Today we will be covering what is needed to perform a successful domain transfer from one registrar to another.  These requirements are universal for all domain transfers in which the registrar is changing.  You will need to make changes and/or request assistance from your current registrar in order for the transfer to complete successfully.  The following sounds confusing, but the verbiage is quite simple:

Registrant: This is you, the customer who is in control of the domain name.
Losing Registrar: The company the domain is being transferred from.
Gaining Registrar:  The company the domain is being transferred to.

When a Registrant wants to move their domain name from one registrar to another, they must transfer the domain.  A successful domain transfer typically takes about 5-7 days to complete, and must meet all of the following requirements:

• Domain was not registered within the last 60 days
• Domain is not expired
• Domain does not have Domain Privacy enabled
• Domain is not locked at Losing Registrar
• Customer has EPP Code from Losing Registrar

Domain transfers work the same across all registrars per ICANN requirements.  There are three parties involved: the Registrant, Losing Registrar, and Gaining Registrar, and the process typically look like something like this:

• Registrant unlocks their domain at Losing Registrar
• Registrant obtains EPP Code from Losing Registrar
• Registrant purchases transfer from Gaining Registrar
• Registrant inputs EPP Code at Gaining Registrar
• ICANN sends verification email to the “admin” WHOIS email
• Registrant verifies ICANN email
• Losing Registrar releases the domain to the Gaining Registrar

Once the transfer process is complete, any applicable settings from the Gaining Registrar are applied, such as re-locking the domain (automatic), re-enabling Domain Privacy (add-on) and updating the nameservers.

• It is important to note that during a transfer, the nameservers can not be modified, therefore if a customer didn’t point their nameservers to us prior to initiating the transfer, their site will not point to our servers until the transfer is completed.
• Registrants do not lose time already registered on their domain when transferring registrars, instead, those years move with the domain and an additional year typically gets added to the registration.

This concludes the transfer process.  The Gaining Registrar is now in control of the domain name itself, and therefore it’s nameservers.

Get started today here!