FAQ

General

: Every natural person or organization can register its .SX domain name(s). An address in the Sint Maarten Island is not required.

: During all phases, the minimum period of registration is 1 year, although domain names can be registered for additional years by paying the Renewal Fee for those additional years. The maximum number of years a domain name can be registered is 10 years.

: It’s quite easy to get your own .SX domain, just contact an accredited registrar of your choice and they will guide you through the registration process. The overall process is as follows:
Check via the whois tool if the domain name you want is still available
When you find a name that is available, contact one of the accredited Registrars and ask this registrar to register your .SX domain of your choice.

: Domain names may currently only contain:
The letters a - z
The numbers 0 - 9
Hyphens (-)
Domain names should consist of at least 3 letters and/or numbers and a maximum of 63 characters. It is not possible to let your domain start or end with a hyphen.

: The fees that the accredited registrars charge to their customers can vary and depend among other things on the registration services they provide. A list of all accredited SX Registrars can be viewed under the “Registrar” menu. http://www.registry.sx/registrars/accredited-registrars From each registrar’s website you can see how much they charge.

: At the top of most pages of this SX website, click on the “Becoming a Registrar” link. http://www.registry.sx/registrars/becoming-a-registrar There will be a step-by-step explanation. There you can also find examples of the documents that need to be signed.

Restricted, Reserved and Premium Domain Names

: Restricted – Restricted Domain Names are names whose use is restricted for various reasons. Such reasons may be that the Domain Name represents a protected organizations’ names, features, services or simply that it is a banned Domain Name. It may also be reserved for future internal use of the registry.
Premium and Reserved – Premium and Reseved Domain Names are Domain Names that are sold at a higher price due to their high traffic value.
These are currently off the market, yet many are available now and may be acquired by going to ReservedNames.SX for more information.

: If you wish to register a Restricted Domain Name, you are welcome to email us and indicate who you are, which Domain Name you wish to register and how you intend to use the Domain Name. Our team will consider your request. Kindly note that such registration will no doubt be subject to usage and transfer restrictions.

: For reasons of security, confidentiality and marketability, these lists are not publicly available.

: When you search for a specific Domain Name at www.Registry.SX/Get-your-SX, the response will indicate whether that Domain Name is currently Available, Registered, or is a Premium, Reserved or Restricted Domain Name.

Government Domain Names

: It is the intention of the Registry that any and all Internet services provided by the Government of Sint Maarten be easily identifiable by the public, offer reliable information and remain secure in their use by the Government, its citizens and all other users.
With this in mind, the Registry together with the Bureau of Telecommunications and Post has implemented and will continue to revise certain naming policies, formats and conventions for Domain Names used by the Sint Maarten Government.
These policies are meant to be applied to and to protect any and all services provided by the Sint Maarten Government and any of its related ministries, departments, boards, authorities, services, agencies, offices and personnel (" SXMG “) via the internet.
These policies shall apply as they relate to any of SXMG’s websites, electronic mail servers, files servers or any other services using Domain Names (” SXMG Service(s) “).
To that effect, the Registry reserves the rights to suspend and/or block any Domain Name that threatens the security, identity and/or reliability of any SXMG Service. Such enforcement may be implemented as a decision of the Registry (with due notification to the Bureau Telecommunications and Post of Sint Maarten) or at the request of the Sint Maarten Bureau of Telecommunications and Post.
These policies shall extend to any Domain Name 1) the use of which may cause confusion, whether intentionally or not, with any SXMG Services, 2) the identity of which may cause confusion, whether intentionally or not, with any part of SXMG, or 3) the use of which does not follow SXMG Service Domain Name identification guidelines.
These policies shall also extend to Domain Names previously registered by and/or implemented by any SXMG.
The Registry reserves the rights to suspend and/or block any Domain Name contravening to the above policies without any advance notice.

: Simply contact the Sint Maarten Bureau of Telecommunications and Post and explain your requirements to them. They will promptly assist you to secure your Domain Name and take care of the registration on your behalf.

Disputes

: .SX Registry offers an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) via the independant Czech Arbitration Court. More information can be found on our site. You can also write to dispute@registry.sx

Whois

: The WHOIS is a database containing all .SX domain names that have been registered to date. By querying a name you are able to see if the domain is already registered or not i.e. whether it is still available. If the name has already been registered you will be able to see who registered it.

: EPP status flags are shown.

Transfers

: A transfer is the change of registrar of a domain. The ownership does not change.

: If you would like your domain name to be managed by another registrar, you have to request your current registrar to transfer that domain to your new registrar. Hence you need to inform both your current registrar and your new registrar. Only Accredited Registrars can process transfer applications. Once we received the transfer request (the ‘push’) from your current registrar, an email is issued to the new registrar. If the transfer is not confirmed, the procedure will be terminated and your current registrar should initiated a new transfer.

: If you make a mistake, you will have to wait until the request has expired (10 days). Afterwards you can initiate transfer again.

: When the request has been confirmed by all parties involved, the domain will be transferred instantly with a minimum of delay.

: Yes, this is technically possible. Contact your accredited registrar for more information.

Deletion of domain names

: Request your Accredited Registrar to delete your Domain Name. You will need to specify as of when you want the Domain Name to be deleted. Deletions must be requested before the expiration date of your Domain Name.

: Following the deletion, the Domain Name will be in Redemption Period for 45 days. Afterwards, it will be deleted and made available to the public for registration again.
There are 3 options to get back your Domain Name:
If the deletion data has not yet passed, you can ask your registrar to undelete the Domain Name.
If the deletion data has passed, but the Domain Name is still in its redemption period, you can ask your registrar to reactivate the Domain Name. You will be separately charged for reactivation.
If the redemption period passed as well, you can re-register the Domain Name (but so can third parties!).

: Any “delete” of a Domain Name will result in a 45-day Deleted Name Redemption Grace Period. This grace period will allow the Domain Name registrant, registrar, and/or Registry time to detect and correct any mistaken deletions. During this 45-day period, the deleted Domain Name will be placed on REGISTRY-HOLD, which will cause the name to be removed from the zone. (The Domain Name therefore will not function/resolve.) This feature will help ensure notice to the registrant that the name is subject to deletion at the end of the Redemption Grace Period, even if the contact data the registrar has for the registrant is no longer accurate. During the Redemption Grace Period, registrants could redeem their registrations through registrars. Registrars would be able to redeem the Domain Name for the original registrant by paying renewal fees, plus a service charge, to the Registry.

Partners

: Bureau Telecommunications and Post St. Maarten (BTP) is the independent regulatory authority for the Telecommunications and Post industry in St. Maarten. BTP is responsible for the maintenance of a competitive environment in St. Maarten in the industries with which it is tasked to regulate. BTP executes its tasks through consultations with industry participants and stakeholders, focused on attaining quality and affordable communications for all, working towards establishing an environment that support continuous growth and development within the industries.
CIRA: CIRA’s Fury Registry Platform is a next-generation TLD management platform with the features and functionality designed for the modern TLD business. Fury features a modern interface with roles-based access that provides flexibility in pricing, promotion, and domain management to help operators run their business and grow their registry.
Pool.com: Pool is the provider chosen by SX Registry to handle possible auctions for competing bids in its Sunrise and Landrush phases.
OCIX - Open Caribbean Internet eXchange: The OCIX is an organization that was formed in 2006 to represent the Internet community in Sint Maarten and the neighboring Caribbean Islands in their effort to create an Internet Exchange. At the time of formation, pending regulation and uncertainty meant that collaboration between different businesses in the Internet industry was a necessity. OCIX is now fully operational and is willing to assist anyone in partaking in the Internet Exchange. OCIX has been carefully constructed to be a representative of the entire Internet community, and focuses on issues that concern Internet Service providers, Content Providers and end-users.
LACTLD: The Latin America & Caribbean Top Level Domain Association is a non-profit association now regrouping the ccTLD’s of 27 different countries in its region. Its aim is to bring together the ccTLD’s of Latin America and the Caribbean. It’s objectives are to coordinate policies and promote strategies for the development of domain names in the region, represent its members’ interests in different associations and international/regional forums, promote the development of ccTLDs in the region, foster cooperation and exchange among its members to guarantee stability in the operations of ccTLDs, and establish cooperation ties with analogous associations in the different regions.

Registrar Technical FAQ

: If you cannot find the answer you need in our Registrar section on this website, you can find more documentation on our Registrar-only website on the following page: secure.registry.sx/registrar/docs/index.html .
You can also find a more relevant FAQ page on our Registrar website at: secure.registry.sx/registrar/docs/faq.html .
Please note that you will need to enter your Accredited Registrar credentials to access this website.