How to Transfer a Domain Name to a New Domain Registrar

A domain transfer should be possible with any domain registrar that you are currently dealing with. Some of the main top brands in terms of registering and transferring domains to, are GoDaddy, eNom, and Namecheap. For whatever reason may it be, it should be possible at any given time, as domains are YOUR property. If you see that your registrar is making excuses in delaying the process from your first sign of notification that you want to transfer out, they are either a) trying to wait for the deadline to persist in billing, or b) trying to take hostage of your domain name – a rare case but sometimes happens if you got a really good domain. That is why I recommend sticking with one of the three domain registrars that I recommended, as they are known to be very trustworthy in the industry.

Qualifications Before Transfering

In order for you to be able to transfer out a domain, you must meet these qualifications from the ICANN act.

• The domain must be already registered for 60 days at very least to become eligible of a transfer.
• You must have the current possession of the domain in order to transfer.
• Your domain name must be “unlocked” during the duration of the transfer (can be relocked afterwards).
• Domain must be active (does not have expired status) .
• Not in any legal dispute with facing bankruptcy.
• Domain Administrative contact information must be valid and up to date.

Most of the time, you can see whether or not your domain name is locked or not, under the “My Domains” tab. If you do not cleverly see the unlock or lock option, you must ask your domain registrar to verify if it is unlocked and if it is eligible to be transferred out. A locked domain means that it is not eligible to be moved anywhere, a safety precaution that most webmasters enable to prevent unwanted anonymous domain transfers. Unlocking your domain, enables it to be transferred out with the right permission.

Steps on How to Transfer a Domain Name

Once you can verify that your domain is unlocked and ready to be transferred, your next step is obviously to transfer out your domain name. In order for the transfer to take effect, you must register with the new domain registrar, the one you want to transfer your domain to, and request a domain transfer (ideally around $8-$15 tops) and under what domain you want to transfer, you simply type in your unlocked domain name and hit enter. Once you select this option, the registrar (that you are transferring your domain to) will have to contact – usually via email – the administrator of your domain to transfer.

Upon receiving the email notification, the administrator of your domain has to agree to accept the transfer. This step generally helps to validate the authenticity of the request for a transfer of domain name. If the administrator does not accept the transfer within a given period of time (within 5 days) then the registrar will assume that the transfer has been rejected. For this reason, it is important to ensure that all the contact information in your domain records is updated and valid.

On the other hand, if your administrator does accept the transfer, the action will be carried out and your domain will be in the process of transferring within minutes! Generally takes 2-3 business days before a domain transfer is fully equipped. Once the transfer is fully complete, you should now see that the domain name is with your new registrar and no longer with your old registrar. At this point, you have finished transferring your domain name to a new registrar.

On the side note

Requesting and paying for domain transfer, once successfully transferred, your domain is guaranteed another 1 year renewal. Meaning, if your domain had only a 3 month time period left, after the transfer, it would now have 1 year and 3 months before the domain name expires.