Summary

  • Withdrawal of the primary IDN application also withdraws all variant strings applied for with it.
  • An individual applied-for variant may be withdrawn through an Application Change Request; the reverse cascade is not asserted.

ICANN’s 2026 Applicant Guidebook allows a new primary IDN and one or more allocatable variants to be included in the same application. That shared application also creates a directional withdrawal consequence: if the primary application is withdrawn, all applied-for variant strings are withdrawn with it.

The direction matters. The Guidebook separately permits an applicant to withdraw an applied-for variant through an Application Change Request. The cited rule does not say that withdrawing one variant withdraws the primary or the remaining variants.

The primary application is therefore the dependency anchor for the applied-for variant portfolio. A decision to withdraw it also withdraws every applied-for variant attached to it.

BTW recommends mapping every applied-for variant and its operational purpose before approving withdrawal of the primary. That is editorial operating guidance, not an additional ICANN requirement.

Sources