The Internet's governing body, ICANN, implemented a new registrant transfer policy that all registrars are required to follow. The changes require an additional verification step when there is a material change to a domain's registrant information, including:

• Registrant Name
• Registrant Organization Name
• Registrant Email Address
• Administrative Email Address (if no Registrant Email Address on record)

When any of the above values are changed, a verification email will be sent to both the old and new Registrant Email Address. When the verification is completed, the domain information will be updated in the public WHOIS database.

FAQs

Q: What is a "material change"?
A: ICANN Transfer Policy section II.A.1.3 defines a material change to be "a change that is not a typographical correction". Examples of typographical corrections could include:

• Changing the Registrant Name field from oJhn Smith to John Smith.
• Changing the Registrant Name field from Jane Kgan to Jane Kang.
• Changing the Registrant Organization from Example, Icn. to Example, Inc.
• Changing the Registrant Organization from ExampleCorp. to Example Corp.

Please note that all changes are subject to review, and any change may require verification.

Q: How will it impact my business?
A: This new policy will have the following effects:

• A simple domain modification request no longer suffices to change the domain registrant; changes must be verified.
• These updates now require explicit confirmation from both current and new registrants before completion.
• After a change of registrant has been completed, both the previous and new registrant will receive a confirmation notice informing them that the change has completed.
• After a change of registrant has been completed, the domain is locked for transfers to a new registrar for 60 days.

Q: Does this implementation of the new transfer policy also apply to country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) like .us?
A: No, it only applies to generic top-level domains (gTLDs) which are all governed by ICANN policies. ccTLDs usually have their own policies, and are not affected by these changes.

Q: What if I'm changing information that doesn't include the Registrant Email Address?
A: You'll receive two notices of the change request and must approve them both.

Q: What happens if I am the new registrant and I do not receive the email request to approve the change of registrant?
A: Please contact our support team and we will be able to resend the email, otherwise the process will timeout and you will need to start the process again using a different email address.

Q: How long does the new registrant have to approve the request before it expires/times out?
A: 7 days from the change request.

Q: Does changing my domain's registrant info have any affect on being able to transfer my domain?
A: Yes. Per ICANN policy, you will not be able to transfer your domain to another registrar for 60 day after changing the registrant info. So if you want to change both your registrar and registrant, we recommend you complete the transfer first, then update your registrant information with your new registrar.

Q: Is there a way to transfer my domain less than 60 days after updating the registrant information?
A: Yes. Please contact our Customer Care team and we can release the lock for you. Please wait about 48 hours after making the change before getting in touch.