How long does AWS SES sandbox approval usually take?

If this is holding up something time-sensitive, paying for the least expensive support option for a month may cost less than losing another week. You can also prepare a fallback provider, but I’d still improve the SES request rather than relying on a provider switch alone.

Approval times vary a lot. Some requests are approved within a few hours or a day, while others take more than a week if they go through manual review. Five days is frustrating, but it isn’t completely unusual. Requests tend to move faster when they clearly explain the use case, how recipients are collected, expected volume, and how bounces and complaints are handled.

The fastest approvals I’ve seen included detailed justifications and sample email templates. Instead of sending another vague follow-up, update the support case with the exact types of messages you’ll send, how users opt in, estimated volume, sample subject lines and bodies, and your bounce, complaint, and suppression process. Also mention your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup if it’s ready.

My request was approved in roughly a day, but another person I know waited over a week. A generic description like “transactional email” may lead to extra review, while explaining password resets, verification messages, invoices, or alerts in detail gives the reviewer more confidence that the account won’t be used for spam.