Summary

  • When sought in the same round, a primary IDN and its requested allocatable variants must be filed in one application.
  • After submission, a listed variant may be withdrawn, but a new allocatable variant cannot be added.

ICANN’s 2026 Applicant Guidebook allows an applicant to request a new primary internationalized domain name together with one or more allocatable variant strings. The RZ-LGR supplies the set from which those allocatable variants may be chosen; a blocked variant cannot be requested.

The filing sequence matters. An application for an allocatable variant cannot precede the application for its primary IDN gTLD. When the primary and variants are sought in the same round, ICANN requires them to be submitted through one application.

Submission creates an asymmetric change rule. The applicant may later withdraw a variant already listed in that application through an Application Change Request. It cannot add another allocatable variant that was not included in the original filing. Withdrawal narrows the requested set; it does not reopen selection.

The dependency also runs through the primary string. If the applicant withdraws the application for the primary IDN gTLD, all applied-for variant strings are withdrawn with it. Successful evaluation would allocate the primary and requested allocatable variants to the same registry operator under one Registry Agreement.

BTW recommends freezing the complete set of the primary and requested allocatable variants before submission. That is editorial operating guidance, not an additional ICANN requirement.

Sources