It has been confirmed by Nominet that the transfer rules have changed. No longer can a domain name transfer be enacted and a IPS-TAG change requested at any point - the domain is now locked to the current registrar until the transfer takes place. This is due to the new transfer forms having a ‘TAG’ section so Nominet can process the transfer of registrant and TAG change in one action.
This process change was not documented and for domainers came as quite a suprise, with one domain transfer that we know of (coupled with previous v194 upgrade errors) being held in IPS-TAG limbo.
The new transfer forms asks the new registrant to write down a current domain name they own , thus linking the new registration with their current Nominet account, however the form states:
"Please note that the registrar will also be changed to reflect the registrar on your existing account".
So on transfer the domain name will have its TAG updated to the existing TAG used for your main account. If you are a domainer who holds names at different registrars it could be worth remembering which names are where and use ones you know to be at a specific registrar if you want to avoid them being bounced around TAGs.
