Steps to Transfer a Domain 

Domain name transfer is one of the services offered by SaudiNIC, the main goal of that service is to transfer a domain name along with all of its privileges from one registrant to another.

The following is a brief explanation for how to transfer a domain:

Accessing the SaudiNIC’s E-portal of SaudiNIC Services

All SaudiNIC services are provided electronically through SaudiNIC’s e-portal site (www.nic.sa or سجل.السعودية). It requires logging into the e-portal using your username and password. If you do not have an account then you can create a new account by submitting a request using the service: creating an account.

1- Filling up the domain transfer form

The first step in transferring a domain name after logging in is to fill the service form where you provide some information, such as:

  • The domain name to be transferred
  • The email address of the current Administrative Contact.
  • The reason for the transfer.
  • The information of the new registrant (to be transfer to).
  • The information of the new Technical and Administrative Contacts.
  • The new name servers to host the domain.

2- Current Administrative Contact Approval

The current Administrative Contact must approve or reject the request, a link to the request information form will be sent to his/her email address. he/she will be asked to approve the request, or if needed he can reject the request entirely. Account holder must coordinate with the Administrative Contact regarding this step and ensure that he/she has all the needed information to be able to take his/her decision .

3- Uploading the documents

After that, the account holder is requested to upload documents used to support the request and to provide a proof for the accuracy of the submitted information. The required documents are:

Transfer request letters: one letter from the current registrant approving of the transfer; the 2nd letter is from the new registrant to request the transfer. Both letters are pre-filled and generated from the account page. They should be printed on official papers, signed and then uploaded to the account again. These letters must be authenticated by the chamber of commerce ( in the case of local companies ) or a Saudi embassy ( in the case of international companies ) .

A document used to provide a proof for the relationship between the new registrant and the domain to be transferred (for example Commercial registry, trade mark certificates … etc.).

Submitting those documents is done by uploading them directly by the account holder using a special form and they must be uploaded in the accepted electronic format (i.e., png, jpg, gif, Tiff, or PDF) .

4- Review and confirm the request

The entire request information are displayed to the account holder in order to review them and confirm their accuracy and correctness, he/she can delete the request at this stage if needed.

5- New Administrative Contact Approval

The new Administrative Contact must approve or reject the request.

6- Processing the request by SaudiNIC

After successfully completing all the previous steps the request is officially considered to be received by SaudiNIC. After that the processing procedure will start, SaudiNIC may verify the accuracy and correctness of the request by other means like phone or mobile, the results of the request processing will be one of the following:

  1. Accepted, if all the submitted information is correct. Then the domain will be transferred to the new registrant and its information will be updated accordingly. Concerned parties will be notified .
  2. Rejected. Concerned parties will be notified of the reasons. The account holder can apply again after resolving the problems.

Notes

  • The new registrant must be eligible to register the domain according to the terms and conditions of the Domain names Registration Regulations .
  • The new registrant is responsible of the domain hosting continuity.
  • In the case of request cancelation, all the concerned parties are notified.
  • The request is only considered to be received by SaudiNIC after the Administrative Contact approves it, otherwise it will not be considered to be received and will remains pending.
  • Pending requests are rejected automatically after one week.
  • In case Administrative Contact did not receive the activation message, the account holder can request resending it again.
  • All the correspondence regarding the request are sent to the account holder and the Administrative Contact.
  • These steps are not used to update or change the hosting company (domain name servers). Instead use: Domain name modification steps.