All transfers are supported by the gaining Provider you are using to transfer the domain. They control all the details and can accept payment for the service. They are listed in the transfer confirmation Email that was sent to the Administrative Contact. The domain login/password is never required to transfer a domain.
Tucows is a wholesale Registrar and does not deal with individual domains. We direct all questions to the gaining Provider you are using. The losing Provider is not involved in this process. It is not necessary to contact them unless the domain is locked.
To find your current Provider or Registrar, perform a WHOIS lookup on your domain name.
If your domain is with a Domain Provider and the Provider has enabled the Provider WHOIS Information you will see something similar to the following:
Registration Service Provider:
Example Provider, help@example.com
This company may be contacted for domain login/passwords,
DNS/Nameserver changes, and general domain support questions.
If the Provider WHOIS Information is not available, you can log in to the Domain Management Interface and click on the Provider Contact link.
If you don’t know who your Domain Provider is you can also use this this page.
If you wish to transfer your domain name to another domain name company, there are some factors which can either delay or prohibit the transfer from happening. All issues have a solution, but some issues may take some time to resolve.
Brief list of issues affecting domain name transfers
Domain is 60 days or older: Domains must have existed for 60 days or longer. New domain registrations cannot be transferred until this time has passed.
Domain Unlocked: The domain name must not have a Lock on it. You must contact the current domain name registration company for the domain name to have locks removed.
Domain Authorization Code: For most types of domains, you require a specific Authorization Code for the domain name to authorize the transfer. The current domain name registration company can provide this to you, however it may also be obtained within their web-based interfaces online. If this domain is with Tucows, you can learn how to obtain the Authorization Code through this page.
Valid Administrative Contact: For most types of domains, you must have a valid and functional Administrative Contact email address to receive the transfer confirmation notification emails. It’s a good idea to turn off your anti-SPAM email filters while the domain transfers in order to receive these emails. If this email address is invalid and no longer works, you will need to update it through your current domain name registration company. If the domain name is with Tucows, the update can be accomplished through this page.
This list applies to .COM, .NET, and .ORG domain names but also apply to many other types of domain names. Specific issues for other types of domain names are contained within the Transfer of Domain Registrations section of this website.
Simply contact a Domain Provider and request that they submit a transfer for you domain.
Please note that the .DE Registry (DENIC) requires that the Registrar you are transferring your domain to must receive, via fax, a written authorization of the transfer request from the domain’s Registrant (Administrative Contact). This authorization must be kept on record should the Registry request it in the case of a dispute.
This mean you will need to supply the Domain Provider with the faxed request prior to the transfer being initiated.
Unlike .COM, .NET and .ORG, which have a sixty (60) day post registration transfer hold restriction, transfers in and out are not restricted to any type of hold period. This means that a transfer can essentially be performed at any time after a domain is registered.
DENIC also imposes a non-refundable transfer fee on each transfer request, regardless of whether the transfer was successful or not.
All transfers that are approved by the “gaining Registrar” (the new Registrar who submitted the transfer for the domain) will auto-approve (“AUTO-ACK”) itself after 5 days for most types of domain names.
In some cases the “losing Registrar” (the Registrar the domain is transferring-away from) will send an email to the Administrative Contact for the domain name allowing them to approve the transfer-away. Once the confirmation with the “losing Registrar” is approved, the domain name will have officially transferred to the new “gaining Registrar” who started the transfer.
Due to delays involved in processing completed domain name transfers, the final approval may not be recognized by the “gaining Registrar” until 24 hours have passed.
