When your developer will not hand over.

Start with what you can check yourself

A domain is registered to a named holder, and that is the one piece of this puzzle you can establish in minutes without asking the developer's permission. For .pl domains the WHOIS lookup run by NASK will tell you; for others, the WHOIS of the registrar holding the domain.

That single fact changes everything that follows. If your company is the registrant, the developer is not holding anything — at most they have a password, and a password can be recovered from the registrar once the registrant is verified. If the developer's company is the registrant, that is the problem to solve first, before any conversation about files.

Three things to ask for in writing

One specific email with a numbered list resolves most of these cases — far more reliably than several general messages saying you need access. Ask for written confirmation even if the conversation happens by phone.

• The domain registrant details, plus the authinfo code if the domain is changing registrar.
• Hosting panel access, or a complete copy of the files and database.
• Email access, if mail runs on the same server — the most commonly forgotten item.
• Written confirmation of the terms on which you may continue to use the design and code.

What it costs and how long it takes

A domain transfer of registrant is an administrative step at the registrar, not a court process. The cost depends on the registrar and on whether you are also moving the domain to a different provider — some include it, some charge a fee. Ask for the specific amount and procedure before you agree anything with the developer, so you both know what is being discussed.

The timeline is usually measured in days, not months, provided both sides sign. The bottleneck is almost never the registrar — it is how fast the other side responds.

When it stops being a technical conversation

Three signals mean this has moved past ordinary admin: the developer stops replying, makes handover conditional on payment for something that was never agreed, or refuses to transfer a domain registered to themselves. In each case the next step is a formal written demand, not another reminder email.

For domains there is also a separate route in Poland: the Court of Arbitration for Internet Domains at PIIT. It is a real option, but not a first move — it is slower and more expensive than the conversation that usually suffices.

What not to do

• Do not cancel the hosting before checking whether company email runs on it.
• Do not register a hyphenated "backup" domain instead of recovering your own — the rankings and links stay with the original.
• Do not delete the old environment until the new one is live and verified.
• Do not open with threats. Most of these end with one factual email listing three things.