Trouble with Transfers

This article discusses common problems and solutions for failed transfers. (Remember, DynDNS.com does not bill for failed transfer attempts, so you may try as often as necessary until you succeed.)

   

Domain Recently Registered or Transferred

ICANN policy prohibits the transfer of newly-registered or recently-transferred domains. New domain registrations must wait 60 days before they can be transferred to another registrar; recently-transferred domains must wait 45 days before they can be transferred again. (This "cooling off" period may vary slightly between TLDs.)

Please note: DynDNS.com was previously a reseller of Tucows' registration services. We are now our own ICANN-accredited registrar, though domains registered with DynDNS.com prior to March 2007 and certain ccTLDs such as .us are still registered through Tucows. If you renew one of these domains, the domain will be transferred from Tucows to DynDNS.com. (You will be notified of this renewal-transfer during checkout.) Since this is a normal transfer, domains renewed in this fashion will be locked for transfer for 45 days after renewal.

Domain Expired

Domains that have expired cannot be transferred until they have been renewed at the "losing" registrar. While a domain transfer will renew the domain for one year upon completion, domains that have already expired must still be renewed first with the current registrar before the domain can be moved.

Please note: If you allow a domain to expire, renew it, then transfer it within the first 45 days after renewal, you will "lose" the usual extra year you would otherwise get for a domain transfer. This ICANN edge case caused by the Auto-Renew Grace Period is discussed in more detail here. If you let your domain expire and are forced to renew it with your current registrar, you should wait a full 45 days from the renewal date to ensure you do not "lose" this extra year.

Domain Locked

A locked domain cannot be transferred. The lock status must be cleared in WHOIS before the registration can be moved to another registrar. Usually, a customer can simply disable the user-lock in their account with the "losing" registrar; depending on the TLD, the lock status will clear in a matter of minutes, and the domain will be available for transfer.

If the user-lock is disabled but the registrar keeps the domain locked, you will need to contact the "losing" registrar for more information on removing this lock to allow transfer. Newly-transferred, newly-registered and expired domains usually appear as locked in WHOIS, so please review the above scenarios before contacting your registrar.