How to Apply for an EV SSL Certificate

When your business website requires a high-trust Extended Validation SSL certificate. This article explains how to apply for an EV SSL certificate. 

What is EV SSL ? 

An Extended Validation SSL (EV SSL) is the highest form of authentication for a website. To ensure the authenticity of the person or business there is a more detailed evaluation and verification process. This process includes manual validation steps to verify the existence of your business and your physical identity. 

When an EV SSL is installed it, you will see a green search bar when someone visits your site. This acts as a symbol of security and helps build customer trust. EV SSL certificates are best suited for an e-commerce website. The e-commerce industry now prefers EV SSL certificates, a standard for trust and security.  

Getting the EV certificate requires the full validation of your organizations which ensures that the certificates are only issued to the most trusted companies.  

The visual appearance of a secure connection ensures that visitors feel safe to perform transactions on the website which results in customer satisfaction and increased revenue.  

You can view a website's SSL Certificate by clicking on the lock icon in the address bar of a browser. 

How do I apply for an EV SSL Certificate?

After you purchase an EV SSL Certificate order, you will need to first complete the enrollment and verification process with the Certificate Authority in order to get your final Certificate. Follow the steps below to apply for your certificate. 

Step 1: Log in to your control panel.  
Step 2: Navigate to the Order Information view. 

Type the Domain Name of the order in the search field on the homepage, select Order from the drop down and click on Search. 

Step 3: Submit your certificate application. 

• Generate the CSR along with that private key will also be generated, saved it on a text editor as it will be required during the installation process. 

• In the Order Information view, navigate to the SSL Certificate section and click on Issue certificate. 

Step 4:  

• Enter your CSR and click on Next. 

• Enter the organization details and click on Next. 

• On the next page, select a verification method from the list of available methods. 

SSL Verification Methods 

• Email Verification 

• CNAME Verification 

• HTTP Verification 

In order for you to get a valid SSL certificate, it is necessary to verify that you or your organization is the rightful owner of the domain. This step in the process is known as Domain Control Validation or DCV. 

While issuing a certificate from you will be shown three methods for verifying domain control.  

They are : 

Email Verification 

In this method of verification, you verify the domain control by receiving an email on any one of the following email ids on your domain. It is necessary that you have access to these email addresses, a mail will be sent to this email address with a code. You need to click on the link provided in the email and enter the code to prove you have control over the domain. 

 CNAME Verification 

CNAME verification requires you to verify the domain name by entering the CNAME record provided in the DNS zone of your domain name. Once you add the DNS record it may take up to 4 to 8 hours for the verification to complete. The system will check for the presence of the record in the DNS zone, and if the record is found the Domain control will be verified and the certificate will be issued. 

HTTP Verification 

In this verification method, you need to upload a text file to your server at a particular path to prove ownership of the domain and hosting. Once you upload the file it might take some time to complete the verification. 

Follow the steps mentioned below to upload the file to your server.  

1. In the public_html folder of your server create a new folder/directory with the name .well-known.  

• Learn how to create a folder on cPanel. 
  https://documentation.cpanel.net/display/1148Docs/File+Manager 

• Learn how to create a folder on Plesk panel. 
  https://docs.plesk.com/en-US/onyx/customer-guide/websites-and-domains/extended-website-management/using-virtual-directories-windows/creating-virtual-directories.65214/ 
   

2. Then inside the .well-known folder create a new folder/directory with the name pki-validation. 

3. Upload the text file downloaded from the control panel to this folder.  
    

NOTE 

• Make sure the file name is not modified and there are no extra characters in the file name. It is also necessary you don't modify the contents of the file. This is necessary to complete the verification without any issues.  

• This verification method is not available for wildcard SSL certificates. 

NOTE 

• Ensure that Privacy Protection is disabled for the Domain Name. 

• Your organization details will be verified via a relevant Government/Third-Party database. 

• The Contact Email Address will be used  to send any agreements that need to be accepted. You will need to enter the email address of the person who has the authority to accept agreements on the Organization’s behalf. 

• An SSL Certificate will not be issued to a national or resident of Cuba, Iran, Sudan, North Korea, or Syria or any other country where such use is prohibited under United States export regulations, or anyone on the United States Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the United States Commerce Department's Table of Denial Orders. 

Verify Organization details  

• Once you have completed the Domain Control Validation, click on the Agreement Email and complete the SSL Subscriber Agreement. 

• There are 2 ways in which you can complete the “SSL Subscriber Agreement” process. 

• Click on the Link provided in the Email and fill in the details. Click on “I Accept”. 

• Once the document is submitted, a verification call will be received on the Contact Number mentioned in the form. 

• The Dun & Bradstreet D‑U‑N‑S Number is a unique nine-digit identifier for businesses. This number is assigned once our patented identity resolution process, part of our DUNS Right methodology, identifies a company as being unique from any other in the Dun & Bradstreet Data Cloud. The D‑U‑N‑S Number is used as the starting point for any company's Live Business Identity, the most comprehensive and continually updated view of any company in the Data Cloud. 

• In order to verify your organization details, you need to have your organization registered with "duns and Bradstreet" when you register your organization with "duns and Bradstreet" they will provide you with a Duns number 

• Or the alternative to complete the organization verification is you need to provide a Legal Opinion Letter from the registered Attorney or CPA letter from the accountant. 

It takes approximately 15 working days for the verification process to complete.  

Once the verification is complete, the SSL will be sent to the verified Email account. 

 

Re-issue EV SSL 

In case you want to change any details about your organization then you will need to reissue your certificate by following the steps below. 

Step 1: Log in to your control panel.  

Step 2: Navigate to the Order Information view. 

Type the Domain Name of the order in the search field on the homepage, select Order from the drop down and click on Search. 

Step 3: Submit your certificate application. 

• Click on Reissue certificate.  

• Submit your CSR and click on Next.  

• Enter the organization details and click on Next 

• Select a verification method and complete the verification.