Normally, domains can be registered for a period between 1 and 10 years. In this article, we cover the stages a domain can go through from registration to removal.
Registration or renewal
Domain names, in the vast majority of TLDs, can be registered or renewed for a period of 1 to 10 years.
Expired domain / Begin of 'Renewal Grace Period (RGP)'
When the domain expires, it enters the 'Renewal Grace Period (RGP)', which varies from 30 to 45 days depending on the domain extension. The domain state is changed to 'ClientHold' and all services associated with the domain name (eg website, emails) will stop working. During the 'Renewal Grace Period', the domain owner can renew their domains at any time at normal cost with no additional fees. However, you cannot transfer the domain to another Registrar without first renewing it.
End of 'Renewal Grace Period (RGP)' / Beginning of 'Redemption Period'
At the end of the 'Renewal Grace Period (RGP)', the domain is eliminated by the Registrar, and the 'Redemption Period' begins, which lasts for 30 days. During this period, the domain can be redeemed / renewed, however this implies the payment of an administrative redemption fee, in addition to the normal cost of renewing the domain. This fee varies depending on the TLD (top level domain).
During the 'Redemption period' you may notice that the domain expiration date in the WHOIS information has advanced by 1 year. This is a temporary automatic renewal.
'Redemption Period' ended, domain entered for deletion.
60 days after the domain's expiration date (assuming a 'Renewal Grace Period' of 30 days), the 'Redemption Period' ends. The domain is then placed in the 'PendingDelete' state for a period of 5 days. During this period, it will not be possible to carry out any recovery, renewal or redemption action on the domain. At this point, the only way to recover the domain is to wait for it to be released by the Registry entity and made available again for registration.
Domain removed / Available again for registration
After 5 days regarding the 'PendingDelete' status, the domain will be placed again for registration to the general public, on a first-come, first-served basis. If it is a relevant domain, or with a lot of associated traffic, there is a high probability of being acquired a few seconds after being made available for registration.
We remind you that the best policy is to renew a domain for the maximum period possible and to renew it before the expiration date.