.uk.com Domain: an Unrestricted British Address Space
.uk.com is not a top-level extension: the name uk.com is an ordinary registration created in the .com registry on 1 May 1996, and the addresses sold here are formed one level below it. The zone is operated by 8 Inc., with technical registry services provided under contract by CentralNic Ltd. The structure is technically genuine, and that was measured: the zone carries its own DNSSEC signing records, its name servers are the CentralNic set, and queries are answered by whois.centralnic.com.
The eligibility gate is fully open. Clause 2.2 of the registry policy states plainly that there are no specific eligibility restrictions for applicants; all that is asked is accurate contact information and three representations — that the application is made with authority, that the name will not be used unlawfully, and that the information will be kept current. The zone's own site says the same: registration is open to everyone, everywhere, with no residency or business presence in the UK required. The operator does reserve the right to verify later, and expects a reply within fourteen days.
The commercial logic fits in two sentences: because the .co.uk pool is so full, short and brandable names can still be found here, and the address ends in «.com». Disputes run under CentralNic's CDRP, which opens with a free mediation stage and, if no settlement is reached, is decided by the National Arbitration Forum. Check your candidate on the domain name search screen.
.UK.COM Domain at a Glance
- Registry operator 8 Inc.; technical registry services by CentralNic Ltd
- Parent name uk.com, created in the .com registry on 1 May 1996
- Zone structure A separate registry zone carrying its own DNSSEC signing records
- Dispute procedure CDRP — free mediation first, then the National Arbitration Forum
- Governing law State of Nevada, USA; courts of Clark County
- Verification The registry may verify data later; the reply window is fourteen days
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .uk.com domain
- Country United Kingdom
- Character Length 1 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 1 - 13 servers
.uk.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
$39.00 /year -
Transfer
$39.00 /year -
Renewal
$42.90 /year -
Restore
$119.90 -
Late Renewal
$8.58
Included With Every .uk.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 lock
While the lock is on, nobody can move your domain to another registrar without your approval.
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Domain forwarding
Point the domain at your existing site, a campaign page or a social profile — at no extra cost.
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Free WHOIS privacy
Your name, address and phone stay out of public WHOIS records, which cuts down spam and scam calls.
.uk.com Domain Lifecycle
What happens day by day after it expires
Day 0 is the domain's expiry dateIn short: your .uk.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 .uk.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 .uk.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 $8.58 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 .uk.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
.uk.com Domain Specifications and Registration Rules
Registration conditions, supported features and the registry's own timelines in a single table.
.uk.com Domain Registration
- Document Requirement No documents are required to register a .uk.com domain
- Country United Kingdom
- Character Length 1 - 63 characters
- Registration Period 1 - 10 years
- Name Server Count 1 - 13 servers
.uk.com Domain Support
- IDN Support No
- Transfer Support Yes
- Late Renewal Support Yes
Frequently Asked Questions About .uk.com Domains
The questions people actually ask before registering — answered plainly.
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No. Clause 2.2 of the registry policy states plainly that there are no specific eligibility restrictions for applicants; no residency, company registration or business presence is required. All that is asked is accurate contact information and three representations: that the application is made with authority, that the name will not be used for any unlawful purpose, and that the information will be kept current. The zone's own site likewise says registration is open to everyone, everywhere.
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No, and the operator says so itself: «.UK.COM operates independently and has no affiliation with the UK government, .UK or .COM.» Technically it is not a top-level extension either: the name uk.com is an ordinary registration created in the .com registry on 1 May 1996, and the addresses sold here are formed below it. The official country extension is the .uk family operated by Nominet.
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Yes, and this was measured. The zone carries its own DNSSEC signing records, its name servers are the CentralNic set, and queries are answered by whois.centralnic.com; in a control query on 13 August 2026 a non-existent name returned a proper «not found» response, so the server is healthy. The zone also holds long-standing registrations — one name we sampled has been registered since 2008.
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Under CentralNic's CDRP; in our measurement on 13 August 2026 the policy's scope list named .uk.com explicitly. The procedure looks for the three UDRP elements: that the name is identical or confusingly similar to a mark, that the holder has no rights or legitimate interests, and bad faith. Its distinguishing feature is a free mediation stage run by the operator first; if no settlement is reached, the case is decided by the National Arbitration Forum. The rules in force date from 1 July 2014.
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Clause 4.6 of the registry policy sets the governing law as that of the State of Nevada, USA, and names the state and federal courts of Clark County, Nevada, as the forum. Clause 4.7 binds disputes between you and the registry to individual arbitration and waives class action rights, while reserving a right to opt out of that arbitration agreement. Trade mark disputes fall outside this clause and run through the CDRP.
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They are entirely separate systems. .co.uk is operated by Nominet, the country's official registry, sits under English law and has disputes decided by the registry's own service. .uk.com is an address space sold below .com by a private operator, 8 Inc., sits under Nevada law and is bound to the CDRP. The commercial reason to choose it is availability: because the .co.uk pool is so full, short names can still surface here.
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