.hk.com Domain: A Private Hong Kong-Focused Namespace
.hk.com is a private namespace for anyone who wants an address aimed at the Hong Kong market. Technically it is not a country extension but a zone beneath .com, so its addresses sit at the third level. The registry is UDR Limited, or Universal Domain Registry, based in Hong Kong. Names have been in use since March 2000, when the zone ran as a closed, single-outlet system under SARNic Ltd; SARNic ceased operating in 2013, UDR took the registry over and opened sales to accredited registrars.
Here is the point most easily confused: .hk.com is not Hong Kong's official country extension. The official .hk and the .com.hk space beneath it are administered by a separate body, HKIRC, and UDR has no link to it or to the Hong Kong government — it openly describes itself as the alternative to that incumbent. The rules, by contrast, impose no heavy conditions: you need not be established in Hong Kong, supply documents or appoint a local trustee, and names go to whoever applies first. The same registry's .ltd.hk space is reserved for limited companies incorporated in Hong Kong, and .inc.hk for Hong Kong companies incorporated elsewhere.
Two measured details bear on your decision. The first is disclosure: where its sibling .co.com shields the holder's details, this zone does the reverse — your name appears unmasked in a whois lookup, and the rules make that a condition you consent to. The second is name composition: addresses use only Latin letters, digits and hyphens, so neither Chinese script nor accented characters are supported. Check whether your name is still free on the domain name search page.
.HK.COM Domain at a Glance
- Registry operator UDR Limited (Universal Domain Registry), Hong Kong
- Previous operator SARNic Ltd — a closed system from March 2000 until 2013
- Rules in force UDR Registration Policies, 25 February 2015
- Sibling namespaces .hk.org, .ltd.hk, .inc.hk
- Holder data in whois Name and contact details are published publicly
- Dispute procedure ICANN UDRP; Hong Kong courts also available
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .hk.com domain
- Country Hong Kong
- Character Length 3 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 13 servers
.hk.com Domain Prices — No Surprise Fees
Registration, transfer and renewal fees are listed separately. The renewal price can differ from the first-year price, so you see both up front.
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New Registration
$24.99 /year -
Transfer
$20.79 /year -
Renewal
$24.99 /year -
Restore
$47.90
Included With Every .hk.com Domain
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Free DNS management
Change A, MX, TXT and CNAME records yourself from the panel — no waiting on anyone when you move a site or mailbox.
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Domain forwarding
Point the domain at your existing site, a campaign page or a social profile — at no extra cost.
.hk.com Domain Lifecycle
What happens day by day after it expires
Day 0 is the domain's expiry dateIn short: your .hk.com domain is put on Client Hold on its expiry date, so the site and e-mail stop that same day. You can still renew during the first 20 days, but from this point a late renewal fee is added on top of the renewal price. On day 20 the registration is deleted and until day 50 only a paid restore brings it back. Nothing at all can be done in the 5 days that follow, and on day 55 the name is open to anyone. There is exactly one way never to enter this chain: keep auto-renewal on.
Domain Is Available (Available)
A .hk.com address at this stage has not been taken yet, and it goes to whoever registers first. Check the name you have in mind — if it is free, it can be yours within minutes.
Domain Is Active (Active Period)
Once registration is complete, the domain is registered to you for the term you selected. You can renew at any point before it expires to keep it active, or switch on auto-renewal so you never have to watch the date.
Renewal Window (Client Hold)
On its expiry date your .hk.com domain is put on Client Hold: the site and e-mail go down that day, but the registration is still yours. A single renewal within these first 20 days brings everything back exactly as it was — nothing is lost. The only difference is that a late renewal fee is now added to the renewal price; renewing before the expiry date avoids that fee entirely.
Redemption Period (Redemption / RGP)
On day 20 the registration is deleted and the 30-day redemption period that ICANN requires of every gTLD registry begins. The name is not released to anyone during this time; only you can take it back, by paying the restore fee, until day 50. That fee is far higher than a renewal — renewing on time is always the cheaper route.
Pending Delete (Pending Delete)
Once the redemption window closes too, the domain enters its final 5 days and there is no way back. Neither renewal nor restore works here; nobody — your registrar included — can return the name to you. The registry uses this window as the last hold before the name goes back into the pool.
Open to Anyone Again (Released)
On day 55 the name .hk.com returns to the pool and anyone can register it. Sought-after names are often gone within seconds, and there is no guaranteed way to get one back. Yet staying out of this timeline is entirely in your hands: leave auto-renewal on and the expiry date will never catch you off guard.
The timeline above is the schedule Atak Domain applies and publishes. The ICANN chart you will find elsewhere shows a renewal window of up to 45 days after expiry; ICANN's policy on expired registrations (section 2.2.1) lets registrars delete an expired domain at any time, provided they disclose their policy in advance. We apply that window as 20 days and publish it here in plain sight. Full text of the policy: ICANN Expired Registration Recovery Policy
.hk.com Domain Specifications and Registration Rules
Registration conditions, supported features and the registry's own timelines in a single table.
.hk.com Domain Registration
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .hk.com domain
- Country Hong Kong
- Character Length 3 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 13 servers
.hk.com Domain Support
- IDN Support No
- Transfer Support Yes
- Late Renewal Support No
Frequently Asked Questions About .hk.com Domains
The questions people actually ask before registering — answered plainly.
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They are in different hands. .hk is Hong Kong's official country code extension and is administered, together with the .com.hk space beneath it, by HKIRC. .hk.com is a private namespace opened underneath a registration held in the .com registry, and its registry is operated by UDR Limited. The split is visible in measurement too: the two zones have entirely different name servers and authority records. The practical consequence is that registering a .hk.com address gives you no standing in Hong Kong's official domain system — UDR positions itself as the alternative to it.
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Three characters. The published rules and the working system say different things here, so both were measured. The text bars only single-character labels, which on its wording would leave a two-letter name possible. When the registry's own lookup server was queried in August 2026, however, both one and two character names came back not as «not found» but as invalid format, while three-character names were processed normally. The binding lower limit at the moment of ordering is therefore three, and a two-letter .hk.com address cannot be obtained. At the top end, measurement accepted a 63-character label.
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No. The name structure clause lists the permitted characters: only the letters A to Z (case insensitive), the digits 0 to 9 and hyphens; a name may begin and end only with a letter or digit and may not carry hyphens in the third and fourth positions. Because that last condition technically excludes the mandatory «xn--» prefix of the punycode form, internationalised names cannot be registered in this zone. The rules contain no provision at all about an IDN table or supported scripts. For a Hong Kong-focused namespace that is a notable limit: the official .hk extension supports Chinese-script names, .hk.com does not.
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Yes, they are — and that is a deliberate rule. The rules frame it as a matter of consent: by applying, you agree that the registry and the registrar may publish your name, the administrative contact's particulars, the dates relating to the registration and the results of any dispute proceedings. The same clause states plainly that organisations other than the registry and registrar, as well as members of the public, will have access to that information. Measurement in August 2026 confirmed it: real names held at independent registrars returned the holder's name unmasked. If you would rather not expose a private address, consider registering under company details.
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There are two separate operations and they are easily confused. For a change of registrar you request an authorisation code; it is sent only to the email address recorded with the registry, and you pass it to the new provider. Your existing registrar may not refuse the request or delay it unreasonably. If a change was made without your knowledge, you can object with a signed letter and documentary proof of your legal status, and the registry will roll the name back if it accepts the objection. A change of holder is a separate procedure: transferor and transferee jointly execute a transfer form. Start on the domain transfer page.
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Yes, the registry operates a «controlled words» rule. The rules state that an application may be refused where the name consists of or refers to the words «government», «bank», «insurance» or «assurance», or carries any other word restricted under Hong Kong legislation. The critical detail is what the same clause adds: neither the registry nor the registrar accepts responsibility for vetting names for controlled words. So the rule is not an automatic block — it operates at application review and through later cancellation. A name containing such a word may well show as available in a lookup, but keeping it depends on your being satisfied that the use breaks no legislation.
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You are expected to list at least two independent name servers in the application, and they must be operational, connected to the internet and able to answer queries for the name. The timing binds too: if the servers listed are not fully set up, operational or connected within thirty calendar days of the activation date, or persistently fail to answer queries, the registration may be cancelled. If you register without supplying valid server details, the registry or registrar may park the name on temporary records. The upshot is that registering a name and postponing setup for months risks more than an unreachable address — it risks the registration.
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