Should there be a time where you want to transfer your domain away, there are generally two ways of doing so. Some regional registries may differ slightly but the gaining registrar will advise you of any specific requirements or processes they need you to follow.
For some transfers where there is manual intervention required, we do reserve to right to make a small charge for the administrative time required. This charge is listed in our terms of service and is valid at the time of the transfer being received.
Any domains that are due to renew within 14 days of an initiated transfer should have automatic renewal disabled before doing so. This is to prevent any already generated invoices being debited on their due date. Where this happens and the account contains other active services or domains, a credit will be applied. If there are no existing services or domains, a refund less our banks processing fees will be made.
gTLD Domains (.com, .net, .social, .club etc)
The majority of transfers will follow the gTLD method which is key based.
If you've updated the registrant contact on the domain within the last 60 days of the transfer request, this may fail and you will have to try again after the 60 day period has elapsed. This is due to an ICANN mandated lock on transfers for some gTLD domains when the registrant data is changed.
- Unlock the domain via your portal using the Manage Domain button and Registrar Lock tab.
- Request an EPP key under the management tab which is sent to the domain registrant contact.
- If
you have not received the EPP key from the above step, check the
registrant contact under the Contact Information option from the same
management tab and if incorrect, update this. If you have enabled free
domain privacy, you'll need to update this contact with real and direct
contact information. Any updates will lock the domain for 60 days at
registry level as per ICANN policy after which time you can resume the
transfer and request an EPP key.
- Provide the EPP to the new registrar, they will need to submit this as part of the transfer request.
- Due
to GDPR, the gaining registrar may send an email to the new registrant
contact supplied when the transfer was placed with them asking for the
EPP code again. Notice is then sent to us via the registry and we will
send authorisation to the registrant and/or the administrative contact
listed on the domain.
- Approve the transfer authorisation
email you have received to commence the transfer. You may receive
multiple transfer notifications so it is important you complete each one
to avoid the transfer failing.
- Wait up to 7 days for the
transfer to complete. No changes can be made to the domain after placing
a transfer request with the gaining registrar even if this has not been
accepted or completed.
UK Domains (.co.uk, .me.uk, .uk etc but not .sch.uk or .ac.uk)
All Nominet domains will follow the same transfer process. This does not include domains ending with .sch.uk or .ac.uk who are administered by Jisc.
- The gaining tag holder will process your initial transfer order and provide you instructions on what information to change.
- If
they only provide nameservers, this is not considered a transfer and
should be conducted from the Manage Domain page and then the nameservers
tab. The domain will still be administered and billed by us.
- If they have provided a registrar tag, also known as an IPS tag, NIC handle or just "handle", you will need to provide this to us via your portal
in a Domain Name Support ticket, one per name if there is more than
one. It should be in CAPITALS and a valid tag as listed on Nominet's registrar list. Please do not just use a random tag that you believe is correct as once changed, it cannot be undone and if wrong, could be very complicated and costly to fix.
- If the gaining tag is configured to accept any transfers before the tag is changed, the domain will not move
until this has been done. If after 5 days this has not been accepted,
the tag change will time out and the domain will remain with us and you will need to request it once more.
If the gaining tag is configured to accept any transfer, it will be
immediate. In either case, once the request has been made, there is no
further confirmation of a time out or completion.
ccTLD Domains (.eu, .co, .it etc)
As like with .uk domains which are largely administered by Nominet, each country will manage their own ccTLD or have a holding company do this. Due to this, some countries have unique rules for transfer such as with .uk.
Most countries have adopted a EPP key based approach and where this is the case, you will find the options to request an EPP key via the portal in line with the gTLD Domains guide.
The gaining registrar however should provide you specific instructions for that ccTLD and if neither of the guides above fall in line with that, please get in touch with
Domain Name Support via your portal so we can assist further.
