When Expired Domains Can be Registered Again
After a domain expires, depending on your registrar (some gives a grace period) the domain will have to pass the following typical period:
1. Grace Period
When a domain is registered and expires through a registrar, it will usually remain available for reactivation..
Usually, the grace period is different among different registrar, however this is usually between 1 - 45 days after expiration. There is no guaranteed grace period, and once expired, the domain can be deleted from the database at any time.
2. Redemption Period
This is a 30-day timeframe after a registrar has deleted an expired domain such as .com, .net and .biz domains.
3. Pending Delete (.com .net)
It applies to .com and .net domains refers to the 5-day timeframe after Redemption during which time VeriSign holds the domain and it cannot be recovered.
4. Pending Delete (.org)
It applies to .org domains is the 30-day timeframe after the registrar (PIR) has deleted an expired .org domain.
In General, the life cycle of a domain will be as follow:
- After a domain expires, most registrars have a grace period of 1 - 45 days, during which time you can reactivate your domain.
- After the grace period, the domain is deleted from the registrar database and will not appear in your account. It is not available to register just yet.
- Once deleted, the domain is held for 30 days by the Registry.
- Once the domain is dropped it becomes available for anyone to purchase just like a new name.
The following diagram show a typical life cycle of a domain. Click image to view a large image (new window open).