Build trust and credibility with candidates and customers by requesting the WhatsApp Official Business Account (OBA), also known as the blue verification check. A verified account helps confirm your brand’s authenticity, reduces the risk of impersonation, increases message open rates, and reassures recipients that they are communicating with a legitimate business. This can lead to higher engagement, stronger brand confidence, and improved response rates.
This article explains how eligibility works, why the request option may not yet be available in your Meta Business Manager, and the steps you can take to improve your chances of becoming eligible and successfully submitting a verification request.
Eligibility vs Approval
It’s important to understand the difference between eligibility and approval. Eligibility is when Meta enables the option for your business to request the blue check. Approval is when Meta reviews your request and decides whether to grant it. Meeting eligibility requirements does not guarantee approval, as the final decision rests entirely with Meta.
Requirements to Enable the Request Option
Meta only enables the WhatsApp OBA request option once all required conditions are met. These requirements help Meta confirm that your business is legitimate, trustworthy, and actively using WhatsApp.
1. Verified Meta Business Manager
Your Meta Business Manager must be fully verified. You can check this under Business Settings → Security Center, where the business status must appear as Business verified.
Statuses such as Unverified or In review are not sufficient. Until verification is complete, the blue check request option will remain unavailable.
2. Verified Website Domain
Your official business website must be verified in Meta Business Manager. This can be checked under Business Settings → Brand Safety → Domains.
Verification must be completed using either DNS verification or HTML file upload.
In addition, your website should clearly display:
Your business or brand name
A clear description of your services or products
Valid contact information
Without a verified domain, the request option will not appear.
3. Active WhatsApp Account With Usage History
Meta does not grant eligibility to newly created or inactive WhatsApp numbers. Your account must demonstrate consistent and legitimate usage, such as real one-to-one conversations with users, actively used approved message templates, low block and report rates, and at least one to two weeks of continuous activity. These signals help Meta verify that your WhatsApp account is being used for genuine business communication.
4. Brand Trust and Consistency Signals
Meta also assesses your brand’s credibility using various trust signals, even though the exact criteria are not fully documented. These signals typically include having an active and connected Facebook Page, consistent business naming across your website, Meta Business Manager, and WhatsApp Business profile, and a clearly identifiable brand rather than generic or unclear business information. Weak or inconsistent branding may prevent your account from being granted eligibility.
Where to Request the Blue Check (Once Eligible)
Once your business meets Meta’s eligibility requirements, the option to request a WhatsApp Official Business Account (blue check) will become visible. To access it:
Go to Business Settings in Meta Business Manager and navigate to WhatsApp Accounts
Open WhatsApp Manager
Select the phone number you want to request verification for
Click on Profile
Click Submit Request
If the Submit Request option does not appear, your business has not yet been granted eligibility.
Common Reasons the Request Option Is Unavailable
If your business is not yet eligible, you may see the following message in Meta Business Manager:
“Official business account requests are not available for your business right now.”
This can occur if your Meta Business Manager is new or has limited activity history, your website domain is not verified, your WhatsApp account is too new or inactive, or your brand signals are weak or inconsistent. Any single factor can prevent the request option from appearing.
Recommended Steps to Improve Eligibility
To increase your chances of becoming eligible, focus on the following actions:
Complete Meta Business Manager verification
Verify your official website domain
Actively use WhatsApp for real conversations
Maintain consistent branding across all platforms
Allow time for Meta’s trust systems to update, typically 7 to 30 days
There is no manual override to force eligibility. All decisions are controlled entirely by Meta.
Important Notes:
Eligibility does not guarantee approval of the blue verification check. Meta does not provide a service-level agreement for eligibility or approval timelines, and some businesses may never be approved. The main objective is to unlock the request option in Meta Business Manager so you can submit a request for review. Approval is determined solely by Meta.