Summary

  • ICANN reviews an Application Change Request against seven criteria and decides which further processes are required.
  • A material change to public application content opens a 30-day comment period; that publication is not approval.

The 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook permits applicants to correct inaccurate or outdated information and request other application changes. The mechanism is an Application Change Request, or ACR, and every request remains subject to ICANN approval.

Materiality is a routing decision

ICANN balances seven criteria when it evaluates an ACR: correction of submission errors, the applicant's explanation, the cause for change, precedent, effects on third parties, materiality and timing. Their weight can vary with the application, the applicant and the strings involved.

Materiality does not decide the request by itself. The Guidebook says a material change will not automatically cause rejection, although it affects how the other criteria are weighed. A useful record therefore separates the materiality assessment from the eventual determination.

Thirty days open public review

When a change materially affects public portions of an application, ICANN posts the updated information for a 30-day comment period. The public can review and comment on the changed portion. This is a participation step, not notice that ICANN has approved the change.

In BTW's editorial analysis, comments should be checked for third-party effects, fairness concerns and consequences for evaluation or string contention because those subjects also appear in ICANN's determination criteria.

Re-evaluation can run beside the comment period

ICANN may determine that comment and re-evaluation are required. Where re-evaluation applies, ICANN invoices the applicant and, after payment, re-evaluates the affected evaluation areas concurrently with the comment period.

BTW recommends keeping these concurrent steps as separate records: public comments, any re-evaluation of affected areas and ICANN's later determination.

Preserve the decision chain

BTW recommends tracking five distinct states: the submitted request, ICANN's materiality and process determination, the 30-day comment record, any re-evaluation result and the final disposition of the ACR. This is editorial advice rather than an ICANN filing requirement.

Sources