Manual change of registrant (CoR) process

Category: Domain Names

(Please note that a Change of Registrant comes at a cost to the value of how many years you wish to hold the registration for.
Changing the registrant will reset the domain’s license period. You will keep any existing full years and add the additional year(s) of renewal you select, up to the maximum period allowed. Partial years will not be carried over.)

Sometimes you cannot initiate a Change of Registrant yourself via the Synergy Wholesale Management System. This will be because the ABN/ACN associated with the domain name is invalid or cancelled.

You can check for invalid .au domain names through the AU Domain Eligibility Status page through your Synergy Wholesale Management System.

To resolve any ineligibility issues, you can refer to each section below on what is needed.

For Businesses or Organisations unable to reactivate their ABN/ACN

To initiate a CoR process, we need some evidence that the domain name has changed entity.

Here are some examples of documentation we accept as proof of a change of ownership.

Sales Agreement

A copy of a sales agreement that shows the business was sold or changed hands.
The agreement must clearly show that the current company/entity was acquired by the proposed company/entity.

Signed Letter on Company Letterhead

A letter signed on company letterhead stating that the domain name has changed hands.
If you choose to provide a letter, it must explicitly state the full domain name being transferred from one business to another.

Other Valid Documentation

Any valid document that shows the domain name or business has changed hands.
If transferring to another Company under an ACN and are the same director, you can provide us ASIC Extracts for both companies which show who the directors are for each company, these can be purchased from ASIC directly.
You can also provide a Statutory Declaration outlining who the domain should be transferred to and the desired outcome, signed by a Justice of the Peace or an authorised witness.

Transfer of Domain Chain Form

In the event that there is no supporting documentation to complete the CoR process, auDA has provided a document that you can fill out to proceed with the Change Of Registrant. This is the Transfer of Domain Chain Form.

Download the Transfer of Domain Chain Form.
Fill out the form and provide any supporting documents.

IMPORTANT: Documentation provided for a Change of Registrant needs to be dated before the previous ABN/ACN on the domain expired. For example, if the ABN on a domain expired in March 2020, valid documentation would need to be dated February 2020 or earlier.

For Sole Traders and Partnerships

This is for situations where the eligibility details listed on your domain have an expired or cancelled Sole Trader or Partnership ABN

These usually arise when you move to a new ABN/ACN and do not update the information on the domain name as well.

There are two options:

Option one: Re-Activate your ABN

If you haven’t moved entities or to another company, you are able to re-activate your ABN, You can refer to this page here.
Once reactivated, no further action is required.

Option two: Perform a Change of Registrant

If you have moved to another entity and are no longer trading under the partnership or Sole Trader ABN, you can perform a Change of Registrant
There’s no specific documentation that we need, You are free to initiate the change of registrant via the Synergy Wholesale management system or API.

At this stage, it is not possible to initiate a Change of Registrant via our WHMCS Domain Names module.

If any issues are encountered, we normally accept any form of government-issued ID (e.g. drivers license, passport) as proof that the Sole Trader or member of a Partnership is actually requesting the COR take place.

For Domains under a Trust ABN:

If the ABN is still active and that of a Trust, this usually means that they are incorrectly registered under a trust-type entity.

From 2021, auDA, which is the policy body for .au domains, made a change in which you cannot directly register a domain name under a Trust type ABN.

For the registrant details, they need to be that of the Trustee of the Trust, with their own Company or Sole Trader ABN/ACN or that of a natural person.

If you can provide us with either the complete Trust Deed or simply the schedule page clearly displaying the trustee information and wish to retain the same ABN on the domain, we can review and correct the domain with the accurate details at no cost, rather than performing a Change of Registrant.

For more information about Trust ABN’s with .au domains, you can refer to this guide here

How to organise a manual COR

If you need a COR processed manually, please login to the Synergy Wholesale Management System and navigate to the AU Domain Eligibility Status page. From there you can click on the affected domain and click on the “Initiate COR” button. If you have multiple domains with the same Eligibility, you can include all the affected domains within the “Additional Details” Section to make things easier.

You are also welcome to submit a ticket to our support team or email policy@synergywholesale.com. Please ensure that you provide the supporting documentation mentioned above.