Verify your business on Meta — documents, steps, timeline and rejections (India)

🔗 Connect your numberLevel: Beginner⏱ 10 min

🎯 Goal

Meta confirms that your business is real, so you can grow beyond the starting messaging limit, get your display name approved and later apply for the blue tick.

🧰 What you need

Full control (admin) of your business portfolio at business.facebook.com
One official document with your business’s legal name (and ideally its address)
A website on your own domain, or a business phone number / email that can receive a code

Why it matters

Business verification
Meta confirms the legal business behind your portfolio.
Display name
A name that matches your verified business is approved more easily.
Messaging limits
Verification is one way to go from 250 to 2,000 people a day, then it grows on its own.
Blue tick
Official business account: needs a verified business, approved name and 2-step PIN.

Messaging limits. A new business portfolio can start conversations with 250 people a day. Verifying the business is one of Meta’s ways to reach 2,000. Messaging limits
Official business account (blue tick). Meta only considers numbers whose business portfolio passed business verification.
WhatsApp Flows. Publishing a Flow needs a verified business.
Trust. Customers and Meta’s reviewers see a real, consistent business.

You can connect a number and chat without verification. Replies to customers who wrote to you are never limited.

Before you start: make everything match

Meta compares what you type, your documents and your website. Most rejections are a mismatch, so check these first:

Must match exactly	Example of a mismatch Meta rejects
Legal name on the document = legal name in the portfolio	“Sharma Sweets Pvt Ltd” vs “Sharma Sweets Private Limited”
Address on the document = address in the portfolio (same city and PIN code)	Old shop address on the GST certificate
Website domain = the website in the portfolio, and it shows the same business name	Portfolio says sharmasweets.in, document email is @gmail.com and the site shows a different brand
Phone / email you verify belong to the business	A personal Gmail when your domain has email

Documents accepted in India

Upload a clear document (PDF, JPG or PNG, all pages, not password-protected) that shows the legal name, and ideally the address. You can upload two, and both must show the legal name:

Business type	Good documents
Any registered business	GST registration certificate · Udyam / MSME registration certificate
Private / public limited company	Certificate of incorporation (with CIN)
LLP	LLP incorporation certificate or LLP agreement
Partnership firm	Partnership deed or registration certificate
Shop, restaurant, clinic, small firm	Shop & Establishment licence (Gumasta)
Proof of address (if the first document has none)	Utility bill (electricity, landline, broadband) or a bank statement in the business’s name, recent

Meta’s full, current list is in its Help Center (Verify your business in Meta Business Suite). Meta doesn’t accept invoices, purchase orders or forms you filled in yourself without an official signature or seal, and expired or blurry scans fail. A PAN card alone or a personal Aadhaar card doesn’t prove a business, and a sole proprietor’s documents must be in the trade name you use, so add your GST or Udyam certificate.

Prove you control the business

Meta then confirms you can be reached at the business. Choose one:

Domain verification: add a DNS TXT record or a meta-tag on your website’s home page. Most reliable if you have a website.
Email: a code to an address at your website’s domain (for example info@sharmasweets.in).
Phone: a code by SMS or call to the business phone number shown on your document or website.
WhatsApp: on some accounts Meta offers a code on WhatsApp.

Steps in Security Center

Open business.facebook.com and pick your business portfolio (the one your WhatsApp number is in). Go to Settings → Security Center (in some accounts Business info).
Under Business verification, click Start verification. If there’s no button, Meta hasn’t opened verification for this portfolio yet. Connect your number in MeAPI, send a few messages, and check again in a few days.
Business details: legal name, address, phone and website, exactly as on your document.
If Meta lists businesses that look like yours, pick yours, or choose that it’s not listed.
Upload the document: choose the document type and upload a clear copy.
Choose how to confirm: domain, email, phone or WhatsApp, and enter the code.
Submit. Watch Security Center; Meta also notifies you by email and in Business Suite.

Illustration

business.facebook.com · Settings → Security Center

Business verification

Business portfolio: Sharma Sweets
Status: Not verified
Legal name: Sharma Sweets LLP
Documents: GST certificate

Start verification

Security Center in Meta Business Suite: Business verification with its status and Start verification. Illustration: Meta's real screen may look different.

How long it takes

Meta: a decision “may take up to 14 business days” for verification you submit yourself. Many arrive sooner. Meta tells you in Security Center and by email. Meta Help Center: Verify your business
If Meta asks for more information, reply within one week, or you have to start again.
For verification submitted by a Meta partner on a business’s behalf, Meta states an average of about 5 minutes, and it “can take several hours”. Meta: partner-led business verification
Once approved, the limit increase isn’t automatic for everyone. Meta checks your message quality, and if approved it raises the limit to 2,000 “immediately”. Messaging limits

Rejected? The usual reasons and fixes

Meta’s reason (as it appears)	What it means	Fix
Legal name not matching	The name you typed differs from the document	Type the name exactly as printed, including “LLP” / “Private Limited”
Legal name not found in documents	Meta couldn’t read the name in the upload	Upload a clearer, complete copy, or a document that prints the full legal name
Address not matching	The address or country differs	Correct the address in the portfolio, or use a document with the current address
Website not matching	Your website’s domain isn’t the one in the portfolio, or doesn’t show the business	Use your own domain and show the business name, address and contact details on the site
Malformed documents	The file couldn’t be processed	Re-upload as an unprotected PDF or a sharp JPG / PNG
Couldn’t confirm contact	The email, phone or domain check failed	Use domain verification, or an email at your own domain
Document not accepted	Expired, blurry, self-filled without a seal, or not in English without a stamped translation	Upload a current, sharp official document; a translation needs the translating agency’s stamp

Reason names follow Meta’s account_update webhook reference and Troubleshoot why your business can’t be verified. After fixing, submit again from Security Center. If you think the decision is wrong, you may be able to appeal there.

Common mistakes

Verifying the wrong portfolio. Verify the business portfolio that owns your WhatsApp Business account. In MeAPI it is the one you chose in Meta’s popup on Connection.
A website that doesn’t match. A free site builder page with another name, or no website at all, often fails. Add a simple page on your own domain.
Mismatched abbreviations. “Pvt Ltd” vs “Private Limited”, “&” vs “and”. Copy the name from the document.
Several portfolios for one business. Keep one and verify it.

What’s next

Messaging limits →From 250 to unlimited: how limits grow.Change your display name →Names Meta approves, and the blue tick.Meta error codes →If something fails while connecting.

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