Information on Domain Transfer Checklist and Process

The process of transferring a domain from a different registrar to your G Online Sites account can appear overwhelming and confusing if it is a process you are not familiar with. We hope this guide will help you understand the domain transfer process.

Before submitting a transfer order, we typically recommend preparing your domains for transfer at your current registrar. Here is a quick list of things to complete before placing your transfer order:

• Unlock your domain

• A domain being “unlocked” means that your current registrar will remove any statuses from your domain that would prevent a transfer. If you are familiar with WHOIS, you can verify that your domain is unlocked if it has a status of “ok”, or so long as a status of neither “clientTransferProhibited” nor “pendingDelete” is set for the domain. If the domain has a status of “pendingDelete” there is nothing you can do to transfer the domain. Even if your domain is locked, you can still complete your order with us and our system will check every 15 minutes for the domain to be unlocked and proceed with the transfer process once the unlocking is complete.

• Administrative contact email availability

• Ensure you have access to the administrative contact email address associated with the domain in WHOIS. As detailed below, our system is required to email this address with a link to verify the domain transfer. Even if you do not currently have access to this email address, you can still complete your transfer order with us. You will have an opportunity to resend the verification email as many times as you would like from the Transfer Manager section of your account.

• Remove privacy

• We typically recommend removing domain privacy services before transfer. This is not always a requirement, but some registrars do not permit transfers if privacy services are used. Additionally, some privacy services shield the email addresses associated with the domain in WHOIS and we therefore cannot complete the step above. You can leave the privacy service on for your domain if you are sure that your registrar will still permit the transfer, and you verify that you can receive email addressed to the administrative contact address in WHOIS.

• EPP transfer code

• You must retrieve the EPP transfer authorization code from your current registrar to transfer your domain. The process for obtaining the transfer code will be different for each registrar, but registrars are required to allow you to acquire the code. You can still complete your transfer order on our site if you do not have the authorization code at the time the order is placed. You will be able to enter the code using the Transfer Manager page within your account after placing your order.

• Other considerations:

  • The domain must not have been registered within the last 60 days.
  • The domain must not have been transferred within the last 60 days.
  • The domain is not within 7 days of expiration if the registrar you are leaving does not permit accepting outbound transfers. There is more information on this below, but if your domain expires within 7 days, first check with your current registrar to ensure they allow approval of outbound transfers to bypass the standard 5-6 day waiting period.
  • You should try to avoid transferring domains within 45 days of your most recent renewal. This is due to the fact that you will lose credit for that renewal and your only remedy is to try to get a refund from your current registrar.

Once you have considered everything above, you are now ready to place your transfer order. Here is a brief overview of the steps during a typical domain transfer:

1. Submit your Transfer order
2. Our system will first make sure that the EPP transfer authorization code you entered is correct. If it is not correct, you will be notified and you can re-enter the code via the Transfer Manager page. Assuming the EPP code is correct, and;
3. Our system will verify that your domain can be transferred per the points on the top of this page. If there are any problems, you will be notified and given further instructions. Assuming the domain can be transferred, and;
4. Our system will retrieve the email address for the administrative contact as shown in WHOIS, and we will send an email to that address containing a link that must be clicked to approve the transfer. If you cannot receive an email to this email address, you will need to update the email address in WHOIS via your current registrar. Once the link in the email is clicked,
5. Our system will submit the transfer request to the registry for the domain. This is the final step. If your current registrar allows, you may be able to approve the transfer request from your account on their site at this time. Assuming you do, the transfer will be completed within an hour. If your registrar does not allow the user to perform outbound approval, or you elect not to approve the transfer, the transfer will not be complete for 5-6 days. There is unfortunately nothing we can do to expedite the process any further and it is completely out of our hands until the registry releases the domain. This “waiting” period is to give your current registrar time to reject the transfer. If the transfer is rejected, you will be notified by our system. We unfortunately will not know the reason for rejection so you will need to follow up with your current registrar. Once you are satisfied that any future transfer of the domain will not be rejected, simply re-submit the transfer request to the registry via the Transfer Manager.