.lk Domain: Sri Lanka's Extension Running Since 1990
.lk is the country code extension of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, managed by the LK Domain Registry, which describes itself as the national body registering names ending in .lk and the sole administrator since 1990. IANA's root zone record dates the extension to 15 June 1990. The same registry also runs two internationalised extensions: Sinhala «.ලංකා» and Tamil «.இலங்கை».
Registration from abroad is open. The registry's own question and answer page puts it in one sentence: «At present, there is no local presence requirement. Therefore, foreign individuals and companies who do not have a local presence can register their domains either through LK Domain Registry or through Agents located in Sri Lanka.» The registration policy lists a passport among the accepted identity references, while applications made for an organisation require a business registration number.
Names that cannot be registered directly under .lk are set out in a long list: personal names, country names, names of towns and provinces, names denoting Internet services, activities requiring a government licence, and single character names. The policy's exception clause also shows the way out — some of those names may be registered under open second level zones such as com.lk. Check which level your name is free on via the domain search page.
.LK Domain at a Glance
- Registry LK Domain Registry — sole administrator since 1990
- Root zone registration 15 June 1990 (IANA record)
- Local presence Not required — stated plainly on the registry's own FAQ
- Registration term options 1, 2, 5 or 10 years — nothing in between
- Sale and transfer Prohibited; ownership change only for a genuine reason
- Internationalised counterparts Sinhala .ලංකා and Tamil .இலங்கை are separate top level zones
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .lk domain
- Country Sri Lanka
- Character Length 2 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers
Popular Domain Extensions for Sri Lanka
Registering the same name on more than one extension keeps someone else from taking your brand.
- .lk
- .com.lk
.lk 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
$36.99 /year -
Transfer
$37.69 /year -
Renewal
$40.69 /year -
Restore
$86.90
Included With Every .lk 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.
.lk Domain Lifecycle
What happens day by day after it expires
Day 0 is the domain's expiry dateIn short: for .lk the post-expiry timeline is set by the registry, so it differs from one extension to the next. The diagram below shows the windows that actually apply to .lk, day by day. One thing never changes, whichever extension you hold: renewing before the expiry date is always the cheapest and safest route.
Domain Is Available (Available)
A .lk 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 (Grace Period)
The registration does not end on the expiry date: for .lk the registry keeps the name for you during this window, and a renewal brings it back. Depending on the registry, the site and e-mail may stop working from day 0, so renewing before expiry is still the safe route.
Domain Is Available Again
Once deletion completes, the domain leaves the system and anyone can register it — popular names are often taken the same minute by someone watching. Keep auto-renewal on so a name you care about never gets this far.
.lk Domain Specifications and Registration Rules
Registration conditions, supported features and the registry's own timelines in a single table.
.lk Domain Registration
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .lk domain
- Country Sri Lanka
- Character Length 2 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 2 - 10 servers
.lk Domain Support
- IDN Support No
- Transfer Support Yes
- Late Renewal Support Yes
Frequently Asked Questions About .lk Domains
The questions people actually ask before registering — answered plainly.
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Yes. The registry's question and answer page answers this directly: «At present, there is no local presence requirement. Therefore, foreign individuals and companies who do not have a local presence can register their domains either through LK Domain Registry or through Agents located in Sri Lanka.» The registration policy lists NIC, passport or driving licence number among the accepted identity references; the presence of the passport in that list shows foreign applicants were anticipated. Applications made for an organisation also need a business registration number.
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There are four options: one, two, five or ten years. The registry's registration procedure page and its FAQ give the same list, and state that renewal also runs in those four terms, extending beyond the current expiry date. What matters is that the term is not a continuous range from one to ten: three, four, six, seven, eight and nine year registrations do not exist. Ten years is the option that pushes your renewal calendar out the furthest.
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There are two layers. The identity layer applies to every application: the registrant's name, email, NIC, passport or driving licence number and phone; for an organisation, its name, business registration number, address and phone. The category layer applies only where the subject matter is regulated: a Central Bank licence for banking, an Insurance Board licence for insurance, a letter from the principal for schools, from the vice-chancellor for universities, from the general secretary for political parties. An ordinary commercial name needs no category document.
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No. The transfer section of the registration policy states a plain prohibition: domains may not be sold nor offered for sale, and any such domain may be de-registered; the registrant does not have the right to sell or transfer the domain name to any party, whether for profit or otherwise. The policy also states that the registrant holds a right to use the name but not to own it. The registry permits a change of ownership only for a genuine reason: a company name change, a business transfer, or a new company formed by the same person.
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Two characters in practice. The registration policy writes the lower bound as a prohibition rather than a number: the last item on its list of names that will not be registered is «names which consist of a single character», which leaves two character names registrable. The registry's own price tiers confirm this independently, listing two letter and three letter names as separate items. Permitted characters are the letters a-z, the digits 0-9 and the hyphen; a hyphen may not begin or end a name, and names starting with «xn--» are not accepted.
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Yes, during the suspension period. The registration policy describes the chain: email reminders go to the billing contact before the expiry date, a final notice goes to all contacts on expiry, and if payment does not follow the name is suspended. During suspension «the original registrant may reactivate the domain name by settling all outstanding dues»; if that does not happen, deletion follows. The registration policy does not state how many days the suspension lasts, so the safest course is to renew before the expiry date.
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Not under .lk itself. The registry offers Sinhala and Tamil names in two separate top level zones: «.ලංකා» and «.இலங்கை». The IDN policy requires a requested name to consist only of characters from the language tables for those two zones and states that a name «cannot be a combination of English and IDN characters». It also requires at least two letters and valid Unicode code points. So .lk itself remains limited to Latin letters, digits and the hyphen.
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