This post outlines issues migrating email from an agency-owned Google Workspace (where my domain is a secondary domain) into my own newly created, independent Google Workspace

Google Workspace Developers Q&A
1

Data Migration Background Information

  • My domain was previously added as a secondary domain inside an agency-owned Google Workspace tenant (primary domain).

  • User accounts exist under the secondary domain, including my email and my staff’s email.

  • The agency has confirmed that their Workspace was created directly through Google (not via GoDaddy or a reseller). They also confirmed that all their clients have been added to their agency workspace as secondary domains. Had I known this was how they would set up my Google Workspace account, I would not have agreed to it.

Current Goal

  • Move all email data for my domain which is a secondary domain on the agencies workspace account into my new, standalone Google Workspace that I created specifically for my company.

  • The final state should be full ownership, billing, and admin control over the new Workspace, with no dependency on the agency’s Workspace.

What has already been done

  1. Created a brand-new Google Workspace tenant for my company.

  2. Used a subdomain to create my new Workspace.

  3. Create the user accounts in my new workspace.

  4. Assigned Super Admin privileges to my email in the original (agency) Workspace.

  5. Attempted migration using:

    • I attempted the migration using the Google Workspace Email Migration tool with Super Admin accounts from both the secondary domain and the primary domain within the agency Workspace:

      • My company email — Super Admin under the secondary domain within the agency Workspace
      • The agency email — Super Admin under the primary domain of the agency Workspace

      In both cases, I was able to successfully authenticate and authorize access within the migration tool. However, despite successful authorization and the correct import CSV (See attached) the migration jobs failed each time and no email data was transferred.

    • Super Admin credentials from:

      • The agency’s primary domain

      • The secondary domain

  6. Configured API controls and domain-wide delegation as required.

Issues encountered

  • Email migration jobs consistently fail when migrating from the agency Workspace to the new Workspace.

What I need help with

  1. Confirm the supported and recommended method to fully migrate Gmail data when:

    • The source domain is a secondary domain in another Workspace

    • The destination is a new, independent Workspace

  2. Clarify whether Google’s migration tool supports this scenario or if backend assistance is required.

  3. Assist with a supported Google-to-Google migration path that will succeed

At this point, we want to avoid any further trial-and-error and follow the correct Google-supported approach to complete this cleanly and safely.

I appreciate your help and am happy to provide logs, screenshots, or grant temporary access if needed.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide as I am completely frustrated and stuck

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Approximately, how many Workspace accounts are involved?