Domain .idn - New TLDs

.idn domain information

.idn is a proposed generic top-level domain (gTLD) applied for in ICANN's 2012 new gTLD programme. It has not yet been delegated to the root zone and is not currently available for registration. Pricing is not yet confirmed.

While .idn awaits approval, internationalised domain names — domains in non-Latin scripts — can already be registered today under many existing TLDs in our catalogue.

What is .idn and why does it exist?

"IDN" stands for Internationalized Domain Name — a domain name that contains characters from non-Latin scripts, such as Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, Hebrew, Thai, Devanagari or Greek.

Until 2009, the DNS root only supported ASCII characters, which meant domain names could only use the Latin alphabet (a–z), digits (0–9) and hyphens. IDN technology, standardised in IDNA2003 and later IDNA2008, extended the domain system to support virtually any Unicode character by encoding non-Latin labels into a machine-readable ASCII form (known as Punycode). This allows a browser to resolve a domain like кафе.ru or مثال.ar transparently.

The proposed .idn TLD is an ASCII-script extension designed to signal that a domain or service is oriented toward the IDN-capable, multilingual internet. It was applied for in ICANN's 2012 new gTLD round and has been in procedural review ever since.

What is the current status of .idn?

.idn (Application ID 1-1873-71868) remains pending in ICANN's 2012 new gTLD programme. The application was filed under ICANN's Applicant Support Programme, which assists organisations from underserved regions and communities. As of June 2026, the application has not been delegated, terminated or withdrawn.

ICANN's September 2025 Board resolution directed the termination of unsuccessful 2012-round applications, but .idn has not been among those confirmed as terminated. No launch date has been announced by ICANN or the applicant.

In parallel, ICANN's new 2026 gTLD round opened on 30 April 2026. That round includes improved IDN coverage and may eventually bring additional international-script TLDs into existence — but .idn itself is a separate 2012-round application unconnected to the 2026 process.

Do you need to wait for .idn to use a non-Latin domain?

No. IDN support is a feature of existing registries, not something unique to the pending .idn extension. Many TLDs already support internationalised names today:

• Country-code TLDs (ccTLDs): Most registries accept domain names with the diacritics and accented characters native to their country's language. Registrants in Germany can register straße.de; in Poland, żółw.pl; in France, réseau.fr. Script-specific ccTLD extensions — such as .рф for Russian or .中国 for Chinese — allow the entire domain, including the extension, to appear in the native script.

• Generic TLDs (gTLDs): Hundreds of new gTLDs launched since 2014 also support IDN via Punycode encoding, meaning you can register a label in any supported Unicode script paired with a familiar extension like .online, .store or .site.

If you are building a multilingual site or targeting a non-Latin-script audience, you do not need to wait — you can register an internationalised domain today.

What can you register right now?

Here are domains available through Let's Domains, organised by the language communities they serve:

European languages with diacritics (Latin script)

Extensions like .de, .fr, .es, .pl, .it, .pt, .nl, .se, .fi, .cz, .hu and .ro all accept domain labels with the accented and special characters used by those countries.

Cyrillic script

.ua (Ukraine), .bg (Bulgaria), .rs (Serbia) support Cyrillic-script IDN labels.

Arabic script

.sa (Saudi Arabia), .ae (UAE), .eg (Egypt), .ma (Morocco) and .tn (Tunisia) each support Arabic-script characters within the domain label.

CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)

.cn (China), .jp (Japan) and .kr (South Korea) support their respective native scripts for IDN registrations.

Hebrew script

.co.il (Israel) accepts Hebrew-script IDN labels.

Global extensions

If you need a script-neutral international presence, .com, .net, .org, .online, .site, .store and .global are all IDN-capable and available without geographic restriction.

When will .idn be available?

There is no confirmed timeline. Given that the 2012-round application has been in review for over a decade and no delegation date has been announced, we cannot estimate when or whether .idn will become available. If and when the status changes, we will update this page.

Want to stay updated?  Contact us  if you would like to be notified as soon as .idn registration officially opens.

FAQ

Below you will find questions and answers about the .idn domain

Can I register a .idn domain today?

No. The .idn extension has not yet been approved or delegated to the root zone by ICANN. Registration is unavailable and pricing is not yet confirmed.

What does IDN stand for?

IDN stands for Internationalized Domain Name. It refers to any domain name that contains characters outside the standard ASCII set, allowing the use of non-Latin scripts like Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Thai or Greek.

Do I need .idn to use a non-Latin domain name?

No, not at all. Hundreds of active TLDs already support IDN through Punycode encoding. You can register a domain name in your native script right now using most country-code extensions (ccTLDs) and many generic extensions (gTLDs) available in our catalogue.

What is Punycode?

Punycode is a translation syntax used to transform non-ASCII Unicode characters into an ASCII-compatible encoding (ACE) format. Because the core DNS system only understands standard Latin characters, a domain like кафе.ru is automatically translated by browsers into xn--80aa3adxha.ru to resolve properly.

Why has the .idn application been pending since 2012?

The application was submitted during ICANN's 2012 new gTLD window and processed under the Applicant Support Programme. Ongoing policy evaluations, technical reviews, and procedural delays within ICANN have kept several 2012 applications in a pending state. ICANN has not publicly disclosed a specific reason for the delay regarding .idn.

Will ICANN's 2026 gTLD round bring .idn online?

Not directly. The new 2026 round (with an application window from 30 April to 12 August 2026) is designed for entirely new applications. The .idn project is tied to the original 2012 round and must be approved through that separate, independent track.

Where can I register a domain with Arabic characters today?

Through Let's Domains, you can register Arabic-script labels under supporting ccTLDs like .sa, .ae, and .eg, or global extensions like .com.  Get in touch with our team  for guidance on choosing the best extension for your target audience.