How Long Does Meta App Review Take? (Instagram API)

Meta app review usually returns a decision on each submission within a week to ten days, but getting a full set of Instagram API permissions approved often takes weeks to a couple of months. Each rejection sends a permission back for another round, and resubmitting is the slow part.

How long does Meta app review take?#

Meta's submission guide says "you should receive a decision within a week." That covers one round: you submit, a reviewer tests your app, and you get an approval or a rejection for each permission.

When we went through Meta's reviews for Instagram permissions while working with a couple of clients, each round took roughly 8 to 10 days to come back. There was a lot of back-and-forth with Meta support between rounds, and a full set of permissions took several rounds.

What you're timing	What to expect
One review round (Meta's stated target)	About a week
One review round (our experience)	Roughly 8 to 10 days
Fixing a rejection before resubmitting	Days, depending on whether you re-record the screencast
A full set of Instagram permissions, with rejections	Weeks to a couple of months

Plan around the last row. A one-week decision only saves time when it's an approval.

What does Meta review before an app goes live?#

Meta runs several separate reviews, and each has its own wait. None of them has a predictable timeline, and they can overlap or block each other.

What gets reviewed	When you need it	What it asks for	Wait time
Business Verification	Your app requests Advanced Access, or lets other businesses access their own data	Proof that your business is a real, registered entity	Varies, unpredictable
App Review	Every permission that needs Advanced Access	A written use case and a screencast for each permission	Varies, unpredictable
Tech Provider access verification	Your app is used by other businesses and requests certain permissions	A description of how your business uses other businesses' data to provide its service	Varies, unpredictable

If you build a product that lets customers connect their own Instagram accounts, expect to go through all three.

Why does Meta app review take so long?#

Meta app review takes a long time mostly because of rejection loops, more than the queue itself. A few things stack up:

• Permissions are judged one by one. A single submission can come back half approved, and the rejected permissions go into the next round.
• A rejection costs a full round. You fix the problem, resubmit, and wait again.
• Rework happens between rounds. Re-recording a screencast or rewriting a use case takes days. Sometimes the product has to change before the video can show the feature.
• Feedback is generic. Meta's rejection notes tend to be a template with a policy link, so it can take a support exchange to find out which part failed.
• More apps are in the queue. In our experience, a surge of vibe-coded apps, vertical AI companies, and AI content-generation tools requesting Instagram access has made review slower than it used to be.

If you're blocked on this, an API that already holds the approvals, like Adeli's Instagram API, takes the review off your roadmap.

What is the Meta app review process?#

The Meta app review process has four stages: build the feature, clear the account-level requirements, submit each permission, and wait for a decision per permission.

1. Build the feature first. Meta asks you to "make at least 1 successful API call using each permission" before requesting it, within 30 days of submitting.
2. Clear the account-level gates. Complete Basic Settings (icon, category, privacy policy URL), add a data deletion URL or callback, and finish Business Verification if you need Advanced Access.
3. Submit each permission. Each one gets its own written description and its own screencast.
4. Get a decision per permission. Approved permissions go live. Rejected ones need a fix and another round.

What are the Meta app review requirements for Instagram?#

To publish to Instagram professional accounts your customers own, your app needs Advanced Access, and Advanced Access requires Meta app review. The Instagram App Review docs ask apps that serve multiple businesses for "a screencast showing the end-to-end user experience for that specific permission or feature."

Requirement	What it means in practice
Advanced Access	Required if your app serves accounts you don't own or manage
Business Verification	Required for Advanced Access
One successful API call per permission	The feature has to work before you ask for it
Privacy policy and data deletion	Live URLs that cover the data each permission touches
A reviewer-accessible app	"Your app must be publicly available," with a working test path
A test account with real content	An Instagram professional account with posts, and followers if you request insights

Instagram also has two sets of permissions, and each set is reviewed separately. Request the one your users will actually log in with:

• Instagram API with Instagram Login. Uses permissions like instagram_business_basic and instagram_business_content_publish.
• Instagram API with Facebook Login. Uses instagram_basic, instagram_content_publish, and Facebook Page permissions such as pages_show_list.

What rejections should I expect from Meta app review?#

Expect at least one rejection. We hit each of these when we went through Meta's reviews for clients:

• Screencast gaps. Meta can accept your use case and still reject the permission because the video skips a step. It needs to show the complete login, the user granting the permission on the consent screen, and the feature working end to end.
• A use case not tied to a feature. If the description doesn't say which feature needs the permission, how the integration works, and how it helps the end user, Meta can reject it as not needed for your app's core functionality.
• A rewrite that reopens an accepted use case. If Meta accepted the use case and only the video failed, keep the text and fix the video. Rewritten text is judged again, and it can fail on grounds that passed last time.

What should my Meta app review video show?#

Your Meta app review video should show one user going from logged out to the feature working, in one take, for that specific permission. Meta's screen recording guidance asks you to "record in high-resolution, 1080 or better" and to "use English as the app UI language," with captions or tooltips for any button whose purpose isn't obvious.

A screencast that passes usually covers:

1. Signing in to your app.
2. Starting the Instagram connection and completing Meta's login.
3. The consent screen, with the permission being granted.
4. The feature doing its job, with the result visible (for publishing, the post live on Instagram).
5. Nothing the description doesn't claim, and everything it does.

Some permissions carry extra rules. For comment management, Meta's review instructions ask to see the account respond to a new comment within 30 seconds, so record that in one unbroken take.

How to pass Meta app review for instagram_business_content_publish#

To pass review for instagram_business_content_publish, show a post being created in your app and then appearing live on the connected Instagram account. Meta describes the permission as letting an app "create organic feed photo and video posts on behalf of a business user."

• Show the whole path. Log in, grant access, compose, pick the account, publish, then cut to the post on Instagram.
• Claim only what you publish. If the description says carousels, the reviewer may look for one.

Is there a faster way to get Instagram API access?#

Yes. Use an API that already owns an approved Meta developer app. Adeli maintains the developer app on every supported network, completes each platform's review process, and manages OAuth connections and token refresh.

• One API key. Your team holds one key instead of one relationship per platform.
• Your users' own accounts. Each user connects their own Instagram account through Adeli.
• Every network in one call. Adeli publishes to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and X through the same posting API, and Facebook Pages work the same way on the Facebook API.

Your first three connected accounts are free.