Quick answer
To verify your business on Meta in Kenya, open your business portfolio's verification section, enter your legal name, address, phone and website exactly as they appear on your documents, and upload your certificate of registration or incorporation, KRA PIN and a recent utility bill or bank statement. Then confirm contact through your business email, phone or domain. Meta usually replies within about 14 business days.
Key takeaways
- Meta checks three things: your legal business name, your address and phone, and that you control the contact details you gave.
- Kenyan businesses usually verify with a certificate of registration or incorporation, a KRA PIN certificate and a utility bill or bank statement.
- Your website and email must be on your own domain and show the same business name and details as your documents.
- Mismatched spellings, P.O. Box addresses and free email addresses are the most common causes of rejection.
- You can resubmit after a rejection; fix the mismatch first rather than sending the same documents again.
Meta business verification is the gate every business passes before it can use the WhatsApp Business API at scale, request an official business account, or unlock some advertising features. In Kenya most rejections have nothing to do with the business being fake. They happen because a name, address or email does not match across documents.
This guide is for owners and administrators preparing a Kenyan business for verification. It explains which documents Meta accepts, how to line them up, and what to do if you are rejected.
Before you start
Have these ready in clear PDF or image form, in the business's name.
| What Meta checks | Kenyan documents that usually work |
|---|---|
| Legal business name | Certificate of registration (business name) or certificate of incorporation (company), KRA PIN certificate |
| Address | Utility bill (electricity, water, internet) or bank statement from the last 12 months |
| Phone number | Utility bill or bank statement showing the number, or a number listed on your website |
| Control of contact details | An email on your own domain, a phone that can receive a code, or access to your domain's DNS |
You also need admin access to your Meta business portfolio, a website on your own domain, such as yourbusiness.co.ke, and a business email on that domain. Meta's own business verification help lists the document types it accepts.
Step 1: Make your details consistent everywhere
Before opening Meta, decide on one exact version of your legal name, address and phone, and use it everywhere. Copy the name exactly as it appears on your certificate, including "Limited" or "Ltd" and any punctuation.
Then update your website footer, contact page and Google Business Profile to match. If your certificate says "Pwani Breeze Hotels Limited" and your site only says "Pwani Breeze", add the full legal name to the footer, for example "Pwani Breeze is operated by Pwani Breeze Hotels Limited".
Step 2: Prepare your website and business email
Meta uses your website to confirm the business exists and your domain email to confirm you control it. A simple site is fine, but it should show your business name, a physical address, a phone number and a privacy policy page.
Create an email address on the domain, such as info@pwanibreeze.co.ke. A Gmail or Yahoo address cannot prove domain ownership. If you do not have a domain yet, chat.or.ke's Kenyan hosting partner can register a .co.ke domain and business email, as noted on our pricing page.
Step 3: Gather and check your documents
Scan each document clearly, in colour, with all four corners visible. Check that:
- The name on every document matches the name you will type, letter for letter.
- The utility bill or bank statement is dated within the last 12 months and shows the business, not a director's personal name.
- The address is a physical address. A P.O. Box alone often fails because Meta wants a location.
A Kisumu clinic whose electricity bill is in the landlord's name, for example, should use a business bank statement instead, since it carries the clinic's name and address.
Step 4: Start verification in your business portfolio
In Meta Business Suite, go to your business portfolio settings and open the business verification section (Meta has moved this menu more than once, so look under Business info or Security centre). Click to start verification.
Enter your legal business name, address, phone number and website. If Meta finds a matching record in its sources it may offer it to you; otherwise you will be asked to upload documents.
Step 5: Upload documents and confirm contact
Upload the documents for name and address that Meta requests. Then choose how to confirm you can be reached: a code to your business email, a phone call or SMS, or domain verification through a DNS record or an HTML file.
Email on your own domain is usually the quickest. Domain verification is the strongest signal if you have access to your hosting control panel.
Step 6: Wait for the decision and respond quickly
Meta usually replies within about 14 business days, sometimes in a day or two. Check the portfolio and the email inbox you provided regularly, because Meta may ask for an additional document.
If you are using chat.or.ke, we submit verification with you as part of setup and tell you if Meta comes back with questions, so your WhatsApp number goes live as soon as it is approved.
Step 7: If you are rejected, fix the cause and resubmit
A rejection usually says which detail did not match. Fix that specific detail before resubmitting.
Common fixes: correct the spelling of your name on the website, swap a personal utility bill for a business bank statement, add a physical address, or switch to a domain email. Do not upload a document you have edited; Meta looks for tampering and that can make things worse.
What happens after Meta verifies your business?
Verification raises what you can do on the WhatsApp Business Platform. Once verified, your account can start scaling business-initiated messages such as broadcasts, and it becomes eligible to request an Official Business Account, the blue tick explained in our guide on getting a verified badge on WhatsApp.
Verification is also a good moment to tidy your consent records. If you plan to send promotions, read how to comply with the Data Protection Act when messaging customers. For the full onboarding sequence, see how to get the WhatsApp Business API in Kenya.
Published 20 October 2026 Updated 20 October 2026 Plain-text version
