Why is domain transfer process considered a taboo?

Domain Name Transfer

The domain transfer process involves transferring a domain name from one registrar (Losing registrar to another registrar (Gaining registrar). This simple process involves various checking steps to ensure the transfer is carried out by the authorized person. This domain transfer process sometimes involves change of domain ownership also, but it does not happen all the time.

All the registrars follow the policies, rules and regulations set by ICANN which is called the Inter-registrar Transfer Policy. Transferring a domain name to another registrar may require a few days and involves a number of cumbersome processes. Even though all registrars follow the same policy and rules of ICANN, the procedure followed by each registrar vary. If the steps are not carried out correctly and promptly then the domain name transfer process may result in failure. If the registrars procedures (both the gaining registrar and the losing registrar) are not followed by the end user in each and every stage,   the domain transfer process results in complication, which cannot be handled.

Requirements for Domain Transfer Process:
Before starting the transfer process, check the following for successful accomplishment of transfer.

• Check whether the Domain name is expired or nearing the expiration date (minimum one month)
• Check whether the Domain was created before 60 days or renewed before 45 days.
• Check for the updated information of the current registrar such as Whois, email addresses
• Verify whether the administrative contacts as well as the owner of the domain are aware of this transfer.
• Check whether the domain is not locked for particular reason such as security, pending dispute, domain expiry etc.
• Do the payment for the domain name transfer to the new registrar.
• Provide the authorization key to the new registrar for .com .net, .info, .name, .org domains and provide the documentation to the registry for .BE domain. The new registrar will send the Form of Authorization by email with the authorization key to the owner as well as to the current administrative contact of the domain.  If both the persons return the authorization key, then the registrar authorization takes place. The possible state in this Form of Authorization stage are (1)wait contact with 5 days delay or (2) failed contact due to refusal of the transfer.

As soon as the new registrar transfers the request to the registry, it forwards the request to the losing registrar. Within 5 days the losing registrar has to reply having the provision to stop or speed the process. If the losing registrar does not reply, it is considered as the transfer is accepted.

Here the possible states are (1) the wait registry as the registrar has not replied within the 5 days delay. (2) The failed registry as the losing registrar refused the transfer due to various reasons such as expired domain, domain locked by default etc. If the losing registrar refused the transfer, the end user has to contact for more information.

Once the transfer is accepted, it takes about 24 to 48 hours for registry update for .com and .net domains. As soon as the domain end user receives the transfer confirmation, the domain transfer is succeeded.

Failures of domain transfer
If your domain name transfer is not successful, there may be a lot of reasons. For these various reasons, it is better to contact the current registrar.

• Domain contact did not respond to verification email.
• Invalid Authorization key
• Domain is locked by current registrar
• Domain registration is not yet 60 days old
• Domain was not re-tagged in time by the losing registrar
• The domain transfer rejected by the Current registrar

To get rid of these failures, the domain owner or the end user has to follow the registrar’s procedure and respond to administrative contact promptly and correctly otherwise the transfer is really a taboo for the domain owners.