Enter Nepal market with a .COM.NP Domain

Yes, provided you establish a local link. The registry's policy states that foreign companies are required to have an official presence in Nepal as a joint venture, partnership, agent or licensee in order to qualify, and that official documents proving that presence must be submitted with the application. The list of documents recognises a second route: for entities with business interests in Nepal, a trademark registration certificate issued in Nepal or an official filing receipt from the Department of Industry is accepted, with the certificate itself to follow within three years.

The rules set the frame in one sentence: the registrant must submit scanned copies of original documents for the verification process. The list then splits by applicant type: for local entities, the registration certificate of the company, firm, partnership or organisation; for foreign entities registered in Nepal, a branch or liaison office registration or a certificate of affiliation with the Social Welfare Council; for non-incorporated structures, a PAN tax registration certificate. Organisational applications additionally require a request letter on headed paper with the official stamp and an authorised signature.

It does not — and this is an unusual model. The registry says so in the opening sentence of its own page: «Since .com.np domains do not expire, a periodic domain reverification process has been initiated.» Its own lookup service confirms the point: the response carries the first registration date, the name servers and the contact details, but no expiry date field at all. Instead of a renewal calendar there is a verification check that the registry runs from time to time.

There are three routes. The first is reverification: if your name is placed in the «Reverification State», a formal request letter plus identity or organisational documents are required, and failure to meet the requirements may lead to administrative action stopping or releasing the name. The second is the inactivity rule: the rules reserve the registry's right to transfer a name that has been inactive for two years to another user. The third is complaint-based: if a formal complaint about illegal activity associated with the website is received, the registry will be obliged to suspend it.

The name has to be connected to the registrant. The rules give the registry the right to verify the name and set the test: it must be an exact match, abbreviation or acronym of the registrant's name or trademark, or otherwise closely and substantially connected to the registrant. For foreign companies the rule is tighter still: they may only take a name suggesting their own company or trade name, not a generic one. A name must be at least three characters long, and names containing offensive, generic or inflammatory words will not be registered.

No. The rules close this in two sentences: «Internationalized Domain Names are not offered for now» and requests starting with the characters «xn--» may not be registered. The second sentence matters, because it also closes the punycode route — converting a non-Latin name into its ASCII form will not get it registered either. The accepted characters are alphanumerics and the hyphen, and a name may not begin or end with a hyphen. Name server details must also be fully qualified domain names, not IP addresses.

Yes, there is an account transfer procedure inside the registry. For personal names a formal transfer request letter clearly naming both the current and the destination account is required, together with a copy of an identity document; for organisational names the same letter goes on company letterhead and a copy of a company, brand or trademark registration is attached for authentication. The registry also sets a precondition: the party receiving the name must already be registered in its own system. See the domain transfer page for details.

Yes, all of them — and the rules put it in the strongest terms: «All registration information will be considered as information within the public domain, and will be accessible using the Internet as the publication vehicle. No provision is made concerning acceptance of information under any imposed condition of confidentiality or non-disclosure.» The registry's own lookup service returns the registrant e-mail, the contact person's name, the company name, the administrative e-mail, the telephone number and the address in the clear. Using a corporate e-mail address and phone number is therefore a practical safeguard.

There is no arbitration procedure, but there is an administrative transfer right. The rules first state that registration confers no legal rights and that disputes are to be settled between the parties using normal legal methods. They then open a concrete door: if a party claims that a registered name violates its registered trade name or an obvious derivation of its registered company name — provided it registered that name with the Government of Nepal at least one year before the domain's registration date — the registry reserves the right to transfer the name to the claimant. A Nepali court has the final word.

The registry gives two figures. Its registry policy says it may take at least 24 hours to get a domain registered or modified, and longer depending on the number of pending requests; the FAQ adds that under load the process can take 3 to 4 business days or more, because every submitted document has to be verified and authenticated. Rejected names are not retained for more than three to four business days. Sending complete, legible documents on the first attempt shortens this window directly.