ICANN Is Replacing the 60-Day Transfer Lock: What Changes

What is the 60-day transfer lock and why does it exist?

The 60-day transfer lock stops a domain from moving to a new registrar for 60 days after a change of registrant. It works as a security measure that makes a hijacked domain harder to move away fast. It also slows down honest buyers.

Under ICANN’s current Transfer Policy, a registrar must impose the lock after a change of registrant. That means a new name, organization or email on the record. The policy lets a registrar offer an opt-out, but only if the owner asks before the change request. Two other rules can also block a move. A registrar may deny a transfer within 60 days of the domain’s creation date. It may also deny one within 60 days after a prior transfer.

This lock is a common technical snag in deals. The price is agreed and the money sits in escrow. Then the buyer finds out the name cannot leave the seller’s registrar for two months.

What did ICANN approve in June 2026?

On June 7, 2026, the ICANN Board adopted the Transfer Policy Review recommendations in resolution 2026.06.07.04. The resolution directs ICANN’s CEO to implement them “subject to prioritization.” That phrase matters. It means the Board approved the direction, not a launch date.

The recommendations came from a GNSO working group. Domain Incite reported in March 2025 that the final report held 47 recommendations. The main changes for deal-makers are these:

Domain Incite also reported that the rules for changing registrant data move into a separate Change of Registrant Data Policy. We have not read that future policy text, because it has not been written yet.

When will the new rules take effect?

Nobody can say yet. As of September 29, 2026, ICANN has not published an effective date. ICANN’s own Transfer Policy page still shows the 60-day lock as the rule in force.

Here is what we know about the path from here:

1. The Board adopted the recommendations on June 7, 2026.
2. ICANN staff can now start an Implementation Review Team. Enom’s June 2026 recap says this work will take place “over the coming months.”
3. The team turns the recommendations into new Consensus Policy text.
4. Registries and registrars get time to build the changes before the policy goes live.

When the GNSO Council approved the recommendations in March 2025, Domain Incite estimated at least 18 months before go-live. That was an estimate by a reporter, not an ICANN date. We treat it as a reason to plan on the current rules for the rest of 2026 and probably longer.

What should buyers do about locks today?

Plan for the 60-day lock in every deal until ICANN publishes a go-live date. Build the lock into the timeline, the same way you plan for payment clearing.

Our practical checklist for buyers:

1. Ask the seller early when the domain was last transferred or had its owner details changed.
2. Ask whether the seller’s registrar offers an opt-out, and whether it must be used before any record change.
3. Have the seller avoid editing owner details until the deal is signed and funded.
4. Keep the money in third-party escrow until the name is in your account. Our guide to domain escrow explains the steps.
5. Read the steps in our domain transfer process guide before you sign.

Sellers have a job too. If you plan to sell, update your contact details now, well before any buyer shows up. A name that has sat unchanged for months moves faster.

Does a push avoid the lock?

Not always. A push moves a domain between accounts, often at the same registrar. The 60-day lock is tied to a change of registrant, not to a push by itself. Whether a push triggers it depends on whether your registrar edits the registrant record during the move.

Registrars handle this differently, and some push features carry their own holds. We cannot give one answer for all of them. Ask the registrar in writing before closing, and keep that reply with the deal file. This is operations advice, not legal advice.

What does this mean for sellers and brokers?

Once the new policy is live, a normal sale should close faster. The change-of-registrant lock disappears. The 30-day lock hits only new registrations and fresh inbound transfers. That is a better fit for resale, because a seller who has held a name for months would not face a lock at all.

We would not rush to change how we run deals today. Our guide to selling a domain name still applies. The rules will change on ICANN’s schedule, and we will read the final policy text before we tell clients what it means.

Next step

If you want to buy or sell a domain and need help planning around transfer rules, talk to us. We run every deal through third-party escrow and can walk you through the transfer timeline before you commit.