.CH

Name: .CH — TLD Knowledge Base
Creator: SWITCH

Switzerland

SWITCH · ccTLD · Updated 2026-09-10

OpenIDNDNSSEC

Specifications

Zone: .ch
Registration: Real-time
Registration period: 1 year
Character length: 1-63
IDN: Yes
DNSSEC: Yes
IPv6: Yes
Nameservers: 0-7 nameservers
Transfer time: 1-3 days
Auth code format: Standard EPP
Redemption period: 40 d
Handle updates: Yes
WHOIS update: Real-time
WHOIS server: whois.nic.ch
Connection: Direct
Data set: ccTLD
Registry lock: Yes
IDN character sets: ISO_8859_1
Auth code: Yes

Eligibility & Restrictions

Open to anyone worldwide. No residency requirement. Non-Swiss registrants must provide an authorised contact in Switzerland to receive official/court documents within 30 days on request. Registry deletes domains if Swiss contact not provided in time.

Registration

Minimum 1 year. Domains renew 5 days after expiry date by default. Must delete at least 30 days before expiry to disable auto-renewal. Transfers do not change expiry date.

Auto-renewal 5 days after expiry is a common surprise. Must delete 30+ days before expiry to prevent unwanted renewal.

Transfer Procedure

Auth code (Auth-ID) required from current registrar or directly from registry. Standard EPP transfer. Completes within a few days. Transfers do NOT change the expiry date.

📘 ICANN Transfer Policy (IRTP) — See ICANN Transfer Policy for the full IRTP framework, auth code rules, 60-day lock periods, and TEAC.

Registrant Change

Standard registrant change process. If ownership changing: additional documentation may be required. Changes take a few hours to reflect in WHOIS.

📘 ICANN OwnerChange (COR) — See ICANN OwnerChange for COR triggers, FOA/DA modes, 60-day lock, and opt-out.

Renewal & Deletion

Domains renew 5 days after expiry by default. Must delete at least 30 days before expiry to disable auto-renewal.

📘 ICANN ERRP — See ICANN ERRP for the standard gTLD expiry lifecycle (Auto-Renew Grace → RGP → Pending Delete → Released).

Restore / Redemption Grace Period

No documented restore/redemption period specific to SWITCH. Standard deletion process.

📘 ICANN ERRP — See ICANN ERRP for RGP details and standard restore fees.

WHOIS / Privacy

IDN supported (French/German accented characters: à, â, ä, ç, é, ê, ë, etc.).

📘 ICANN Registration Data Policy — See Registration Data Policy for RDP 2025, RDAP, redaction defaults, and privacy/proxy rules.

NIS2 Compliance

Switzerland is not an EU member state. NIS2 does not directly apply, though SWITCH may implement equivalent standards.

📘 NIS2 Compliance — See NIS2 Compliance for Article 28 requirements, registry implementation status, and operational impact.

Known Error Codes & Notes

Auto-renewal timing: Auto-renewal 5 days after expiry. Must delete 30+ days early to prevent.
Transfer expiry: Transfers do NOT extend the expiry date.
Swiss contact: Non-Swiss registrants must provide authorised Swiss contact for legal document service. Minimum 3 characters for domain name.

Data controllers

SWITCH The Swiss Education & Research Network (org) Werdstrasse 2, Zurich CH-8021, Switzerland
SWITCH The Swiss Education & Research Network — SWITCH TLD Administration (admin) Werdstrasse 2, Zurich CH-8021, Switzerland

Error codes

EF00803
EF01017
EF03008
EF00512
EF01008
EF01009
EF03005
EF03007
EF01015
EF03006
EF01075
EF03011
EF01055
EF03035
EF03010
EF01095
EF01074
EF0103118
EF011316

Required fields

techc/email
ownerc/email
adminc/email

Restrictions

Assumption of the current registration period. When transferring the registration period will be adopted.
Domains can be registered without restrictions.
Nameserver must be set up in advance and provide an authoritative response.

Root nameservers

A.NIC.CH
D.NIC.CH
E.NIC.CH
B.NIC.CH
F.NIC.CH

Tasks (API)

restore · available · chargeable · manual
update · available · automatic
updateStatus · available · automatic
create · available · chargeable · automatic
preack · available · automatic
authinfoDelete · available · automatic
transfer · available · chargeable · automatic · AuthInfo required
delete · available · automatic
authinfoCreate · available · automatic

API

Domain Create

POST https://api.autodns.com/v1/domain

{
  "name": "example.ch",
  "ownerc": {
    "id": 23142212
  },
  "adminc": {
    "id": 23142212
  },
  "techc": {
    "id": 23142212
  },
  "nameServers": [
    {
      "name": "ns1.example.com"
    },
    {
      "name": "ns2.example.com"
    }
  ],
  "confirmOrder": false
}

⚠ Non-Swiss registrants need authorised Swiss contact. Auto-renews 5 days after expiry.

Domain Transfer

POST https://api.autodns.com/v1/domain/_transfer

{
  "name": "example.ch",
  "auth": "(AUTH_CODE)"
}

⚠ Transfer does NOT change expiry date.

Create AuthInfo1

POST https://api.autodns.com/v1/domain/example.ch/_authinfo1

Standard EPP. Available from registrar or SWITCH.

Domain Restore

POST https://api.autodns.com/v1/domain/example.ch/_restore

⚠ No documented RGP specific to SWITCH.