Country extension · Hong Kong SAR China
.gov.hk domain name
What you need to know about .gov.hk: who can register it, which details are required and how transferring works.
Specifications
The key details of .gov.hk
- Country
- Hong Kong SAR China
- Registry
- hkirc.hk
- Registration period
- 1 to 3 years, 5 years or 10 years
- Renewal period
- 1 to 3 years or 5 years
- Domain name length
- 2 to 63 characters
- Time to registration
- up to 3 working days
- Transfer time
- 10 days
- Renewal on transfer
- no
- Transfer code length
- 6 to 16 characters
- Transfer lock available
- no
- Number of nameservers
- 2 to 13
- Quarantine after deletion
- 30 days
Features
- DNSSEC: yesYou can secure your domain name with DNSSEC.
- IPv6: yesThe nameservers for this extension can also be reached over IPv6.
- Special characters: yesDomain names with letters such as é, ü or ø (and sometimes other scripts) are possible.
- Whois privacy: no
- Trustee: no
Requirements
Who can register a .gov.hk?
- The registrant of a .gov.hk domain name must be based or live in Hong Kong. A local presence is required.
- A .gov.hk domain name can only be registered with approval from the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer in Hong Kong.
- When you register, you choose whether the registrant is an individual or an organisation. All contacts for the domain name must fall into the same category.
- If the name contains the word government, bank, assurance or insurance, or a derivative of these, you must provide additional documents proving that you're allowed to use that word.
Additional details for registration
- You indicate whether the registrant is an individual or an organisation.
- Organisations provide the type of registration document and its number, for example a business registration certificate, certificate of incorporation, school registration, government department or ordinance.
- Individuals provide the type of identity document and its number, for example a Hong Kong identity card, a foreign identity card, a passport or a birth certificate.
- You also state the country that issued the document.
- If the registrant is an individual, you indicate whether they're 18 or older.
Documents
- .gov.hk requires approval from the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer.
- Organisations must provide a registration number and supporting documents. Individuals send a copy of their identity card or passport.
- If you use one of the words government, bank, assurance or insurance in the name, you must send additional supporting evidence.
Good to know when registering
- The application is only completed once it's been approved by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer. So don't expect the registration to be finalised straight away.
Transfer
Transferring a .gov.hk
- You can transfer a .gov.hk domain name to another registrar using a transfer code.
- The registrant of the domain name requests the transfer code themselves and passes it on to the new registrar.
The transfer code
- You need a special transfer code for a transfer.
- As the registrant, you request this code directly via the website of HKDNR, the Hong Kong registry.
Owner
Change of registrant
Change of registrant
- The new registrant must also be based or live in Hong Kong.
- You can't simply change the name of the registrant or the organisation. That requires an official change of registrant.
- For a change of registrant, you fill in a special form. That form and all supporting documents are submitted together as a single PDF. WebOké will help you with this.
- If the current registrant is a Hong Kong company, you provide an extract from the business register that's no more than 30 working days older than the date of the request letter.
- If the current registrant is a foreign company, a signed DCTNR1 declaration form is required. This must be accompanied by a recent document, no more than 30 working days old, showing that the signatory is a director, partner or owner.
- If the current registrant is an individual from Hong Kong, you include a copy of their Hong Kong identity card or passport.
- If the current registrant is between 11 and 18 years old, copies of the identity documents of the parents or guardian are also required, together with a birth certificate or guardianship statement.
- The new registrant must prove that they legally exist and meet the requirements of the extension.
- If the new registrant is a Hong Kong company, you provide a recent extract from the business register, no more than 30 working days old, together with the business registration certificate.
- If the new registrant is an individual from Hong Kong, you include a copy of their Hong Kong identity card or passport.
- If the new registrant is a foreign company, a signed DCTNR1 form is required, along with recent proof of the signatory's authority.
- If the new registrant is an individual outside Hong Kong, a signed DCTNR2 form is required, along with a copy of a passport or identity card.
- HKDNR may ask for additional documents. You must then provide them within the stated deadline.
- HKDNR may refuse the change of registrant if the correct documents are missing or insufficient.
Renewal, cancellation and quarantine
- After cancellation, a .gov.hk domain name is permanently deleted within 7 days.
- A request to restore a domain name is handled manually. You'll be notified of the outcome by email.
More information
Registry rules and links
- Registry website hkirc.hk
- Registry whois registrar.hkirc.hk
- Dispute resolution policy hkirc.hk
- Registry terms and conditions hkirc.hk
Compiled from the registry's rules. Registries sometimes change their rules; if in doubt, the registry's terms take precedence. Updated on 11/11/2026.