Applies To:
- gTLD Domains (e.g. COM, NET, ORG)
Description:
A domain transfer may take a period of up to 14 days to complete. It is not possible to provide an exact timescale because the procedure depends on the time it takes the registrant (owner) to confirm the transfer and the time your current registrar takes to accept or reject the transfer.
When transferring a domain we recommend that you do so at least 28 days prior to expiry. Otherwise, if issues are encountered the domain may expire before the transfer completes which may prevent the transfer from completing. Once a domain expires you lose the right to use the domain, although the registrar may provide a short grace period where you can still renew. The availability of a grace period should not be assumed and you may incur additional costs. The working assumption should be that you never allow the domain to expire.
Prior to transferring a domain it is important that the registrant contact details are valid and inparticular the associated email address. Most domain transfers (excluding .UK domains) will send an authorisation email to the current registrant email address that must be acted upon to approve the transfer. If the email address is invalid you will not receive the email and the transfer will therefore fail. Please note, updating the registrant contact details including the email address will place a 60 day lock on the domain record which will prevent it from being transferred. This is imposed by the registry to prevent fraudulent domain transfers. This 60 day lock cannot be by-passed if you change the records so you need to consider this before making changes and scheduling a domain transfer.
It is important to note that transferring a domain registration to a new registrar is different to transferring hosting of a domain to a new provider. Should a domain lock be encountered due to you making a change to the record you may still switch the domain hosting during the 60 day period by modifying the nameservers associated with the domain. After the 60 days expires you could then transfer the registration.