WhatsApp error 130497
Error 130497: Country not allowed for this account
Error 130497 means your WhatsApp Business Account may not message people in the recipient’s country. It is about the country, not the person or the message, so every send there fails the same way. Check which countries your business category can message under WhatsApp’s policy.
- Meta’s description
- “The WhatsApp Business Account is restricted from messaging to users in certain countries.” Meta’s error codes, 5 October 2026
- Charged by Meta?
- No. Meta charges only for delivered messages, and this one was not delivered.
Common causes
- The recipient’s number is in a country your account is restricted from messaging.
- Country restrictions that apply to some business categories under WhatsApp’s Business Messaging Policy.
How to fix it
- Check the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy for the countries your category can message.
- Leave numbers in those countries out of campaigns from this account.
What Fliok does about it
- Fliok treats 130497 as permanent and does not retry it, because every send to that country is refused the same way.
- It is about one recipient’s country, so Fliok does not stop broadcasts or hold the number the way it does for an account restriction.
Meta sets and changes these codes. If anything here disagrees with Meta’s current reference, Meta is right.
Only for that country. Sends to other countries carry on as normal.
Related codes
Other errors you may see
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