When a domain name reaches its expiration date and is not renewed by the registrar, the registry system performs an auto-renew on the domain name. The auto-renew extends the expiration date for one year whether or not the registrar has received payment from the registrant. For example:

Example.org, example.орг, example.机构, or example.संगठन, is set to expire on April 25, 2004. The following events will occur:

1. The registry auto-renews domain names the day after they expire. If the registrar does not renew this domain name with their registry prior to April 25, the registry will auto-renew the domain name for one year on April 26.
2. The registry auto-renews domain names the day after they expire. Therefore, on April 26, the registry will auto-renew the domain name for one year.
3. On April 26, the new expiration date will read April 25, 2005.
4. The registrar then has 45 days during which they may delete the registration and receive a credit for the registry fee.

To verify if your domain name has recently been auto-renewed, Ccheck the “Last Update Date” field in WHOIS. If this field states that your domain name was last updated the day after it expired, your name probably was auto-renewed.