About .ws Domain Names

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Last Updated: April 16, 2015 12:12 PM

The .ws country-code top-level domain name (ccTLD) is an extension that represents Western Samoa. For companies that conduct business in that region and individuals who want to reach the growing number of Internet users there, .ws domain names are a good investment. Registering a .ws domain name gives you regional recognition and an easy-to-manage Web presence. In addition, .ws is globablly recognized as an abbreviation for website.

Who can register .ws domain names?

Anyone, anywhere can register .ws domain names on a first-come, first-served basis.

NOTE: To register a .ws domain name with 3 characters or less, visit the Global Domains International, Inc. registry.

Domain names can contain three to 63 characters, including letters (a to z), numbers (0 to 9), and hyphens (except at the beginning or end of the domain name). You cannot register domain names with special characters, such as & and #.

Which registry controls .ws domain names?

Global Domains International, Inc. is the registry for .ws domain names.

For how long can I register .ws domain names?

The minimum registration length for .ws domain names is one year, and the maximum is 10 years.

When do .ws domain names renew?

You should renew your .ws domain name by its expiration date.

We attempt auto-renewal on the domain name's expiration date. If the renewal attempt fails, we re-attempt renewal five days later, and we make a final attempt seven days after that.

If we cannot auto-renew the domain name and you do not manually renew it by the 19th day after its expiration date, you can attempt to recover it, and there might be a fee to do so. See Recovering Expired Domain Names for more information.

For example: Your .ws domain name expires on October 10. For automatic renewals, we attempt to renew the domain name on October 10, October 15, and October 22. If we cannot auto-renew the domain name and you do not manually renew it by October 29, you can attempt to recover it.

Can I transfer .ws domain names to my account with you?

Yes. See Transfer domain to IX-ONE DOMAIN HOST for details on the transfer process. To successfully transfer a .ws domain name to us, your current registrar must support .ws transfers.