Wikipedia:Category deletion

These are the current official policies for WP:CFD.

Speedy delete policy

Only categories which are misspelled, improperly capitalized, or are being nominated by their creator are eligible for speedy deletion.
Deletion and de-listed may occur after 2 days if there are no objections. This delay is to allow for objections over correct spelling, etc. to be made.
Presumably these discussions are not interesting, and so do not need to be saved on /resolved.
Sometimes notices about proper usage (e.g. Afghan vs. Afghani) need to be posted on the appropriate Category or Category_talk pages for the benefit of the community.

If a category has no children:

If there is a consensus that it should not exist, then it may be deleted after the normal time period.
If there are any votes that an empty category should exist, then it may not be deleted just for being empty until at least 30 days after nomination.

Categories that should exist but it is clear are missing articles or subcategories should be added to Category:Underpopulated categories.

How to declare a "delete" decision after 7 days:

Wait at least 7 days after nomination.
Make sure there is a clear consensus to delete.
Save interesting conversations in /resolved; discard uninteresting conversations.
De-populate the category or move it to "Empty me".
List the category to "Delete me" (unless it is a "red link", in which case, it is already deleted)
An administrator will delete it.

How to declare a "keep" decision after 7 days:

If no clear consensus to delete is reached after 7 days:

Move the discussion to Wikipedia:Categories for deletion/unresolved.
Post a note or template on WP:VFD inviting further comment.
Unresolved discussions that are part of a larger theme (e.g. the categorization of people, non-Wikipedia classification schemes) should be grouped together and spawn a Category:Policy_thinktank page if appropriate.
If there is no consensus to delete one week after posting on VFD, the decision shall be keep.