Transfers FAQ

How long does a transfer take?

TLD	Typical transfer time
.com.au, .net.au and other .au	Seconds to minutes (no FOA, registry-mediated)
.com, .net, .org and other gTLDs	Up to 5 days (registrant approval window)
Some ccTLDs	Up to 14 days

Most gTLD transfers complete within an hour of approval. .au is near-instant once unlocked.

Will I lose any registration time?

No. Transfers extend the existing expiry by 1 year — the cost is one year of registration, but you don’t pay for time you already had.

Transfers within 30 days of expiry also cover the existing period — you won’t lose the domain to expiry mid-transfer.

Why was my transfer rejected?

The registry’s response is in last_error. Common ones:

• Registrar lock on. Disable the lock at the losing registrar.
• Wrong auth code. Copy carefully — case matters, and some registrars include hidden whitespace in the copy buffer.
• Domain registered or transferred within 60 days. ICANN policy: gTLDs are locked from transfer for 60 days after creation or transfer. Wait it out.
• WHOIS privacy on at the losing registrar. Some registries reject privacy-protected transfers. Disable privacy first.
• Registrant didn’t approve in time. ICANN gives 5 days. After expiry, restart the transfer.

What’s an EPP code / auth code / authorization code?

Three names for the same thing — a string the losing registrar provides that proves you authorise the transfer. Length and format vary by registry: some are 6-character alphanumerics, others are 16-character mixed-case strings with symbols.

You can’t transfer without it. If your losing registrar is dragging their feet, ICANN policy compels them to provide it within 5 days of request.

Can I cancel a transfer in progress?

Yes, until it completes. From the dashboard, find the pending transfer and click Cancel. The registry receives a domain:transfer_cancel and we credit any pre-paid amount back to your balance.

What about transfers out of DomainGenius?

We don’t lock you in. To move out:

1. Get the auth code

   /dashboard/domains/<name> shows the EPP code. Or via API: GET /v1/orgs/{org_oid}/domains/{domain} (requires domains:write scope).

2. Disable privacy

   Toggle privacy: false if it was on (and the TLD supports privacy in the first place).

3. Initiate at the gaining registrar

   Their flow takes over from there. We approve the transfer the moment the registry asks.

Will I lose my DNS records when I transfer?

Transfers move registration, not DNS. Your records stay where they are.

If your zone is on our managed DNS and you transfer to a registrar that doesn’t host the zone, you have two options: keep the zone on our nameservers (nameserver_one, nameserver_two point at our Cloudflare zone NS — works as long as we have the zone record) or export the zone and re-import elsewhere. We export to BIND format from the dashboard.

What’s the change-of-registrant lock?

ICANN policy: changing the registrant contact on a gTLD locks the domain from transfer for 60 days. The intent is to prevent ownership-then-transfer hijacks. We trigger this lock when you change the registrant, but only after the change has actually been confirmed by the registry — so a same-org reassignment that doesn’t change registry-visible WHOIS data doesn’t trigger it.

.au has no equivalent rule.

Can I push a domain to another DomainGenius org without a registry transfer?

Yes — internal “push” doesn’t touch the registry. Use the dashboard’s Move to org flow or POST /v1/orgs/{org_oid}/domains/{domain}/push. The destination org accepts the push; ownership flips. No fees, no lock period.