Summary

  • As a one-time exception, applications for allocatable variants of existing gTLDs from the 2012 Round receive processing priority.
  • The priority is ahead of all other applicants, including IDN applicants that enter the prioritization draw, but it does not itself establish approval.

Section 3.1.9.3.1 of the ICANN 2026 Applicant Guidebook creates a queue-order exception for allocatable-variant applications tied to existing gTLDs from the 2012 Round. These applications receive processing priority over all other applicants, including IDN applicants participating in the prioritization draw.

The operative fact is sequencing. The cited provision does not say that a prioritized application has passed evaluation, secured allocation, entered a Registry Agreement or reached delegation. No application-specific priority number or processing date is asserted here.

BTW recommends treating the priority as a scheduling input: teams should prepare for earlier process attention without recording priority as a substantive outcome. That is editorial guidance, not an additional ICANN requirement.

Sources