Every domain name has a lifecycle. Some names go through that cycle once. Others, over the years they exist, go through it more than once.
A Vietnam country-code domain and an international domain follow the same basic cycle. The details differ because ICANN and VNNIC (the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center) set different rules. The stages below reflect the rules at the time of writing (as of 2022).
Vietnam domain names
A Vietnam country-code domain is any name under the top-level domain “.vn”, and any name under another top-level domain that Vietnam administers. This article uses “.vn” for that group.
>> Download Circular 21/2021/TT-BTTTT
* Before 7 February 2022, the .vn lifecycle looked like this:
* From 7 February 2022, the .vn lifecycle changed as shown below. Read the circular
Available
Nobody has registered the name. You can register it and start using it.
Registered
An organisation or a person has already registered the name. If you want to move it to another registrar, you have to wait until the domain is 60 days old.
Renewal
Right after registration, the domain must be kept for at least 1 year. You can also renew immediately after you register, and add one year to the term straight away. When the name expires, the registrant has 25 days to pay the renewal fee.
Suspended
The domain is suspended from the expiry date through day 25 after expiry.
Pending revocation
After 25 days in the suspended state, if the registrant has not paid the renewal fee, the domain moves to pending revocation. During this stage you can no longer renew it, even if you want to. Revocation works like this:
- For 15 days from the day the domain enters pending revocation, VNNIC works with the registrar that manages the name to complete the paperwork confirming revocation.
- After those 15 days, once the registrar has confirmed that the renewal fee was not paid (an online notice titled “List of domain names with unpaid renewal fees“, signed with the registrar’s digital signature), the domain is revoked.
- If the revoked name is not one of the cases that break the .vn registration rules in Article 6 of Circular 24/2015/TT-BTTTT, it is returned to available so another organisation or person can register it.
- Note: while the name is in this state, the registrant cannot renew it.
Revocation
VNNIC returns the name to available at random, automatically, within 15 days of the day revocation is processed.
International domain names
An international domain stays with the person or organisation that registered it with ICANN until they stop paying to keep it.
Once you stop using that name, do you know what happens to it?
Below is the lifecycle of an international domain at 123Website. It is meant to make registration, day-to-day use, and protection of the name easier to follow.
Available
- Every domain starts as Available. Nobody has registered it, and you can register it through a registrar, as long as the name is valid.
- A valid name:
- May contain only letters, digits, or a hyphen (-)
- May be at most 64 characters long, and may not include #, parentheses, a comma (,), a question mark (?), an exclamation mark (!), %, or an asterisk (*)
- An available name can be registered for 1 to 10 years, and can be kept for up to about 50 years.
Registered
- As soon as the name is bought, it moves into this stage.
- If you want to transfer it to another registrar, you have to wait until the domain is 60 days old.
- You can renew on the last day, or at any time while the domain is active (renewing straight after purchase is fine). One year is added to the expiry date. Note: you can keep renewing, but an international domain cannot have more than 10 years of validity at once.
- If you forget, or you do not want to keep the name and you do not renew, it moves to the next stage: Expired.
Expired
- Once the domain has expired, you cannot open the website on that name, and you cannot transfer it to another registrar.
- The window to renew, counted from the expiry date, is 0 to 30 days.
- Some extensions use a different window, for example:
- .EU, .WS, .AI, .DE: a 1-year term from the registration date. You need to renew at least 4 days before the name expires.
- .UK: only 14 days after expiry to renew.
- .CN: only 4 days after expiry to renew.
Redemption Period
- After expiry, and before the name is deleted, ICANN requires a 30-day stage. During that stage the records are removed, so the website, email, and other services on the domain stop working.
- The name can be restored by contacting the registrar and asking to redeem it (this depends on the extension). The fee is the redemption fee plus at least 1 year of renewal. The redemption fee is usually about USD 100 (as of 2022).
- A few extensions are different:
- .JP: 19 days after expiry to restore the name.
- .UK: 14 days after the late-renewal window ends.
- .EU / .BE: 29 days after expiry to restore the name.
Pending Deletion
- After Redemption, the status changes to Pending Delete (see also the article on domain statuses).
- This stage lasts 5 days. On the last day, between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (1:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. Vietnam time), the name is deleted and anyone can register it.
- You can use a Date Calculator to work out the expiry date.
Released
- The name returns to Available. It can be registered again, and a new lifecycle starts.
Notes
- Which stage your domain sits in is up to you. Renew it on time if you want to keep using it.
- A valuable domain is easy to lose for good.
- Names with a lot of traffic attract drop-catching services. If the name is released and the previous owner does not register it again in time, one of those services will take it first.
The 123Website team. We have designed websites and business software since 2013, with 2,000+ projects delivered.
