How to get verified on Instagram: a brand's guide to the blue tick

How to get verified on Instagram: meet Instagram's criteria, then apply through Meta Verified or, for eligible public figures and brands, the legacy verification request.

A verified blue tick tells people your Instagram account is the real one, official, authentic, not an impersonator. For brands, that signal is worth more than a badge: it earns trust at the exact moment a new follower is deciding whether to take you seriously.

There are now two routes to a blue tick on Instagram. You can subscribe to Meta Verified, the paid verification programme Meta has rolled out globally, or, if you are a notable public figure, creator or brand at high risk of impersonation, you may still qualify for legacy verification at no cost. Either way, Instagram applies the same authenticity bar. You cannot buy credibility you haven’t earned.

Key takeaways:

• Verification confirms your account is genuine. It is an authenticity signal, not a popularity contest.
• Two paths exist: Meta Verified (a paid subscription) and legacy verification (free, for notable accounts likely to be impersonated).
• The criteria that matter: authentic, unique, complete, and, for legacy verification, notable.
• Follower count is not a qualifying threshold. Notability and impersonation risk are.
• Never pay a third party for a badge. You can’t buy, sell or transfer verification, and trying will hurt you.

How do you get verified on Instagram?

Start with the non-negotiables. Whichever route you take, your account has to comply with Instagram’s Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. Break those and verification is off the table.

From there, Instagram weighs your account against a consistent set of criteria:

• Authentic: your account represents a real person, registered business or recognised brand.
• Unique: only one account per person or business can be verified (language and topic-specific accounts are the usual exception).
• Complete: a public, active profile with a bio, profile picture and a history of posts.
• Notable (legacy verification): your account is well-known, well-represented in the press, and “highly searched for”. This is the bar most applicants fail to clear.

One myth worth retiring: follower count is not a threshold. A 1,000-follower account can hold a blue tick; an account with hundreds of thousands of bought followers will not. Instagram is screening for genuine notability and impersonation risk, not vanity numbers.

What is Meta Verified, and how does it work?

Meta Verified is the subscription route. It began in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 and has since rolled out worldwide, including for businesses. A personal subscription typically runs from around US$11.99 a month on the web (more on iOS and Android, where app-store fees apply); business pricing sits higher and varies by market.

A subscription gets you a verified badge plus impersonation monitoring, account support and increased visibility in some surfaces. Paying does not let you skip the authenticity check. You still have to confirm your identity with a government ID, and the same standards apply. Accounts already verified through the legacy process keep their status.

So Meta Verified lowers the notability bar, not the authenticity one. It is the practical route for most brands and creators today; legacy verification remains the free path for accounts notable enough to be granted it without paying.

How do you request the legacy blue tick on Instagram?

If you believe your account qualifies for free legacy verification, you can still request it in the app:

1. Open Settings and privacy.
2. Go to Accounts Centre, then Personal details (or Account type and tools for professional accounts).
3. Find the Verification or Request verification option.
4. Complete the form. It asks for your details and a document proving your identity (for a person) or legitimacy (for a business).
5. Submit, and wait for Instagram to review.

Menus shift as Meta reorganises the app, so the exact path can move; the request flow itself is unchanged. Meeting every criterion still doesn’t guarantee approval. If you’re turned down, you’ll need to wait before you apply again, so make the next application stronger, don’t just resubmit the same one.

How hard is it to get verified on Instagram?

Hard, but not impossible, and harder for the free legacy badge than for a paid Meta Verified subscription. The difference is notability. Here’s how to build a case strong enough that Instagram, or your audience, treats you as the genuine article:

• Build a real following, organically. Post consistently, post well, and grow on other platforms too. A credible cross-platform presence supports your case. (Our guide on increasing Instagram followers and our guide to Instagram Reels cover the mechanics.)
• Flag genuine impersonation risk. If fake accounts are using your name, tell Instagram. Impersonation risk is exactly what verification exists to protect against.
• Stay active. Engage with your community rather than broadcasting at it.
• Grow your earned footprint. When your brand is searched, what comes up? Press coverage, citations and a real digital presence all build the notability case.
• Develop a distinct niche. Influencer Marketing Hub points to Zoe Sugg, who built a recognised identity through her Zoella beauty and lifestyle brand off the back of a YouTube channel now past 12 million subscribers. A clear identity is more verifiable than a generic one.
• Invest in PR. Coverage in reputable outlets is one of the clearest notability signals Instagram can see.

To get more from the account you’re working to verify, sharpen your captions and post when your audience is actually online using our best time to post on Instagram advice.

Why you shouldn’t pay a third party for verification

If you find an account or service offering blue ticks, for free or for cash, avoid it. You cannot buy, sell or transfer a verification badge, and going through anyone other than Meta itself puts your account at risk of suspension.

The same logic applies to buying followers. Purchased followers don’t engage, and that hollow ratio is a red flag that works against you, not for you. A smaller, genuinely engaged audience is a far stronger signal of legitimacy, and far more useful to your business, than a large fake one.

Instagram verification: what to avoid

Instagram scrutinises accounts seeking verification, so behave accordingly. Steer clear of:

• Spammy engagement: generic bot-style comments like “nice picture”.
• Guideline breaches: anything that violates Community Guidelines puts you out of contention.
• Bought followers: they undermine the authenticity you’re trying to prove.
• Misleading information: false details in your application will be caught and will set you back.

Verification can also be removed. Instagram reserves the right to withdraw the badge if you advertise, transfer or sell it, repurpose your profile to promote unrelated services, or try to verify through a third party. Treat the badge as ongoing trust to maintain, not a trophy to claim.

Frequently asked questions

How many followers do you need to get verified on Instagram?

There’s no follower threshold. Instagram doesn’t publish a minimum, and one study cited by Shopify found verified accounts with as few as 1,000 followers. More followers can support a notability case, but they don’t qualify you on their own. Authenticity and impersonation risk do.

Can a normal person get verified on Instagram?

For free legacy verification, it’s genuinely hard. Instagram’s stated bar is that you “must be a public figure, celebrity or brand” with an account likely to be impersonated. An everyday account with a small following is unlikely to clear it. Meta Verified changes the maths. A paid subscription is open to far more accounts, provided they pass identity and authenticity checks.

What documents do I need to verify my Instagram account?

For individuals, a government-issued photo ID: passport, driving licence or national ID card. For businesses, official documentation such as tax filings, a recent utility bill, or articles of incorporation. These confirm you’re a genuine person or a legitimate organisation.

How long does Instagram verification take?

It varies. A legacy verification review can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on volume and how complete your application is. Meta Verified is typically faster, since the process is built around identity confirmation rather than a notability judgement.

Can you get verified with fake followers?

No. Influencer Marketing Hub notes that fake followers produce abnormally low engagement, which signals an inauthentic account, the opposite of what verification rewards.

You don’t need a blue tick to look credible

A badge helps, but it isn’t the only way to earn trust. As Shopify suggests, connect your Instagram to your website and other channels, and show the people and process behind the brand with behind-the-scenes video. Authenticity that’s demonstrated, not just claimed, is what actually converts a sceptical visitor into a follower.

That’s the harder, more valuable problem, and the one Vamp solves. A blue tick verifies that your account is real. It doesn’t build the credibility, reach or relevance that makes verification worth having in the first place. Vamp is a tech-enabled influencer marketing agency: we design creator-led growth systems and the earned-media engine behind them, so your brand becomes the kind of name worth verifying, and worth following. Talk to us.