The Anjouan Casino Launch Checklist (2026)

An Anjouan casino launch takes roughly four to eight weeks from decision to live product — the licence rarely stalls; incorporation, compliance policies and payments set the timeline. Most Anjouan casino launches do not stall on the licence. They stall because the operator treated the licence as the finish line, then discovered that the company structure, the compliance file and the payment stack were all still ahead of them. The Anjouan casino launch checklist below is the sequence we actually run — the order matters, because each phase feeds the next.

This is an end-to-end map from idea to live product: the Costa Rica applicant company, the UBO and KYC file, the AML and responsible-gaming policies, the Anjouan application itself, then banking and payments, and finally the platform, games and geoblocking that get you to go-live. Realistic total: 4–8 weeks. The numbers and steps here come from our own desk — 100+ Anjouan licences obtained — not from recycled marketing.

The launch at a glance

Before the detail, here is the whole sequence in one view. Phases overlap where they safely can — document prep runs alongside company formation, and payment onboarding starts while the application is with the regulator — but the dependencies are real. You cannot open a gaming settlement account before the licence exists, and you should not switch crypto rails on before the compliance tooling is configured.

Phase 1 — The applicant company in Costa Rica

The first practical decision is where the operating company lives, and for Anjouan the answer is settled: the applicant entity is incorporated in Costa Rica, not on the island. Anjouan requires no local office, resident director or on-island staff, so there is nothing to gain from an Anjouan company and a great deal of friction to avoid. Costa Rica pairs with the licence so routinely that it is the standard structure — in our own register analysis, a large share of holders trace back to Costa Rica corporate IDs.

What this phase delivers: an incorporated Costa Rica company, its corporate documents (incorporation certificate, register extract, statutes), and a clean ownership chain you can evidence. If you are running a more layered holding structure — a common choice for tax and liability reasons — settle it now, because the regulator will want to see the ultimate beneficial owners behind whatever sits on top. The mechanics of that stack are covered in our Anjouan corporate structure guide; get it locked before you file, not after.

Phase 2 — Documents, UBO and KYC

This is the phase that quietly decides your timeline. The Anjouan Betting & Gaming Board runs a genuine background check on every director, shareholder and ultimate beneficial owner, and one incomplete file adds a week per round of back-and-forth. Prepare it once, properly.

For every UBO and key person you will need: a certified passport copy, recent proof of address (utility bill or bank statement), a professional CV, and source-of-funds evidence. Alongside the individuals, you need a business plan describing your products and target markets, and the corporate documents from Phase 1. Every named person must clear basic suitability — no sanctions or watch-list hits, clean criminal history, and a demonstrable business reputation. The full document list and eligibility bar are set out in the Anjouan gaming licence requirements breakdown.

Phase 3 — AML, KYC and responsible-gaming policies

Anjouan expects real policies, not template filler — and, more importantly, it expects you to operate the programme you filed. This phase produces the documents that make the application credible and keep the licence alive afterwards.

The core set: an AML/CFT policy, a KYC and customer due-diligence procedure, responsible- and underage-gaming controls (self-exclusion, deposit limits, reality checks), a privacy notice, and player-facing terms and conditions. If crypto is in your product plan, the AML programme has to reach further — Travel Rule data capture, wallet screening and sanctions checks aligned to the FATF standard the July 2025 revision adopted. The practical shape of an iGaming AML programme is covered in our iGaming AML & KYC guide. Draft these to the regulator’s expectations now; retrofitting them after a rejection is slower and more expensive than doing them once.

Phase 4 — The Anjouan application and licence

With the company, the people file and the policies ready, the application itself is the most predictable phase. The forms and business plan go to the ABGB through an authorised agent, the Board runs its background and due-diligence review, and the licence issues.

The official fee is €17,828 per year, covering casino, sportsbook, poker, eSports and crypto under one authorisation and including two domains — extra URLs are an add-on. That fee is the regulator’s charge; everything a provider bills on top (formation, drafting, banking support) is a service fee and should be itemised as such. Realistic year-one totals, once structure, compliance and payment setup are included, land between €40,000 and €70,000 depending on your model. The full breakdown, and how to read a quote, is in the Anjouan gaming licence cost guide. Advertised processing of 2–4 weeks is real for a clean file; the end-to-end 4–8 weeks is what operators actually experience once banking is factored in.

Phase 5 — Banking, the Cyprus payment agent and PSPs

Here is the phase that decides your launch date, and the one most first-timers underestimate. The licence is straightforward; the payment stack is not, because gambling is a high-risk category everywhere and mainstream processors prohibit it outright.

Do not build on Wise, Stripe or PayPal — their terms ban gambling and they will freeze or close the account on discovery. Gaming settlement runs through an EMI or neobank account that accepts the category. Above that, most operators add a payment agent incorporated in Cyprus to sit between the operator and the acquiring/PSP layer, plus high-risk PSPs and, for crypto casinos, dedicated crypto rails. Card acceptance also means living inside schemes’ high-risk rules, such as Visa’s Integrity Risk Program, which is why acquirers scrutinise offshore gambling so hard. Sequence this in parallel with Phase 4 — start PSP conversations while the application is with the regulator — so the accounts are ready the day the licence lands. Our Anjouan payments guide maps the full stack, and why operators switch to Anjouan explains why this setup travels well.

Phase 6 — Platform, games, geoblocking and go-live

The final phase turns an issued licence and a funded payment stack into a live product. Integrate the platform and game content — proprietary games need an RNG certificate from a recognised lab, and third-party content comes through tested providers with the right agreements in place. Wire up the compliance tooling you drafted in Phase 3: KYC onboarding, transaction monitoring, self-exclusion and deposit limits all have to be live, not just written.

Then the non-negotiable step — geoblocking. Before you accept a single real-money deposit, GEO-IP fencing must exclude every restricted market and any regulated territory you are not licensed in. The Anjouan restricted-countries list is the authoritative source; at minimum it covers the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Australia and FATF-blacklisted nations. Serving a blocked market is one of the fastest ways to lose the licence you just earned. Once geoblocking is verified, KYC is live and the payment rails are tested end to end, you go live.

Where this fits

If you want the strategic case for the jurisdiction rather than the step-by-step, the flagship Anjouan gaming licence guide covers legitimacy, the public register and how Anjouan stacks up against Curaçao. This checklist is the operational companion: the same facts, ordered as a build plan.

We run this entire sequence end to end — Costa Rica company, compliance file, the Anjouan filing, and the EMI, Cyprus payment agent and PSP layer that most brokers leave you to solve alone. See the Anjouan gaming licence service, or book a free consultation and we will map your launch timeline against your actual product.

This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional before acting.