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Contact / Handle Updates

Contact / Handle Updates

How to update domain contacts, what triggers re-verification, and owner change vs contact update

Every domain registered through AutoDNS has associated contact records (handles) for the registrant (owner), admin, and tech contacts. This article explains how to update these contacts, what happens when you do, and the critical difference between a contact data update and an owner change.

What Is a Contact Handle?

Registrant (Owner): The legal owner of the domain. This is the entity that has rights to the domain name. Changes to this contact may trigger a Change of Registrant (COR) process.
Admin Contact: Administrative contact for the domain. For gTLDs under the 2025 Registration Data Policy, admin contacts are no longer mandatory for most registries.
Tech Contact: Technical contact responsible for DNS and server configuration. Also no longer mandatory for most gTLDs under RDP 2025.

ℹ RDP 2025 change: For most gTLDs, only the registrant contact is now required. Admin, tech, and billing contacts are optional and may not be forwarded to the registry (Minimum Data Set). See the Registration Data Policy page for details.

How to Update Contact Data

Via AutoDNS Web Interface

Domains → Domain List → select the domain → Contacts tab.
Click on the contact handle you want to update (Owner, Admin, or Tech).
Edit the fields you need to change (name, address, phone, email, etc.).
Save. The update is sent to the registry. Processing time depends on the TLD.

Via JSON API

PUT https://api.autodns.com/v1/domain/example.com

{
  "name": "example.com",
  "adminc": { "id": 99887766 },
  "techc":  { "id": 99887766 }
}

Contact Update vs Owner Change

⚠ This is the most important distinction in contact management. Getting it wrong can lock a domain for 60 days or trigger an unintended ownership transfer.

Contact update: Changing the phone, fax, or address of an existing registrant. Does NOT trigger COR. No 60-day lock. Processed immediately for most TLDs. Use: PUT /domain/{name}
Owner change (COR): Changing the registrant first name, last name, organisation, or email. TRIGGERS the Change of Registrant process. 60-day transfer lock applied (opt-out available before initiating). Both current and new registrant must confirm. Use: POST /domain/{name}/_ownerChange

Safe to update (no COR): Phone number, fax, street address, city, postal code, state/province, country.
Triggers COR: First name, last name, organisation name, registrant email address. Also: adding or removing a company name from the Organisation field (RDP 2025: Organisation = legal owner).

What Triggers Re-Verification

Email change: Changing the registrant email address triggers a contact verification email to the new email address. If not verified within the deadline (typically 15 days), domain may be placed on ClientHold (DNS disabled).
New registration: A new domain registration triggers verification of the registrant email.
NIS2 (EU ccTLDs): Some registries (.DE, .SE, .FI, .DK) may trigger re-verification based on risk assessment or periodic checks. Phone number and email verification may be required.
Registry-specific: .HR: KYC verification after registration. .BE: WHOIS accuracy review (14-day correction window). .IT: "Bad WHOIS" procedure. .IN: mandatory eKYC.

⚠ Updating your contact data may trigger a verification email. Ensure the email address you are entering is valid and accessible before saving. If verification fails, the domain may be suspended. See the Contact Verification page for what to do if you receive a verification email.

Bulk Contact Updates

If you need to update contact data across multiple domains (e.g. a company address change), you can do this in AutoDNS by updating the contact handle itself. All domains using that handle will be updated automatically. If the change affects the registrant name or organisation, this triggers COR for each domain individually.

TLD-Specific Restrictions

.NL: Cannot modify Registrant Name, Company Name, or Legal Form within an existing handle. Must create a new contact and assign it to the domain.
.SE: Simultaneous transfer + registrant change NOT possible. Complete one before the other.
.TR: Registrant changes NOT currently possible via TRABİS until further notice.
.BG: Contact updates for registrant data require physical documentation. Allow 10-20 working days.
.HR: All contact updates carry a fee, including minor changes like phone number corrections.

When to Contact Support

Self-resolvable: Standard contact updates (phone, address, admin/tech changes). Handled via AutoDNS or API.
Contact support: Update rejected by registry. Domain suspended after contact update. .BG/.HR physical document requirements. .TR registrant change (blocked by TRABİS). Bulk owner changes across TLD families (Umfirmierung scenarios).