Transfer a domain in

A transfer-in moves a domain from another registrar to us. It does not change DNS or zone data — that comes along for the ride.

Prereqs at the losing registrar

1. Unlock the domain

   Find the registrar lock setting and turn it off.

2. Get the EPP/auth code

   Some registrars hide it three menus deep. The code is a short string of letters and digits — copy it exactly, including case.

3. Confirm WHOIS email

   The transfer approval email goes to the registrant or admin contact email on file. Make sure it’s an inbox you can read.

4. Disable WHOIS privacy

   Some TLDs (notably .com, .net) reject transfers with privacy on. Turn it off until the transfer completes; we re-enable it after.

Start the transfer

curl -X POST "https://api.domaingenius.com.au/api/v1/orgs/$DG_ORG/domains/transfer" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DG_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"domain": "example.com", "auth_code": "..."}'

The transfer cost is one year of registration — we extend the existing expiry by 12 months. You don’t lose time.

Approval window

ICANN rules: the registrant has up to 5 days to approve via the email link. Most transfers finish in under an hour once approved; some TLDs (.com.au) finalise in seconds.

Track status with GET /v1/orgs/{org_oid}/domains/transfers or by listing pending confirmations.

After the transfer

• Auto-renew defaults to on. Disable per-domain if you’d rather not.
• Contacts are imported as a single registrant record; fan it out into admin/tech/billing roles via contacts.
• DNS is unchanged — same nameservers, same records, even though the registrar field flipped.

ICANN 60-day lock

Newly registered or recently transferred gTLDs are locked for 60 days at the registry. You can move them again after the lock expires. .au domains have no equivalent restriction.