How to transfer a domain to Webway (including .co.za)

Transferring a domain moves its registration to Webway. It does not move your website or email by itself. You can transfer the domain alone, move hosting alone, or do both.

.co.za works differently from .com and other international extensions, so find your section below.

Before you start (all domains)

1. Check the contact email on the domain. Approval emails go to the registrant or admin contact on record at your current registrar. If that address is old, update it there first, or the transfer stalls.
2. Check the expiry date. Don't start a transfer on a domain that expires in the next couple of weeks. Renew it first, or it may expire mid-transfer.
3. Decide what happens to DNS. A transfer keeps your current nameservers, so your site and email carry on working. If you also want to move hosting to Webway, do that separately; see Point my domain to Webway (change nameservers).
4. Keep your current registrar account open until the transfer completes.

Transferring a .co.za domain

Webway registers .co.za directly with ZACR, the .co.za registry. .co.za transfers don't use an authorisation code. The registrant approves the transfer by email.

1. Log in to the client area at portal.webway.host.
2. Go to Domains → Transfer Domains to Us.
3. Enter the domain and add it to your order. No code is needed.
4. Complete the order. .co.za transfers are free.
5. Webway submits the transfer request to ZACR.
6. An email goes to the email address of the person who registered the domain (the registrant), asking them to approve the transfer.
7. Click approve transfer in that email. The transfer then goes through. The domain moves to Webway and appears under Domains → My Domains in your client area.

If no approval email arrives, check the spam folder, then check the registrant email address on the domain with a WHOIS lookup or at your current registrar. If it's wrong, fix it there and ask us to resubmit.

Transferring .com, .net, .org and other international domains

These follow the standard ICANN process. You need two things from your current registrar.

Step 1: Prepare the domain at your current registrar

1. Unlock the domain. Turn off "registrar lock", "transfer lock" or "domain lock".
2. Get the authorisation code, also called the EPP code or auth code. Copy it exactly.
3. Turn off WHOIS privacy if the registrar requires it for transfers. Some do.
4. Check the 60-day rule. A domain can't be transferred within 60 days of being registered, transferred, or having its registrant details changed.

Step 2: Order the transfer at Webway

1. Log in to the client area at portal.webway.host.
2. Go to Domains → Transfer Domains to Us.
3. Enter the domain and paste the authorisation code.
4. Complete the order and pay the transfer invoice. International transfers normally add a year to the domain's expiry.

Step 3: Approve and wait

1. The admin contact on the domain may receive an approval email. If so, approve it.
2. Your current registrar may also email you asking to confirm or decline. Confirm it, or ignore it if the email says the transfer proceeds automatically.
3. The transfer completes within 5 to 7 days. Some registrars let you approve it immediately from their side, which finishes it in minutes.

What happens to my website and email during the transfer?

Nothing, if you leave the nameservers alone. The domain keeps pointing where it did. Once the transfer completes, you can change nameservers in the Webway client area whenever you're ready.

If your DNS was hosted at the old registrar (not on nameservers at a hosting company), your DNS records may disappear when the transfer completes. Before you start, write down every DNS record (A, CNAME, MX, TXT) so you can recreate them at Webway.

Why a transfer fails

Still stuck?

Open a support ticket and include:

• The domain name.
• Your current registrar.
• Whether the domain is unlocked and, for international domains, that you have entered the authorisation code (don't paste the code in the ticket unless we ask).
• Any email you received from the registry or registrar about the transfer, forwarded as an attachment.
• The date you placed the transfer order.