Search the exact company name — not a brand or a person
The register is searchable by the registered company name, so search for exactly that — not a shortened trading name, a WhatsApp business display name, or the name of the person you’ve been messaging. Agencies sometimes operate under a consumer-facing brand that differs from the legal name on the licence; ask directly for the full registered name and the Companies Commission (SSM) number if you’re not certain which one to search.
A licence number, if you’ve already been given one, is the fastest way to search directly — it should return exactly one entry, with the company name matching who you’re dealing with.
- Ask for the full registered company name and SSM number, not just a trading name.
- A licence number, if given, searches directly to a single matching entry.
- A name search returning zero results is itself a direct, actionable answer.
Confirm the category and the validity window
Once you find the entry, check two things beyond just “it exists”: the licence category must be B or C — Category A doesn’t cover foreign domestic worker placement — and the validity date range must currently be active, not expired. A licence that was real and current last year but has since lapsed shows the same on the register as one that was never issued for your purposes: not currently authorised.
If the entry sits on the cancelled or suspended list instead of the active list, that’s a specific, checkable fact — not a matter of interpretation — and it’s worth asking the agency directly what happened before proceeding any further.
What this check does and doesn’t tell you
A clean register entry — active, correct category, matching name — confirms the company is currently authorised to do this specific kind of placement. It doesn’t confirm anything about the quality of a specific candidate, how a specific placement will be handled, or what a fair fee looks like; those are separate questions worth working through once the licensing check is settled.
Do this check before, not after, discussing fees or signing anything — it takes a few minutes and it’s the one part of the process that has a direct, verifiable yes-or-no answer, independent of anything the agency tells you.