--- id: "registration" kind: "glossary-term" title: "registration" language: "en" category: "Registration life cycle" updated: "2026-10-10T10:28:55Z" canonical: "https://tldlog.com/glossary/registration/" translations: es: "https://tldlog.com/es/glosario/registro-dominio/" de: "https://tldlog.com/de/glossar/registrierung/" fr: "https://tldlog.com/fr/glossaire/enregistrement-domaine/" it: "https://tldlog.com/it/glossario/registrazione/" pt-BR: "https://tldlog.com/pt/glossario/registro-dominio/" ru: "https://tldlog.com/ru/glossariy/registratsiya-domena/" zh-Hans: "https://tldlog.com/zh/cihui/yuming-zhuce/" --- # registration The process of getting the right to use an available domain name for a set period, usually one to ten years, through a registrar. The registrar records the name at the registry. Many registries also hold the registrant's details, but .com and .net hold only minimal data. It is not a permanent purchase and must be renewed. Registering a domain name means signing a contract that gives you the right to use a name for a set time. You arrange it through a registrar, which records the name at the registry that runs the top-level domain. It is not a purchase: the right lasts as long as the contract, and it comes with duties. ## What registering a domain means Three parties take part: the registrant asks for the name, the registrar submits it and the registry records it. In gTLDs, every registration must go through an ICANN-accredited registrar. Some ccTLDs differ: a .de applicant can go through a DENIC member or directly to DENIC. Under the RAA, as of October 2026, each gTLD registrant signs a registration agreement with the registrar and must: - give accurate contact details and update them within 7 days of any change; - answer the registrar's questions about those details within 15 days; - state that, as far as they know, neither the registration nor the use of the name infringes anyone's legal rights. Deliberately false details, missed updates or more than 15 days without an answer can lead to suspension or cancellation of the name. Investors call registering a free name at the normal price a hand registration, as opposed to buying one in the aftermarket. ## How to register: the steps 1. Check that the name is free and allowed: not reserved, validly written, and open to you if the TLD has eligibility rules. 2. Choose a registrar that offers the TLD. 3. Give your contact details and accept the registration agreement. 4. Pay. The registrar may not activate the name until it has a reasonable assurance of payment. 5. The registrar creates the name at the registry, through EPP, for the period you chose. 6. As of October 2026, in a gTLD, the registrar verifies your email address or telephone number within 15 days. Without a reply, it checks the details by hand or suspends the name. Free names are usually allocated first come, first served: .es assigns them in the order requests arrive, and .eu gives a name to the eligible party whose request reached the registry first. In a new gTLD this starts at general availability. ## How long you can register for As of October 2026, gTLD names are registered for 1 to 10 years, in whole years. A renewal adds years, but never beyond 10 years from the date of the renewal. Each registrar chooses which periods it offers. ccTLDs set their own terms. A .de contract has no fixed end, and the holder can terminate it at any time. For other ccTLDs, ask the registrar. When a term ends, the name must be renewed or it expires. ## Names you cannot register: reserved and restricted names Registries withhold some names. As of October 2026, the base Registry Agreement for new gTLDs reserves: - "example", which is never released; - two-character labels; - www, rdds, whois and nic, for running the registry; - country and territory names, released only with the agreement of the government concerned, or after GAC review and ICANN approval; - names of the International Olympic Committee, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and intergovernmental organizations, from an ICANN list in effect since no later than 1 August 2020, never released to third parties. A registry may also reserve other names at its own discretion and release them later, which is how some premium names reach the market. Older agreements can keep older lists: the 2006 .com schedule includes ICANN and IANA names such as icann, iana and ietf. In .es, a second-level name cannot match a TLD such as .com or .uk, and the rules let Red.es reserve names of state institutions and official place names. ICANN can also authorize releases. Its general authorizations cover two-character labels that are not two letters since 1 December 2014, and two-letter labels since 13 December 2016, with measures to avoid confusion with country codes. ## Eligibility rules in some TLDs Open TLDs accept anyone; restricted TLDs set eligibility requirements. As of October 2026: - **.eu**: citizens of the European Union (EU) wherever they live, non-EU residents of a member state, and businesses and organizations established in the EU. The registry can revoke a name if the holder stops qualifying, and a name can only be transferred to an eligible party. - **.es**: anyone with interests in or ties to Spain, read broadly (residents, businesses aimed at the Spanish market, cultural, historical or social ties), not checked beforehand. Some zones are narrower: .gob.es is only for Spanish public administrations. - **.de**: no residence requirement, but a holder not domiciled in Germany must name an agent in Germany to receive official or court documents, within two weeks if DENIC asks. Whether a particular registrant qualifies is a question for the registry, the registrar or a lawyer. ## Pre-registration and backorders: what they promise A pre-registration asks a registrar to try to register a name when a TLD opens. ICANN warns that success "cannot be guaranteed": another registrar may get the name, trademark holders go first, premium names may be auctioned, some names are blocked, and the TLD may never launch. As of October 2026, trademark priority is the sunrise: at least 30 or 60 days before general registration, depending on its type, followed by trademark claims for at least the first 90 days of general registration. A backorder targets a name someone already holds, in case it is deleted. It does not guarantee the name either. A worked example: someone wants example.com but cannot have it, because "example" is reserved in .com and in new gTLDs. They pick a made-up free name, here shop.example, choose a registrar, give accurate details, pay for 2 years and confirm their email address within 15 days. After two years they renew, or the name expires. ## Sources - [2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement](https://itp.cdn.icann.org/en/files/accredited-registrars/registrar-accreditation-agreement-21jan24-en.htm) - [Base gTLD Registry Agreement](https://itp.cdn.icann.org/en/files/registry-agreements/base-registry-agreement-21-01-2024-en.html) - [Pre-Reserve a Domain Name, or Not? ICANN Answers the Question](https://www.icann.org/en/blogs/details/pre-reserve-a-domain-name-or-not-icann-answers-the-question-13-11-2013-en) - [Regulation (EU) 2019/517 on the implementation and functioning of the .eu top-level domain name](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32019R0517) ## related terms - [renewal](https://tldlog.com/glossary/renewal/) - [expiration](https://tldlog.com/glossary/expiration/) - [registrar](https://tldlog.com/glossary/registrar/) - [registrant](https://tldlog.com/glossary/registrant/)