Meta Business Verification: Documents and What It Unlocks

This guide uses the Meta Business Help Center: About business verification, How to verify your business, Official documents to upload, Verify your domain, Where to find your verification status, Why a submission was rejected, Editing details for a verified business and About Meta Verified for businesses. Checked on 8 November 2026. Meta changes these pages often, so check them before you rely on a detail.

What business verification is

Business verification is a check Meta runs on a business portfolio, the place in Meta Business Suite that holds "Facebook Pages, Instagram accounts, Threads accounts, ad accounts, catalogs and other business assets." Meta says it helps confirm that the portfolio "belongs to a legitimate business or organization."

Meta lists two things the check establishes:

• The business is a legal entity. It "needs to be registered with local authorities," and you need "an official phone number or mailing address for your business."
• You represent it. You must be able to receive a code at the business's phone number or email address, or verify the portfolio's domain.

If you have not set up a portfolio and Page yet, start with our guide to setting up a Facebook Page for a business, which also covers who should have access.

Business verification vs Meta Verified

The names are close, and Meta repeats the warning on almost every page about this: verifying your business in Meta Business Suite "is different from Meta Verified for businesses and won't give you a verified badge." Domain verification is a third, smaller thing that can be one step of business verification.

	Business verification	Meta Verified for businesses	Domain verification
What it is	A check that the portfolio belongs to a registered business	"A paid subscription" with "the verified badge, enhanced support, impersonation protection, and more"	Proof that you control your website's domain
Cost	No fee mentioned on Meta's pages	Recurring subscription, renews automatically until cancelled	No fee mentioned on Meta's pages
Badge	No	Yes	No
Where	Security Center in Meta Business Suite	Meta Verified sign-up	Settings > Brand safety > Domains
Review time Meta states	Up to 14 business days	Up to 3 business days	Checked when you click Verify domain

The rest of this guide is about the first column.

Who needs it, and what it unlocks

Not every business needs it, or can do it. Meta says: "Not all businesses need to or have the option to complete verification." Open Security Center in Meta Business Suite and you will see either Start verification or Ineligible for verification. If you see Ineligible, Meta says you don't need to complete verification there. A product that needs it may still ask you by email or notification from another place, such as Commerce Manager.

Meta's list of common products and features that may require verification, which it says "may not be exhaustive":

• Daily spending limit. Meta "may allow some advertisers to increase their daily spending limit more quickly by completing verification."
• Developer features. Verification "is required to obtain Advanced Access for any permission on Meta for Developers."
• Meta Business Partners. A badged partner must complete it.
• News Page Index. Publishers who want to register a Page there must complete it.
• WhatsApp Business Platform. Businesses using it "may need to complete verification to access certain features." Our WhatsApp Business guide covers how verification fits into messaging limits.
• Page transparency. Businesses with a large audience in the United States, or that run ads about social issues, elections or politics in the United States, need to complete verification and claim responsibility for their Page.
• Agencies based in China, to access accounts shared with their portfolio, and financial services advertisers, who may have extra requirements.

Meta also says verification "may also give you access to select advertising, developer, billing or spending options." Running ordinary ads is not itself on that list. If you are new to Meta advertising, our Meta ads basics guide covers the account setup around it.

Before you start

• Full control of the portfolio. Only people with full control can verify. Meta: "If you cannot access Security Center, then you may not have full control of the business portfolio."
• Exact legal details. Meta asks for the legal business name, address, phone number and website and says to "check that the details you enter exactly match the details of your legal business entity." Use the name on your registration documents, not a trading name, unless the documents show both.
• A working HTTPS website. Your website must load and be "HTTPS compliant", with a URL that starts with https://. A site that fails to load, is not HTTPS or "contains a link that leads to an error message" is one of Meta's listed rejection reasons, so fix broken links first.
• A business email or phone you can receive codes on, or access to the website's code or DNS for domain verification.

Monthly invoicing. If you pay for ads by monthly invoicing, Meta says you "don't need to submit documentation for business verification." You can fill out the form with your credit line information instead. If that option does not appear, check that the portfolio is linked to a credit line you own, not one shared with another business.

How to verify your business

Meta's steps for a desktop browser:

1. Go to Security Center in Meta Business Suite.
2. Click Start verification.
3. Enter your business details: legal business name, address, phone number and website.
4. Confirm the details. Meta searches for a matching record. If it finds none, choose My business isn't listed or None of these match; you may then be asked to upload official documents.
5. Choose how to confirm your connection: email, phone, text message, WhatsApp message or domain verification.
6. Confirm your connection, then click Done. You will see a confirmation that the submission has been received.

If the verification request came by email or from another tool, such as Commerce Manager, follow the instructions there instead.

Documents Meta accepts

The documents "should validate the legal name of your business and your business's official mailing address or phone number." Meta's supported document types:

• Certificate or Articles of Incorporation.
• Business registration or license document.
• Government-issued business tax document, such as a tax certificate. "Self-filed tax documents are not accepted."
• Business bank statement.
• Utility bill, but only for the business address and phone number. The legal business name must be on it, and Meta says a utility bill "is not an acceptable document for Legal Business Name verification."

The documents must not be expired and must be "issued by the relevant authorities." Cover personal information Meta does not need, such as a social security number or its local equivalent.

Languages. Meta accepts documents in Arabic, Bengali, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese. For any other language, use "English translations with official stamps of a translating agency."

Confirming your connection: email, phone or domain

The second half of verification proves you can act for the business. You pick one method: a code by email, phone call, text message or WhatsApp message, or domain verification. Meta's documents page adds that if you choose a code at your email address, you "may also be asked to provide proof of website domain ownership", so an address on your own domain is the simpler choice.

Domain verification has its own requirements: a business portfolio, full control of it, and "admin or developer access to your domain." In Settings > Brand safety > Domains, add the root domain without prefixes (example.com, not www.example.com or https://example.com), then choose one of three methods:

• Meta tag: paste the tag into the <head> of your home page and publish.
• HTML file: upload Meta's verification file, unchanged, to the root directory of the domain.
• DNS TXT record: add the TXT record at your domain registrar or DNS host, then check it with a DNS TXT lookup tool.

Then click Verify domain. Meta says that once the domain is verified you can remove the tag, file or TXT record "and it won't impact your verification status." Subdomains only need verifying when onboarding to Facebook Commerce. Meta's page does not name a preferred method. Our suggestion: the DNS record when someone else manages the website's code, the meta tag when you control the site's templates.

Review time and status

Meta says a decision "may take up to 14 business days." You get a notification when the review is complete, and if the business is verified, nothing more is needed. The status is shown in Security Center. If you started from another platform, such as Commerce Manager, and the status is not in Security Center, Meta says to look in the platform where you began.

Why submissions are rejected

Meta lists these reasons:

• Submitting, or being suspected of submitting, false or misleading information.
• Trying to claim or verify a portfolio you don't own or are not authorized to represent.
• Trying to get around Meta's verification review system.
• A website that fails to load, is not HTTPS compliant or contains a link that leads to an error message.

If your application was rejected, Meta says "you may be eligible to appeal." Check Security Center, or the platform where you started, for the status and the options shown. For false information or a business you don't represent, Meta warns it may block verification, remove a verified status "or take additional action on the account."

Changing details after verification

Once verified, changing the legal name, country, phone number, website address or tax ID (EIN) in Business info means you "will need to complete the business verification process again." You can add a missing phone number or website address without reverifying. Meta says your current status "won't be affected during the editing process", and you may be asked for documents that support the new details. The Edit button may be unavailable if the portfolio is used for a WhatsApp Business account.

So a new domain, a rebrand or a new business phone number will trigger verification again. Plan it alongside the website change, and keep the old site loading on HTTPS until it is done.

A short checklist

Our own summary of Meta's requirements, for a small business:

• A business owner, not only the agency, holds full control of the portfolio.
• Legal name, address and phone in Business info match the registration documents exactly.
• Website loads over HTTPS with no broken links on the main pages.
• One unexpired official document with the legal name, plus one with the address or phone if the first lacks it; personal numbers covered.
• Domain verified in Brand safety, or a code delivered to an email address on the business's own domain.
• A reminder to check Security Center after 14 business days, and to reverify after any change to name, phone, website or tax ID.

Frequently asked questions

Does Meta business verification give my Page a blue badge?

No. Meta says it is different from Meta Verified for businesses and won't give you a verified badge. The badge comes with the paid Meta Verified subscription.

How long does Meta business verification take?

Meta says a decision may take up to 14 business days. You get a notification when the review is complete.

What documents does Meta accept for business verification?

Articles of incorporation, a business registration or license, a government-issued business tax document, a business bank statement, and a utility bill for address and phone only. Self-filed tax documents are not accepted.

Why does Security Center say Ineligible for verification?

Not all businesses need to or can verify. Meta says that if you see this you don't need to complete verification in Security Center, though a product that requires it may ask you separately.

Who can verify a business on Meta?

Only people with full control of the business portfolio. If you cannot open Security Center, you probably don't have it.

Do I need to verify again after changing my website?

Yes, if you edit the website address of a verified business. The same applies to the legal name, country, phone number and tax ID. Adding a missing phone number or website does not require it.

A business verification often fails on the website: no HTTPS, broken links or details that don't match. We build and look after websites that pass these checks, as part of our website development and website maintenance work. See all our services, or browse more guides.