The moment you submit Part B of FORM GST REG-01, the GST portal gives you a 15-character Application Reference Number and sends it by email and SMS. From that point until the GSTIN is issued, the ARN is the application. Every notice the officer issues, every reply you file and the final certificate quote it.
The portal also shows a status against the ARN, and that status is where most of the confusion starts: the words are administrative, the deadlines behind them are not displayed, and one of the statuses starts a clock that can end in rejection if you do not act. This guide takes each status in turn and says what it means, who has to act, and by when. Everything is as of September 2026, with the rule or form named so you can check it.
What the ARN looks like
An ARN is 15 characters: two letters, then the two-digit code of the state you applied in, then the month and year of submission, then a six-digit sequence and a check character. An application filed in Karnataka (state code 29) in September 2026 therefore starts AA2909. If someone quotes you an ARN that does not start with two letters and your state code, it is not the number the portal issued.
Keep three things together: the ARN, the Temporary Reference Number (TRN) you generated in Part A of the form (it lets you log in and see the officer’s notices), and the mobile number and email you registered, because every notice is signalled there.
Three ways to track the status
| Route | What you need | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Track Application Status (no login) | The ARN and a captcha, under Services → Registration → Track Application Status on gst.gov.in | The current stage and the date reached. Nothing else. |
| TRN login | The TRN and the OTP sent to your registered mobile and email | The same stage, plus View Notices and Orders, where FORM GST REG-03 queries and REG-05 orders can be opened and downloaded, and where the REG-04 reply is filed. |
| SRN (SPICe+ applicants) | The Service Request Number from the MCA portal, if you applied for GST as part of company incorporation | Choose SRN instead of ARN on the same tracking page. The application is processed by the same officer under the same rules. |
Use the TRN login when the status is anything other than “Pending for Processing” or “Approved”. The no-login screen tells you that something is pending; only the login shows you what.
The statuses, in the order they usually appear
Pending for Processing
The application has been submitted and assigned to a jurisdictional officer, and no one has acted on it yet. Nothing is needed from you. Under Rule 9(1) the officer has 7 working days from submission to approve it or to issue a query. If you did not complete Aadhaar authentication, or your application was flagged for physical verification, the period is 30 days (Rule 9(1) proviso).
CBIC Instruction No. 03/2025-GST of 17 April 2025 told field officers to work inside these limits, to stop asking for documents the form does not require, and to seek their senior’s approval before demanding anything outside the prescribed list. If a query arrives asking for something that is not on the REG-01 document list, that instruction is worth quoting in your reply.
Pending for Clarification
The officer has issued a notice in FORM GST REG-03. This is the status that carries a deadline: you must reply in FORM GST REG-04 within 7 working days of the notice (Rule 9(2)). The officer then has 7 working days from your reply to approve or reject (Rule 9(3)). If you do not reply in time, or the reply does not satisfy the officer, the application is rejected in FORM GST REG-05 (Rule 9(4)).
Log in with the TRN, open the notice and read the exact wording. In our experience the query is almost always one of four things: the address proof does not match the address typed in the application, the rent agreement or NOC is not in the applicant’s exact name, the utility bill is older than the officer accepts, or the nature of business does not fit the premises. Reply to the specific point, attach the specific document, and do not send a fresh set of everything.
Site Verification Assigned / Site Verification Completed
The officer has ordered a physical verification of the principal place of business under Rule 25. A field officer visits, checks the name board, confirms that the premises match the documents and that the business can be carried on there, and uploads a verification report with photographs in FORM GST REG-30. The application then moves to “Pending for Order”. During this window keep the premises open in working hours, the name board up, and the agreement, NOC and utility bill available. If you use a virtual office, tell the provider the visit is coming so the centre’s staff can receive the officer.
Pending for Order
Your REG-04 reply has been filed, or the site report has been uploaded, and the file is back with the officer for a decision. Nothing is needed from you. The officer has 7 working days from the reply to act.
Approved
The registration certificate in FORM GST REG-06 has been generated and the GSTIN issued. The certificate is not posted; download it from the portal after logging in with your new credentials (the username and a temporary password are sent to the registered email and mobile). The certificate must be displayed at the principal place of business and every additional place of business (Rule 18), and the GSTIN shown on the name board.
Rejected
An order in FORM GST REG-05 has been passed, with reasons. Read the reasons before doing anything else. You can file a fresh FORM GST REG-01, and most rejected applicants do; what you cannot do is file it with the same defect and expect a different result. If you believe the rejection is wrong in law, an appeal to the Appellate Authority under Section 107 is available within three months of the order, but for a registration a corrected fresh application is nearly always faster.
The timelines side by side
| Stage | Who acts | Time limit | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Submission to approval or query | Officer | 7 working days (Aadhaar authenticated, no risk flag) | Rule 9(1) |
| Submission to approval, physical verification cases | Officer | 30 days | Rule 9(1) proviso, Rule 25 |
| Reply to a query | Applicant | 7 working days from FORM GST REG-03 | Rule 9(2) |
| Decision after the reply | Officer | 7 working days from FORM GST REG-04 | Rule 9(3) |
| No action by the officer within the limit | — | Application deemed approved | Rule 9(5) |
“Working days” excludes weekends and public holidays in the state, which is why a query issued on a Friday before a long weekend still leaves you effectively less than a week.
When the status has not moved
An application that sits in “Pending for Processing” past the Rule 9 period is, in law, deemed approved under Rule 9(5). In practice the certificate still has to be generated by the system, and the officer’s inaction is often a sign that the application is sitting in a queue rather than being deliberately held. The order of steps that works:
- Log in with the TRN and check View Notices and Orders. A notice you have not seen is the most common reason an application looks stuck, and its 7-working-day clock is running.
- If there is no notice and the period has passed, raise a ticket on the GST Self Service Portal (selfservice.gstsystem.in) under Registration, quoting the ARN and the submission date. Keep the ticket number.
- Contact the jurisdictional officer. The application acknowledgement names the Centre or State jurisdiction it was assigned to; the office’s contact details are on the CBIC and state GST websites.
- If the application was flagged for physical verification, make sure the premises are ready to be verified. A visit that finds a locked door or no name board turns a delay into a rejection.
Why applications get queried: the address
Most REG-03 notices are about the place of business, because it is the one part of the application the officer can and does check against documents and, increasingly, in person. The form asks for proof of possession of the premises: for rented premises, the rent or leave-and-licence agreement together with a document proving the landlord’s ownership (usually a utility bill or property tax receipt); for premises used with consent, a no-objection certificate from the owner plus the same ownership proof. The name on the agreement must be the exact legal name of the applicant, the address on every document must match the address typed in the form character for character, and the utility bill should be recent.
If you do not have commercial premises in the state, a virtual office supplies exactly this set: an agreement in your business name, the owner’s NOC, a current utility bill and a name board at the premises, with staff present when the officer visits. It is the difference between the 7-day track and the 30-day one.
After approval: three things to do the same day
Log in with the new username, set a permanent password, and download the FORM GST REG-06 certificate. Display it at the premises and put the GSTIN on the name board. Then add your bank account details in the non-core amendment section within 30 days of the grant of registration or before filing your first return, whichever is earlier (Rule 10A); registrations where the bank account is not furnished in time can be suspended.
Tell us the state, what you sell and where the stock sits. A registration specialist replies with the exact document list and timeline — free.
