domain name registration's expiration date, we notify you of the domain name registration's expiration. You can manually renew your domain name.
- On the 37th day after expiration, your domain name remains on hold but becomes subject to a redemption fee. You can manually renew your domain name, subject to any applicable redemption fees.
- On the 67th day after expiration, we cancel your domain name. We delete all services associated with the domain name.
The registry might hold the domain name before releasing it for general registration.