October 15, 2019

A Quick Look at APNIC IPv4 Transfers

An IPv4 address transfer can only happen when the source account initiates the process. At the same time, the recipient account would be required to acknowledge the transfer of the IP address within a month or the request would be canceled by APNIC. After both the parties agree to the IPv4 transfer, APNIC Hostmasters would evaluate the request and approve it if it meets all the terms and conditions specified by the Regional Internet Registry.

Generally, APNIC Hostmasters takes around 1 – 2 working days to respond to an IPv4 address transfer request. Once it is approved, the IPv4 addresses to be transferred would show up on the transfer log on the APNIC website. However, the RIR might ask for additional information for clarification before the transfer is completed.

The source account should be open before lodging a request for IPv4 transfer. If there was any renewal invoice issued, the account holder must settle it before submitting the IPv4 address transfer request. After the transfer is done, the source account holder would have no right to oversee the IPv4 addresses. Note that APNIC cannot undo the transfer or offer any membership fee refund on account of an IPv4 transfer. However, the source account is allowed to cancel the IPv4 address transfer request through MyAPNIC before the recipient account accepts it.

APNIC usually asks the recipient account to give more information to explain the IPv4 transfer. Once the transfer is complete, the recipient account would be responsible to manage the IPv4 addresses as well as pay the fees associated with its renewal. Even if the recipient account were in another region, APNIC can transfer the IPv4 addresses to the relevant RIR. Yet, the policies regarding IPv4 transfer might vary a bit here, depending upon the region of the recipient account.

To receive an IPv4 transfer from a different RIR country, the recipient account in the Asia Pacific would need to file a request for pre-approval from APNIC. As soon as APNIC receives and approves the pre-approval, the recipient account would need to appeal APNIC to include the particulars about the recipient account on the IPv4 Address Transfer Listing Service page of their website. It is to be noted that pre-approval expires within two years, so this step should be taken as early as possible to make the IPv4 transfer smooth.

After the recipient and the source account holder reach an agreement, the recipient account holder can provide the applicable details to the source RIR as required. APNIC would contact the recipient to finalize the transfer when it gets the transfer request from the source account’s RIR.