EV SSL Certificate Validation Requirements

15/04/2018
Certificate Validation
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So you're considering an Extended Validation SSL certificate. Nice move! On its face the process may seem a bit daunting. It's not. We've even outlined everything for you to make approval fast & easy. With every EV purchase, you get a detailed EV Enrollment Guide specific to the brand you chose. Follow that and you'll be showing off your green in no time. Trust us; EV is worth every bit of the effort!

The Reason Behind EV SSL Certificates

Before we dive in, let's look again at the reasoning behind Extended Validation SSL certificates. Anyone who owns a domain can get an SSL/TLS certificate, right? And that's both a blessing and a curse. On one hand it means that anyone with an interest in securing their site has the ability to do so. But on the other hand, it also means hackers and cyber criminals can easily grab an SSL cert and impersonate a legitimate website or commit some other type of fraud with the perception of being secure (you most likely want to separate yourself from this).

The benefits are undeniable of Extended Validation SSL certificates. Researches, extended validation certificates show more assurance and sales increase over time. Who doesn't want that?

So let's take a look at the steps necessary to make your business different.

What are Extended Validation Requirements?

For the most part, regardless of what Certificate Authority you choose to get your SSL certificate from, the requirements for extended validation are mostly the same. This is because of the CA/B (Certificate Authority and Browser) forum. The CA/B forum is essentially a regulatory body, run by the CAs and the companies behind the largest web browsers. And they make sure SSL certificates interact and behave the same across all browsers. They've also determined the simple baseline requirements necessary to obtain a valid EV SSL certificate. The requirements everyone must satisfy are:

Enrollment Form
Organization Authentication
Operational Existence
Physical Address
Telephone Verification
Domain Authentication
Final Verification Call
Five Verification Questions
Opinion Letter (when online address and phone verification is not possible is required)

Real businesses have no problem!

If you're a legitimate business this process is a breeze. Therefore, if you're trying to pull a fast one or you're not a real company extended validation isn't going to work for you but if you're working for an actual business then you have nothing to worry about.

Typically, the industry likes to say issuance takes 1-5 business days, that's to give the CA's some time. We'll be here to guide you through every step of the process.