The most rigorous and slowest option.
WHAT IT INVOLVES
Verification to a defined industry standard: legal existence, physical presence, operational existence, and the authority of the person requesting.
Expect document requests, independent verification against public records, and a callback.
TIMING
Longest of all certificate types. Plan weeks, not days.
WHAT CHANGED
Browsers formerly displayed a green address bar with the company name for EV certificates. They no longer do. Visitors see the same padlock as any other certificate.
This removed most of the practical argument for EV on consumer-facing sites.
WHEN IT IS STILL WARRANTED
Where a contract, regulator or partner explicitly requires it. That is essentially the only remaining reason.
BEFORE ORDERING
Confirm the requirement in writing. If someone has specified EV from habit rather than obligation, a domain validated certificate serves identically and costs nothing.
AFTERWARDS
Note the expiry carefully. EV certificates are expensive to let lapse and slow to replace.
