Domain Contact Verification

The current Transfer Policy for domains as enforced by ICANN states that any time a material change is made to a domain's registrant, organization or email address, a new Change of Registrant process should be triggered. This Transfer Policy has been mandated by ICANN to all accredited registrars.

The Transfer Policy can be seen in full at https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/transfer-policy-2016-06-01-en

Supported Functionality

WHMCS provides the following functionality to help domain registrars using WHMCS be compliant with the ICANN Transfer Policy:

• Provide informational alerts and messaging within the product when a domain is awaiting verification of the WHOIS Contact following a new registration
• Prior to making a change to the registrant name, organization or email address, a warning will be provided indicating that the change being made will trigger the Change of Registrant process
• Offer end users and admin users the ability to opt-out of the Transfer Lock imposed following the Change of Registrant process
• Provide informational alerts and messaging within the product indicating when a Change of Registrant process is pending for a domain, and the date by which verification must be completed
• Ability to request re-sending of the Verification Emails for the Change of Registrant process

Supported Registrars

At the time of writing, ICANN Transfer Policy functionality is supported by the following modules:

• Enom
• ResellerClub
• StarGate/UK2
• ResellerCamp
• NetEarthOne
• CentralNic

Important Notes

• WHOIS Contact Verification is required both when a domain is registered for the first time, and when updating the contact information of an already registered domain. Both the former and the new email address of the domain will receive a verification email requesting them to approve the change.
• All verification emails triggered by WHOIS contact changes are sent directly by the domain registrars and not the WHMCS product.
• Rules and requirements for opting-out of the Transfer Lock vary by registrar. You should check with your chosen registrar what the requirements are for your use case.

Example Messaging

Below are examples of the alerts and messaging users will see when managing domains within WHMCS.

New Registration Verification

WHOIS Contact Verification is required when a domain is registered for the first time. Until that verification is completed, users will see a message as follows.

IRTP Transfer Lock Enabled

When a domain is registered for the first time, or when a change of registrant is made without opting-out of the transfer lock, the domain will be locked for transfer and users will see a message as follows:

Change of Registrant Opt-Out Confirmation

When making a change to the registrant name, organization or email address, the following dialog will be displayed upon submission indicating that the IRTP Transfer Lock will be triggered by this change and providing the option to Opt-Out.

Contact Change Successful - Approval Required

Following submission of a WHOIS Contact Change that triggers the Verification Process, users will be shown a message indicating that the change requires verification and that an email has been sent to them.

Any requested changes will not be made to the WHOIS Contact Information until the verification has been successfully completed.

Pending Contact Change with Transfer Lock

When a contact change is pending, the alert will provide the date approval is needed by if it is made available by the chosen domain registrar.