If you are obtaining an Extended Validation (EV) SSL Digital Certificate, you may be asked to provide a Professional Opinion Letter to verify your business’ identity. This letter is one of many strict requirements to be fulfilled in order to successfully process the certificate request from your Certification Authority (CA). LegalVision can verify businesses and draft a Professional Opinion Letter for Australian and international businesses looking at obtaining an EV SSL Digital Certificate.
Once you obtain an EV SSL Certificate and it is successfully installed onto your website, any visitors landing on your page will see their address bar turn green and your business’ name will be displayed in the web address bar.
What is a Professional Opinion Letter or Lawyer’s Opinion Letter?
A Professional Opinion Letter verifies particular facts about your business. Whether you are registering through GeoTrust, Symantec, Thawte, Digicert, GoDaddy, VeriSign or another Certification Authority, there are a number of facts that must be verified in order to issue the EV SSL Certificate.
The most commonly verified facts include:
- The business name and Australian Business Number;
- The primary address of the business;
- The primary telephone number of the business;
- The business structure for your company;
- The registered domain name matching the WHOIS record and registered with an
- ICANN or an IANA registrar for CCTLDs; and
- The authority of the person who executed the Extended Validation documents.
A lawyer can verify and provide a letter that states that these facts have been formally verified. Once submitted to the Certification Authority, a representative from the Certification Authority will contact the lawyer to confirm that the facts have been verified. This verification will be followed up with a telephone call with the business. The CA representative will either call the business’ number as listed in a public telephone directory, or the number listed in the Professional Opinion Letter.
In addition to obtaining a Lawyer’s Opinion Letter, a business requesting an EV SSL Certificate must also submit a signed Acknowledgement Letter of the SSL Agreement, also known as a EV Acknowledgement of Agreement Form or Letter.
Why is an Opinion Letter Necessary?
An Extended Validation SSL Certificate is the most premium SSL certificate option for a website – it establishes trust and security for website visitors. Consequently, there is a rigorous process to validate applicants who request an EV Certificate. Specifically, the submitted information about the domain registration must align with the legally registered business name on the certificate. This online and offline validation process requires a lawyer or accountant to formally verify the applicant.
Key Takeaways
EV SSL Certificates require adherence to strict authentication standards. Whether you are running an eCommerce website or establishing a startup, the added level of verification can mean your website visitors are more likely to trust your business and brand. LegalVision has drafted numerous Professional Opinion Letters for online businesses, startups and companies with websites. If you are looking to obtain the highly coveted green address bar and website seals, get in contact with LegalVision through the form on this page for a fixed fee quote.
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