ICANN board adopts new domain transfer rules

ICANN’s board adopted the recommendations of the GNSO’s Transfer Policy Review on June 7, 2026 (resolution 2026.06.07.04). The 47 recommendations rewrite how domains move between registrars and how owner changes work for generic endings such as .com and .net. The board told ICANN’s CEO to implement them “subject to prioritization”, so no effective date has been set and today’s rules still apply.

What changes for domain owners

These points come from the working group’s final report, as summarized by the GNSO:

• 30-day lock after registration. Registrars must block a transfer to another registrar for 720 hours (30 days) after a domain is first registered. Today a 60-day lock is optional and applied unevenly.
• 30-day lock after a transfer. After a move between registrars, the domain is locked for 30 days. The registrar may lift it early in set cases.
• No 60-day lock after an owner change. “Change of Registrant” becomes “Change of Registrant Data”, a separate policy. The 60-day transfer lock after an owner change is removed, and so is the rule that both the old and new owner confirm the change. The registrar must email the owner within 24 hours of the change; owners may be allowed to opt out of that email.
• Auth codes get a new name and rules. The AuthInfo code becomes the Transfer Authorization Code (TAC). It is created only on request, issued within 5 days, usable once, and the registrar must send a notice within 10 minutes of issuing it.
• More notices. The registrar must send the owner a “Notification of Transfer Completion” within 24 hours. The old “Gaining FOA” email is dropped; the “Losing FOA” stays, renamed Transfer Confirmation.
• Clearer reasons to refuse a transfer. The rules now list when a registrar may, must or must not deny one. Registrars may deny a transfer when a domain is a source of DNS abuse; the board said it wants to understand why that is optional rather than required, and plans to discuss it with the GNSO.

What to do now

Nothing changes until ICANN publishes the implemented policy and a date. Until then, the current rules apply, including any 60-day lock your registrar uses after a registration or transfer. When the new rules arrive, plan transfers around the 30-day windows, and keep the owner email on your domains current, because that is where the new notices will go.