Extended Validation Physical Address

The Physical Address check for an Extended Validation SSL Certificate is just what it sounds like—you must prove your organisation has an established physical presence in the country or state that it’s registered in.

Proving your Company’s Physical Address

To prove your company’s physical address, the Certificate Authority will verify your company’s street address, city, state and country.

The first way the CA is going to attempt to complete this check is by searching an Online Government Database – For Australia, that means the Australian Business Register or Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) .

For New Zealand, that means the New Zealand Companies Office Companies Register .

Unfortunately, the CA’s will not accept PO Boxes or companies registered off-shore.

You might also run into problems with the fact that some government databases do not list a business’s physical address. However, if you do run into any issues – as with all of these requirements – there is a relatively simple workaround that will still allow you to get your Extended Validation SSL Certificate.

Alternative Methods to Prove your Company’s Physical Address:
• Official Registration Documents
• Dun & Bradstreet
• Professional Opinion Letter

You can send in any official registration documents issued by your local government – articles of incorporation, chartered license, DBA statement – and the CA’s will accept them as proof of a physical address.

You can use a comprehensive Dun & Bradstreet credit report to verify the physical address of your company. Dun & Bradstreet is a large company that does credit reports on businesses (in Australia is also operates as Hoovers) the CAs view DUNS as a reputable source of information when vetting organisations.
D-U-N-S Number Information

Finally, you can use a Legal Opinion Letter, sometimes called a Professional Opinion Letter, which is signed by an attorney or an accountant (they must be in good standing with the government regulatory body in your country or locality), to prove your company’s physical address. Unless you have in-house legal or easy access to an accountant getting a POL can be a pain, but it’s benefits are undeniable.

• Example Comodo Legal Opinion Letter
• Example GeoTrust Legal Opinion Letter
• Example Symantec Legal Opinion Letter
• Example Thawte Legal Opinion Letter

Any of these options will satisfy the Operational Existence check and get you one step closer to being issued an Extended Validation SSL Certificate.