Transfer of Expired Domains

We are frequently asked if a domain that is expired, or will expire during the transfer process, can still be transferred to your account with us. The answer is "yes", with a few caveats.

The first thing to know is that registrars are prohibited from rejecting a transfer based solely upon the fact that the domain has expired (You can read more about the specific reasons allowing registrars to reject a transfer on our How to Handle Rejected Transfers support article). This goes for any domain that is still in the registry's renewal grace period which is typically around 30 days post-expiration. Once a domain has entered the redemption period it cannot be transferred.

The next thing to consider is what will happen to your domain at the current registrar once the domain expires. Registrars are free to handle domain expiration in any way they see fit. Some registrars immediately deactivate the domain, some do nothing, some place them in auctions, some redirect to a parked page, and so on. Therefore, if you have an expired domain you wish to transfer to us, we would recommend that you contact your current registrar and inquire what happens to your domain once it expires. This also goes for domains that will expire during the 5-6 day waiting period associated with domain transfers from registrars that do not allow approving outbound transfers (read more at the bottom of our Domain Transfer Checklist and Process support article).

Also, some registrars allow you to transfer your domain without waiting the typical 5-6 days that it normally takes. These registrars allow customers to manually approve outgoing transfers immediately once the transfer is pending at the registry. This can help in scenarios where the domain expires in a few days and you are concerned your registrar may disable DNS once it does expire - if your registrar supports immediate outgoing transfer approvals, you have nothing to worry about as long as you utilize the immediate transfer approval. Unfortunately, most registrars do not support this transfer approval mechanism (We do of course!) - if you are not sure, ask your registrar.

Finally, please remember that if you decide to renew a domain with your current registrar to avoid it being disabled, but that you still wish to transfer to your NameSilo account, that you should wait at least 45 days from the renewal date to avoid any complications during the transfer process. More specifically, if a domain has been renewed within 45 days of transfer, then you would lose the renewal time from your current registrar and would need to request a refund.