Domains can be transferred almost any time. There are a few things that will cause a domain transfer to fail. If you have followed the preparation steps, you have eliminated the majority of these possibilities. The information below will help you understand why you will take each of these steps:

• Domain is not more than 60 days old or has been transferred within the last 60 days.
  Per ICANN regulations, a domain that has been newly registered or transferred from one Registrar to another within the last 60 days is not eligible for transfer. (.au excepted). ICANN policy. 
• The domain is locked or on hold with the current Registrar.
  Most domains will have a Registrar Lock in place for added security. We recommend you leave these in place unless you are transferring a domain from one Registrar to another. You should have access to remove these directly within your account at your Registrar. If you do not, contact their help department for assistance;
  If the domain has a hold in place, it will be reflected in the domain status when you do a WHOIS lookup. These are usually put in place at either the registry or Registrar level. You will not have direct access to remove these and will need to contact the losing Registrar for assistance in removing them.
• Please note there are special instructions for transferring .uk, .ca, .eu, .es, .se and .au domain names.

Review Your Contact Information

Your contact information is included on your domain’s record in the WHOIS database, as required by ICANN. Upon transfer, the gaining registrar will use the information on the domain’s record to email critical information regarding the transfer to the administrative contact, so you need to correct it. It’s best to avoid using an email address associated with the domain; use a public email service, like Gmail, instead.

Updating the registrant contact information (name, organization, or email address) for a general top-level domain (gTLD) will initiate a Change of Registrant process, which requires additional verification before the new information is saved. Each registrar handles this process differently, so check with yours to see what you need to do.

Disable Privacy

The next step is to disable domain privacy. Privacy masks your contact information from being made public in the WHOIS database. Still, the gaining registrar needs that information to know where to send the code(s) authorizing the transfer. Once Privacy is disabled, the registrar can view the contact information on your domain’s WHOIS record and send the domain transfer emails to the administrator; otherwise, those emails will go to a Privacy Protection inbox that cannot be accessed.

Update Your Name Servers

Name Servers direct the traffic for your domain to the host server. If you’ve already moved the website to your eBiziner account, you’ll want to update your NameServers now to minimize downtime during the transfer; otherwise, you’ll have to wait until the transfer is complete. You cannot make DNS changes while the transfer is in progress, so it is important that you do it now.

Your new DNS settings will begin to propagate as soon as you save your changes. Each ISP updates at a different rate, usually taking 24 – 72 hours to complete worldwide. During this time, your emails will be down, and your web traffic will be directed to either the old or new host, depending on the visitor’s ISP.

Unlock the Domain

The next step is to unlock your domain, making it available for transfer. Some registrars allow you to unlock your domain manually, while other registrars will do it for you.

Obtain the EPP Code

Finally, you need the EPP code, also called the Authorization or Auth code. It’s essentially a unique password for the domain, made up of letters, numbers, and special characters required to authorize the transfer. For example: 1e20459-438b211db# or N7HS-V24-T16-B81. If you’re unsure how to get your EPP code, please contact your current Domain Registrar for assistance.

No. You have the right to transfer an expired domain. Registrars are not allowed to deny a transfer due to expiration or nonrenewal, (unless you haven’t paid for a previous registration period).

However, if the current registrar has begun to delete your domain (i.e., the EPP status code (https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en) shows the domain in Redemption Grace Period (see also https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/gtld-lifecycle-2012-02-25-en), the name must be restored by your current registrar before it can be transferred. This may result in an additional fee, sometimes referred to as a redemption fee.

It is your right to transfer your domain name registration between registrars. If you wish to move your domain name from one ICANN-accredited registrar to another, you may initiate the transfer process by contacting the registrar to which you wish to transfer the name.

To transfer your domain name to another registrant, you can initiate a change of registrant by contacting your current registrar. Your registrar will then ask for your confirmation via a secure mechanism (which typically will take the form of an email to the registered name holder). You must provide your confirmation within the number of days set by your registrar (not to exceed 60 days) or your transfer will not proceed. Once your registrar receives confirmation from you, they will process the transfer and notify you and the new registrant once the transfer is completed.

If you don’t know who your current registrar is, you can look it up by performing a search for your domain name at:< https://lookup.icann.org/>. The “Registrar” field shows you who your registrar is.

An Auth-Code (also called an Authorization Code, AuthInfo Code, Auth-Info Code, or transfer code) is a code created by a registrar to help identify the domain name holder and prevent unauthorized transfers (also known as a registrant or registered name holder). An Auth-Code is required for a domain holder to transfer a domain name from one registrar to another.

Your registrar may allow you, via an online interface tool, to generate and manage your own AuthInfo code. If not, you will need to contact your registrar directly to obtain it. Your registrar must provide you with the AuthInfo code within five (5) calendar days of your request.