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Check Online If Your Business Names Have Been Approved By CAC

Last week, I informed you about the launch of online company registration by CAC, Nigeria. That same day, I started the process of registering my business name online on CAC website. Within few days, one of the two names I submitted was approved and I confirmed the approval online without visiting any CAC office.

If you’ve paid the N500 for the business name search and CAC have confirmed your payment, you can check online if your business names have been approved by CAC by following me through the steps below:

==>  Go to: http://services.cac.gov.ng/
==>  Click on “Create account” link
==>  Click on the Sign In link at the right hand corner of your PC screen
==>  Sign in with your username and password
==>  Click on the “Name Reservation” tab
==>  Click on the “My Reservations” tab

business name check

Right there, you will see the status of your submitted names. You will see which of the two names is approved and the reservation date. Click on action button to download approval note in pdf.

You can then proceed with the business registration.

I will share info about the business registration process once I complete mine.  So, ensure you subscribe to this blog if you don’t want to miss the info.

NB:

==> Name will be reserved for 60days. So, complete the registration asap.
==> CAC might not send you any email to inform you about the approval of your business names. So, always log in to the portal to check.

What’s your experience so far with the CAC online business registration?

Recommended: How To Choose a Business Name That Will Not Be Rejected by CAC

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Written by Jide Ogunsanya

Pro Nigerian Blogger, Digital Marketer and Web designer. I help business owners to grow their businesses online. You can join my Facebook Group here or join my Telegram Group here.

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89 Comments

  1. Nice one Jyde, Sincerely, been thinking of visiting C.A.C today but believe me with dis i know for sure i should be able to register my company without visiting there office. Am online right now sha. Will holla you soon cos there is one or two thing we need to talk about, Private – Hakeem

  2. Hello, really helpful post you have on here. Please, my company name has been approved I am clueless as to how to go about getting an availability code/registering the company?? I hope I can still do that online 🙁

  3. I went through the same process reserved business name, then engaged the service of a CAC accredited agent to complete the incorporation process for me. Surprisingly, CAC refused to incorporate my company – giving excuse that the person who reserved the business name needs to be a lwayer and its only that person who will be able to fill for incorporation with them. I have to wait for 60 days to elapse to enable another name search by the agent this time before incorporating.

    So do not use the online system by CAC if you ask me!

    • Well, you should have done it all by yourself. I've also discovered that some CAC offices are not yet aware of this online system, so they tell you some things that might frustrate you. The online system works to an extent as at the time of publishing this….

  4. Hi, Ive been getting disapproved for the business name. Is there a particular way to write the business name for a particular business? Please i need your help.

  5. Hello Jide, I am so glad for the helpful lead you offered here. I have spent N5500 on name search offline with no positive result. Someone told me I could get it done online but he doesn't know how so I googled it up and you came to my rescue. I registered on Saturday, paid and I am totally wowed that my name has been approved this morning. It's really excellent and I can't thank you enough. God bless you my brother, Amen.

    • Sign in, click on registration tab. click on Action tab and download the form and payment receipt. Print and take them to the CAC office to complete registration.

      I don't recommend going ahead with the process online as it seems some CAC branches still don't know how this online process works.

  6. I prefer completing the process online. Why should I avoid that dreaded CAC office and do a name search online, only to print out the approved name and receipt in order to go get an approval code offline which I'll proceed to use online again?

    This seems to be nothing different from the GTBank online account opening done via Facebook, which you need to complete at the nearest GTBank branch.

    They really need to fully automate the system. Their offices are a nightmare.

  7. Hi, please when you choose several names and one has been approved does that mean others are not available or they just choose at random to approve cause they did not ask for preferred name they just approved one

  8. Hello Jide,

    Please, I have paid 500 Naira for Name search through a bank center but my Staus reflects "Not Submitted". Is it OK like that and wait for approval or do I have to upload or submit my payment in d bank online.

    • Then enjoy. Since you have your certificate, you have successfully registered the Company. Now, you can even Open an account with your company name in any Commercial bank in Nigeria.

  9. I want to start a holding company but I want to register it first. Which of the three options(register a company, register a business name or incorporate trustee) should I register under. and how do I register other subsidiaries under the holding company.

  10. pls kindly help me out of my registration process my name is already approved by cac since 2 weeks back now i am ready to make a payment now,what is the procedure for it?

  11. Hello Jide,please i have been trying register and this is the second time am paying 500# and where the were suppose to let me know if my name has been approved or disaproved what the wrote there was NOT SUBMITTED ..please enlighten me

  12. Hello Jide. My search was successful; i registered and paid N10,000. I was asked to download the PDF attachment and get it stamped at the court, which i did. but no further instruction. I tried sending it to their general email (info@) but no response. I called one of their lines but the person on duty (a lady was confused). I went to a branch of the CAC nearby but they couldn't tell me what to do next. So, i gave up and remained stuck since June 2015. HOW DID YOU CONCLUDE YOURS?

  13. Hello Jide,
    Thanks for the info. Unfortunately for me, I have been charged 120K for the registration and I have made an advance payment of 50K. The name have been approved and it's been published in 2 daily newspapers. Is there any cheaper or more affordable way to go about it without having to pay the whooping 70k to get the certificate. I look forward to hearing from you! Cheers

  14. Afternoon, i submit a business name for reservation since last week on 28th of march this year, after generating the RRR Number i proceed to make the payment at UBA Allen ikeja. to my surprise i have not seen the name been approved after series of visitation to the CAC portal…. Pls what should i do… feed me back on this contact 08066472698. thanks

  15. Hi Jide,
    I could use your help with the business name search which I have done twice with both all 4 names coming back as disapproved. The first reason I can understand but the second which is "Provide Main Aims/Objects pls" implies I left this off my online application, which is not true. I have tried contacting CAC with their number's listed online but no luck and the disapproval notice did not state how to contact the person who disapproved my application.

  16. It is one of the most frustrating process I have ever gone through in my entire life. University registration is next. You get to upload your business documents severally, they disapprove, tell you to do something or pay some amount, you do that and upload and they disapprove again and find another issue. Its like… why cant you just tell me all that I'm required to do at once instead of this unnecessary back and forth? Finally after over a month of constant checking the portal which by the way could use a lot of help in terms of user experience (They can actually give me that contract so the lives of intending business owners can be so much easier), it was approved but no further action, no email, no place on the portal to download certificate or something! No directions! No body to call or respond to your calls or email… Jeez! I can only imaging how many people must have abandoned their registration after paying just because of how much effort is required to complete this. Its sad!

  17. Having successful reserved a name for 60days and it elapses even when the registration hasn’t been completed…what are the implications…will I still be able to proceed with the same said name or I will have to pay another #500 again…pla I need advise

  18. my business name reservation is approved and have paid N10,000 and filled the registration form online, it is still showing pending approval since last week. what do i do ?

  19. hi, I have received my availability code but can’t seem to continue my business registration. it keeps returning me back to the registration page. Asking me to insert my availability code. what could be the problem?

  20. Hello Mr. Hide, I already reserved a name and proceeded with the registration process online. Then I came across your warning on completing the whole process online, does this mean I can’t do this and go to the HQ for the pick up of certificates only as stated in the portal?
    And in a case that I decided to let the reservation elapse, can I start over by placing a name search with the same business name again and can it be approved again?

    Thank you

  21. I have got the availability code but upon trying to login with it, the site shows a message that my availability code does not have a business name. What does this mean as the name was already approved.

  22. Hi Jide, thank for the information. I just completed an online name reservation application but the current status says pending “approval.” How long does it take to get an approval from CAC? Thank you!

  23. Hello Mr. Jide! Pls, how do I know that my documents upload is successful? I’ve submitted over and over again (using phone n laptop), but it’s only bringing out a blank page. No such message as “uploads successful” or something. Pls, is it the norm?

  24. CAC is not fully prepared for online registration and this is very unfortunate. The so call online registration is so unfriendly, so frustrating, nobody to talk to, to guide you or to mentor you. CAC HQs Abuja has bout six telephone lines, when you call, the phones are either switched off or not available. It is shame. Assuming most of us struggling to do online registration are foreigners who planned to invest in Nigeria, this is how they would frustrate them and they would go to Ghana or South Africa. CAC needs to wake up to its responsibility and improve on its ICT infrastructures. CAC is loosing a lot of revenues by their mode of operations presently
    It is a big shame………..
    Thanks

  25. Is there anything that can be done to accelerate their operations at CAC HQs, Abuja. The process is just too slow. When you upload documents, it takes several weeks before you get any response. At the slightest error, they will reject your submissions and they will not guide you or direct you on what to do. All they will tell you is ” INCORRECT DATA”, they will not tell you exactly what was wrong with your submission. They would get you more confused. This is a big challenge and it is very unfortunate. It does not portray good image of a Federal Government Institution.
    The CAC Custormer service auto-reply machine would reply to any message, but after that nothing happens. You have to wait indefinitely for responses……..They need to travel to the Western world and see how easy to register a company. God bless Nigeria!!!!!

  26. It seems this online thing is no difference from offline registration. I did every thing online in May 2017 and it is still showing pending approval. In December 2017 i send a mail to CAC which i was referred to the pick up office which is UYO reaching there it was so funny to hear the head of the place telling me that she does not have password to check incorporated Trustee which was the class of my registration.The next time i called, she was on vacation. Only God knows when she will resume but the big question is should Govt business be done that way? For me this is corruption.

  27. Hi bro i heard my company name is approved nd have paid all necessary to the lawyer such like 80k . So how will i confirm it’s real registrations nd all taxes is paid left nothing. …………. bcos I didn’t go direct my self.

  28. Which receipt do i Upload along with the availability notice, Means of identification…etc, is it the one given to me at the Bank, or the one i will download from my account on CAC? Pls i need urgent answer, cos av been made to pay twice because of this and its still not going through.

  29. questions: So what happens when they disapproved your name, should I start again with a new registration and new payment or with the old payment and different name. also, they didn’t tell me why they denied the name, so it’s hard to tell what mistake was done at the first registration.

    • There are certain names that are restricted and others prohibited, so it depends on the type of name you chose.

      And yes, out will need to start over, with a new name and new payment.
      Cheers.

  30. Pls Good day, I have my business name approved, I have also successfully completed my registration of my business, I am currently on the final stage which asked me to download Application Form for Business Name (CAC/BN/1). I have downloaded it but i am having problem uploading the signed document online what should I do?

  31. good evening i”ve done name reservation for my business since august and my registration has been pending since then. i’ve paid the 10,000, i notice expired on my name reservation but my registration is still peding.

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