Starting December 1, 2016, ICANN's new transfer policy modifies the way registrant information can be changed for gTLD domain names. The new policy affects resellers, registrars, and service providers who sell gTLD domain names, as well as all domain name owners (registrants). This page  provides details of the policy change.

What is the New Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP)?

The Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) governs domain name transfers between ICANN registrars. The new provisions in the IRTP now specifically include changes to domain ownership (changes to the registrant). This means that any time a material change to a domain name's registrant first name, last name, or email address occurs, a sequence of confirmations emails are now required for the registrant information to be modified. Please keep in mind that now even small changes to a domain name's registrant first name, last name, organization, and email address may trigger the validation process. This new ICANN policy takes effect on December 1, 2016.

How does the New IRTP Work?
Whenever there is a material change to a domain name's registrant first name, last name, or email address, confirmation must be provided by both the old registrant entity and the new registrant. Failure to provide confirmation from either party will cancel the change of registrant and all registrant information will remain that of the prior registrant.
Old or new registrants have the opportunity to confirm through an email within fourteen (14) days that is sent by us.

How does this Policy affect me?
Starting December 1, 2016, it will no longer be possible to change the registrant of a domain name with a simple domain modification request, either through your partner account or API. When making a material change to the registrant of a domain name, the following will occur:

An email will be sent to the current registrants email address for approval of the change of registrant. If the registrant email address has also been modified then an email will also be sent to the new registrant email address for approval of the change of registrant. All parties have to approve the change before the registrant details will be updated. If any party denies the change then the requested change of registrant will be cancelled. If after 14 days approval has not been received then the change will expire and be cancelled.

As part of the ICANN policy when a change of registrant is authorised a 60 days transfer lock will be enforced. This means the domain cannot be transferred to another registrar during this lock period. However the current registrant has the option to opt-out of this 60 day lock when approving the change.

Frequently Asked Questions - General

Q. What is a "Material Change of Registrant" and will even a small change, like correcting a typo, trigger the confirmation process?
A. The new ICANN transfer policy requires confirmation if there are any changes to the registrant:
· first name
· last name
· organization name
· email address
Any change, even small changes, may require the confirmation process to take effect.

Q. Who can confirm a change of registrant?
A. Both the old and if applicable the new registrant must confirm.

Q. What if I am both the old and the new registrant?
A. Both the old and new registrant must confirm, therefore, the one registrant can confirm for both. Opting-out of the post sixty (60) day transfer lock at submission is recommended for this scenario, which will trigger an email to the old registrant email.

Q.What happens if either the old or new registrant denies confirmation?
A. If the old registrant does not confirm the change of registrant within fourteen (14) days, the domain name registrant information (whois data) will remain the same.

Q. What if the email address of the Old Registrant is invalid or not working any more? I.e., the email sent to Old Registrant can not be approved.

A. In case of an invalid Old Registrant mail address a manual process will be available. The Old Registrant needs to explicitly confirm in a written form they approve of the change of registrant. Since postal mail would hold things up, we will accept scans. Contact our support team in the normal manner if this is the case.


Q. What do the authorisation emails looks like
A. Below show the example of the authorisation email

Subject: Change of Registrant for [domainname]

We have received a request on yyyy-mm-dd to update the registrant information for the domain [domainname] as follows:

Registrant Name: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Registrant Organisation: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Registrant Street: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Registrant Street: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Registrant City: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Registrant State: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Registrant Zip Code: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Registrant Country: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Registrant Phone: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Registrant Fax: xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Registrant Email: xxxxxxxxxxxxx

You have received this message because you were listed as the PRIOR Registered Name Holder for this domain name in the WHOIS database. Please Read the following important information about changing the registrant information for your domain name:

If you AGREE with this change of registrant request, then within fourteen (14) days of this confirmation notice please click on this link http://partner.totalregistrations.com/transfer-registrant-response.aspx?action=agree&code=XXXXXXXXX

If you DO NOT AGREE with the details of this change of registrant request the either simply ignore this email and all unconfirmed request automatically expire and are cancelled after fourteen (14) days. You can also click this link to cancel the change http://partner.totalregistrations.com/transfer-registrant-response.aspx?action=deny&code=XXXXXXXXXXXX

Regards

Q.What happens when a second change of registrant request is made before a prior one is yet to be completed?
A. The first request is cancelled.

Q. What happens if the new registrant does not have access to their email address?
A.If the new registrant has a problem with their email, then simply resubmit using a new email address for the new registrant.

Q. After a change of registrant is completed, what happens?
A. Both the old and new registrant are notified by email that the change of the registrant has completed. A sixty (60) day transfer lock is applied unless this is opted-out by the old registrant.

Q. Does this new transfer policy apply to country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs)?
A. No, it only applies to generic top-level domains (gTLDs) governed by ICANN, such as .com / .net /.org / .info etc..

Q. How does this new policy affect domain names using privacy service?
A. Any domain using the privacy service will only be affected if the underlying registrant data has a material change. Turning on or off privacy services does not change the registrant and therefore does not constitute a material change.