A sender can work in one country's traffic while another country requires a registration record. Registration connects that identity with the information the destination requires before it permits the traffic.
Why do destinations require registration?
Registration lets the relevant registry or provider check who uses an identity and what traffic it represents.
For example, IMDA's sender-ID regime aims to reduce brand impersonation through SMS. The required identity checks help distinguish registered organizations from unauthorized users of a name.
Registration does not collect permission from recipients. You still need the consent appropriate to the message.
What does Bird record for a registration?
Bird records one sender's registration for one destination country.
The same sender can be approved in one country and under review in another. Keep both sender_id and country_code when tracking that work.
The requirements response's registration_mode says whether country registration is needed, optional, or not needed. Its status reports where a registration stands. approved satisfies a required registration. not_required means no active registration gates sending, which also applies before an optional registration starts.
sender_id_behavior describes what happens to the sender ID you submit: preserved keeps it, overwritten replaces it before delivery, and unknown means the behavior is not confirmed. A none policy with overwritten behavior offers no registration. A required registration can remain overwritten after approval. An optional registration is overwritten before approval and becomes preserved for its approved message categories.
Which registration program should I use?
Use the program returned for that sender and destination, then follow its next actions.
Bird's program field can identify these flows:
| Value | Registration purpose |
|---|---|
10dlc | US business registration for brands and campaigns using local numbers |
tfn | Toll-free verification |
alpha | Alphanumeric sender registration |
numeric | Long-code registration |
short_code | Short-code application |
The sender guide describes registration. The 10DLC guide covers its separate brand, campaign and number flow.
Do not route every program through the generic registration call. Some use separate verification or managed application flows. The response's next actions identify the appropriate step.
How do I check progress before sending?
You read the sender's country requirements and follow the reported next action.
bird sms senders requirements <sender-id>For each country, inspect registration_mode, sender_id_behavior, program, status and next. The requirements reference documents those fields.
timeline_min_days and timeline_max_days report estimated approval time in business days. Either can be null when no estimate is published. Plan around the reported status rather than treating an estimate as approval.
What happens if I send before approval?
Bird refuses a send while processing the request when registration_mode is required and the sender registration is not satisfied. Optional registration can remain pending while the sender keeps sending with an overwritten sender ID.
That refusal happens before Bird creates the outbound message. There is no delivery attempt or delivery-failure event for the refused request.
Read the error and the named sender's requirements to find the recovery step. Carrier filtering is a separate failure path after Bird submits the message to a carrier.
What else must be ready after registration?
Enable the destination for the workspace. Check that the sender type is allowed there. Confirm that you have the required recipient consent.
The requirements response reports destination_enabled separately from registration status. A disabled country returns E12020, even when its sender registration is approved.
Check the destination, sender and recipient before releasing the message. Registration clears one requirement; it does not guarantee the network will deliver every text.
In short
Registration is specific to a sender and destination.
Approval in one country does not establish approval for the same sender in another.
The requirements read names the applicable program.
Follow the returned next actions instead of choosing a registration flow from the sender name alone.
Approved registration does not enable the destination.
Check destination_enabled separately because the workspace setting can still prevent sending.
A registration refusal produces no delivery journey.
A sender rejected before acceptance has no outbound message or delivery-failure event to inspect.