Transfer domain name registration to Hosting.com

If you purchased your domain name from a different registrar and would like to have Hosting.com become responsible for the domain name, you will need to ensure your domain name is ready for transfer and then contact Hosting.com's support staff to request a registrar transfer to our registrar TuCows. A registrar transfer will move the domain name from the current registrar to our registrar, TuCows. Although this is not necessary, there are a few advantages to having Hosting.com become the registrar:

• Single point of contact for your domain name and website
• 24x7x365 hour support for your domain name
• Reduced renewal rates on your domain name
• Yearly hosting accounts are eligible for free domain name renewal

To initiate a registrar transfer, please follow these steps:

1. Before transferring, it is best to ensure that your site is working properly in its current location. You should check to make sure the domain name loads the proper page, and that email is delivering normally.
2. If you are also moving your site content or email users to Hosting.com servers, it is best to have those moves completed and tested prior to requesting a domain transfer
3. Verify a DNS zone has been configured for your domain name on our name servers. Transferring a domain will not automatically update the name server your domain is listed on, however it is best that this be created prior to requesting a transfer
4. Perform a whois lookup on your domain name. This will allow you to identify your current registrar, who would be listed as the Technical Contact. In many cases, that registrar did not register the domain to you directly, so you may need to refer to the name server records as well
5. Verify your domain name is pointing to the correct name servers. Hosting.com recommends that you repoint your domain name to our name servers to facilitate the transfer, and any changes required afterward. Repointing your domain name servers will take 24 - 72 hours to propagate.
6. At this point, you will need to contact your current registrar, either by telephone, or via their online control panel. They must prepare the domain name for transfer.
   1. Your current registrar must release the domain name for transfer by unlocking it.
   2. You must obtain an authorization code, sometimes called an EPP code.
   3. You should ensure that the Administrative Contact on the registration is a valid email address that you have access to.
7. Allow the appropriate time for any propagation or updates to your domain name to occur. Changes to DNS records can take several hours to be seen, and Name Server changes should be given at least 48 hours to propagate.
8. Contact Hosting.com's support staff to initiate the transfer.
9. An email will be sent to your Administrative Contact requesting that the transfer be approved. This is where the Authorization/EPP code is used. The email will contain a link that you must follow, and enter the code to authorize the transfer.

Once the transfer has been initiated, and confirmation is received the transfer should proceed. It can take up to 7 days for the transfer to complete. Your website should still function properly during the transfer.