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Guide

Start verifying today, before Meta approves your WhatsApp

By The Authevo Team5 min read

There’s an honest dependency in every WhatsApp verification setup: to send authentication codes from your own number, Meta has to verify your business first. That review can take days — and it shouldn’t hold your launch hostage. Here’s how to ship verification now and let WhatsApp switch itself on when it’s ready.

Why the wait exists

Meta requires a one-time Business Verification on your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) before it can send authentication-category templates. It’s tied to your business, not to Authevo, and the timing is genuinely outside our hands. It’s the price of sending over official WhatsApp infrastructure rather than gray routes — but you don’t have to wait idle for it.

Telegram covers the gap

While verification is pending, Telegram delivery is automatic only for recipients who completed the one-time link. If someone is not linked, POST /v1/otp/send returns 409 CHANNEL_NOT_LINKED and a one-tap Telegram URL your product must display. Once they tap Start, Authevo delivers a new code there automatically; POST /v1/otp/verify remains unchanged.

The switch is automatic

The moment Meta clears your Business Verification and your WABA can send auth templates, Authevo routes new codes over WhatsApp. Telegram remains the fallback for recipients who completed the one-time link; unlinked recipients still require the one-tap URL journey. There is no redeploy or backend code change.

What to do now

  • Create an account and generate your sk_ secret key.
  • Connect your WhatsApp Business Account and start Meta Business Verification.
  • Ship the two-call flow today, and add the one-time Telegram link to your product. Linked recipients can receive codes there while you wait; WhatsApp turns on when Meta verification completes.