diff --git a/.github/workflow-scripts/__tests__/publishTemplate-test.js b/.github/workflow-scripts/__tests__/publishTemplate-test.js
index a956b922b7e..3ea6a1cb90c 100644
--- a/.github/workflow-scripts/__tests__/publishTemplate-test.js
+++ b/.github/workflow-scripts/__tests__/publishTemplate-test.js
@@ -15,12 +15,14 @@ const {
 const mockRun = jest.fn();
 const mockSleep = jest.fn();
 const mockGetNpmPackageInfo = jest.fn();
+const mockVerifyPublishedPackage = jest.fn();
 const silence = () => {};
 
 jest.mock('../utils.js', () => ({
   log: silence,
   run: mockRun,
   sleep: mockSleep,
+  verifyPublishedPackage: mockVerifyPublishedPackage,
   getNpmPackageInfo: mockGetNpmPackageInfo,
 }));
 
@@ -82,77 +84,43 @@ describe('#verifyPublishedTemplate', () => {
 
   it("waits on npm updating for version and not 'latest'", async () => {
     const NOT_LATEST = false;
-    mockGetNpmPackageInfo
-      // template@<version>
-      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.reject('mock http/404'))
-      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve());
-    mockSleep.mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve()).mockImplementation(() => {
-      throw new Error('Should not be called again!');
-    });
-
     const version = '0.77.0';
+
     await verifyPublishedTemplate(version, NOT_LATEST);
 
-    expect(mockGetNpmPackageInfo).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(
+    expect(mockVerifyPublishedPackage).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       '@react-native-community/template',
       version,
+      null,
+      18,
     );
   });
 
   it('waits on npm updating version and latest tag', async () => {
     const IS_LATEST = true;
     const version = '0.77.0';
-    mockGetNpmPackageInfo
-      // template@latest → unknown tag
-      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.reject('mock http/404'))
-      // template@latest != version → old tag
-      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve({version: '0.76.5'}))
-      // template@latest == version → correct tag
-      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve({version}));
-    mockSleep
-      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve())
-      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve())
-      .mockImplementation(() => {
-        throw new Error('Should not be called again!');
-      });
 
     await verifyPublishedTemplate(version, IS_LATEST);
 
-    expect(mockGetNpmPackageInfo).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(mockVerifyPublishedPackage).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       '@react-native-community/template',
+      version,
       'latest',
+      18,
     );
   });
 
-  describe('timeouts', () => {
-    let mockProcess;
-    beforeEach(() => {
-      mockProcess = jest.spyOn(process, 'exit').mockImplementation(code => {
-        throw new Error(`process.exit(${code}) called!`);
-      });
-    });
-    afterEach(() => mockProcess.mockRestore());
+  describe('retries', () => {
     it('will timeout if npm does not update package version after a set number of retries', async () => {
       const RETRIES = 2;
-      mockGetNpmPackageInfo.mockReturnValue(Promise.reject('mock http/404'));
-      mockSleep.mockReturnValue(Promise.resolve());
-      await expect(() =>
-        verifyPublishedTemplate('0.77.0', true, RETRIES),
-      ).rejects.toThrowError('process.exit(1) called!');
-      expect(mockGetNpmPackageInfo).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(RETRIES);
-    });
 
-    it('will timeout if npm does not update latest tag after a set number of retries', async () => {
-      const RETRIES = 7;
-      const IS_LATEST = true;
-      mockGetNpmPackageInfo.mockReturnValue(
-        Promise.resolve({version: '0.76.5'}),
-      );
-      mockSleep.mockReturnValue(Promise.resolve());
-      await expect(async () => {
-        await verifyPublishedTemplate('0.77.0', IS_LATEST, RETRIES);
-      }).rejects.toThrowError('process.exit(1) called!');
-      expect(mockGetNpmPackageInfo).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(RETRIES);
+      await verifyPublishedTemplate('0.77.0', true, RETRIES),
+        expect(mockVerifyPublishedPackage).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          '@react-native-community/template',
+          '0.77.0',
+          'latest',
+          2,
+        );
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/.github/workflow-scripts/__tests__/veriftyReleaseOnNPM-test.js b/.github/workflow-scripts/__tests__/veriftyReleaseOnNPM-test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1d3307f6ae7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflow-scripts/__tests__/veriftyReleaseOnNPM-test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Meta Platforms, Inc. and affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ *
+ * @format
+ */
+
+const {verifyReleaseOnNpm} = require('../verifyReleaseOnNpm');
+
+const mockVerifyPublishedPackage = jest.fn();
+const silence = () => {};
+
+jest.mock('../utils.js', () => ({
+  verifyPublishedPackage: mockVerifyPublishedPackage,
+}));
+
+describe('#verifyReleaseOnNPM', () => {
+  beforeEach(jest.clearAllMocks);
+
+  it("waits on npm updating for version and not 'latest'", async () => {
+    const NOT_LATEST = false;
+    const version = '0.78.0';
+    await verifyReleaseOnNpm(version, NOT_LATEST);
+
+    expect(mockVerifyPublishedPackage).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(
+      'react-native',
+      version,
+      null,
+      18,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('waits on npm updating version and latest tag', async () => {
+    const IS_LATEST = true;
+    const version = '0.78.0';
+
+    await verifyReleaseOnNpm(version, IS_LATEST);
+
+    expect(mockVerifyPublishedPackage).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'react-native',
+      version,
+      'latest',
+      18,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('waits on npm updating version, not latest and next tag', async () => {
+    const IS_LATEST = false;
+    const version = '0.78.0-rc.0';
+
+    await verifyReleaseOnNpm(version, IS_LATEST);
+
+    expect(mockVerifyPublishedPackage).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'react-native',
+      version,
+      'next',
+      18,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('waits on npm updating version, latest and next tag', async () => {
+    const IS_LATEST = true;
+    const version = '0.78.0-rc.0';
+
+    await verifyReleaseOnNpm(version, IS_LATEST);
+
+    expect(mockVerifyPublishedPackage).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'react-native',
+      version,
+      'next',
+      18,
+    );
+  });
+
+  describe('timeouts', () => {
+    it('will timeout if npm does not update package version after a set number of retries', async () => {
+      const RETRIES = 2;
+
+      await verifyReleaseOnNpm('0.77.0', true, RETRIES),
+        expect(mockVerifyPublishedPackage).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          'react-native',
+          '0.77.0',
+          'latest',
+          2,
+        );
+    });
+
+    it('will timeout if npm does not update latest tag after a set number of retries', async () => {
+      const RETRIES = 7;
+      const IS_LATEST = true;
+
+      await verifyReleaseOnNpm('0.77.0', IS_LATEST, RETRIES);
+
+      expect(mockVerifyPublishedPackage).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        'react-native',
+        '0.77.0',
+        'latest',
+        7,
+      );
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/.github/workflow-scripts/__tests__/verifyPublishedPackage-test.js b/.github/workflow-scripts/__tests__/verifyPublishedPackage-test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ca12bb9a646
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflow-scripts/__tests__/verifyPublishedPackage-test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Meta Platforms, Inc. and affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ *
+ * @format
+ */
+
+const {verifyPublishedPackage} = require('../verifyPublishedPackage');
+
+const mockRun = jest.fn();
+const mockSleep = jest.fn();
+const mockGetNpmPackageInfo = jest.fn();
+const silence = () => {};
+
+const REACT_NATIVE_PACKAGE = 'react-native';
+
+jest.mock('../utils.js', () => ({
+  log: silence,
+  run: mockRun,
+  sleep: mockSleep,
+  getNpmPackageInfo: mockGetNpmPackageInfo,
+}));
+
+describe('#verifyPublishedPackage', () => {
+  beforeEach(jest.clearAllMocks);
+
+  it("waits on npm updating for version and not 'latest'", async () => {
+    mockGetNpmPackageInfo
+      // template@<version>
+      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.reject('mock http/404'))
+      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve());
+    mockSleep.mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve()).mockImplementation(() => {
+      throw new Error('Should not be called again!');
+    });
+
+    const version = '0.78.0';
+    await verifyPublishedPackage(REACT_NATIVE_PACKAGE, version, null);
+
+    expect(mockGetNpmPackageInfo).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith(
+      REACT_NATIVE_PACKAGE,
+      version,
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('waits on npm updating version and latest tag', async () => {
+    const version = '0.78.0';
+    mockGetNpmPackageInfo
+      // template@latest → unknown tag
+      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.reject('mock http/404'))
+      // template@latest != version → old tag
+      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve({version: '0.76.5'}))
+      // template@latest == version → correct tag
+      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve({version}));
+    mockSleep
+      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve())
+      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve())
+      .mockImplementation(() => {
+        throw new Error('Should not be called again!');
+      });
+
+    await verifyPublishedPackage(REACT_NATIVE_PACKAGE, version, 'latest');
+
+    expect(mockGetNpmPackageInfo).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      REACT_NATIVE_PACKAGE,
+      'latest',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('waits on npm updating version and next tag', async () => {
+    const version = '0.78.0-rc.0';
+    mockGetNpmPackageInfo
+      // template@latest → unknown tag
+      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.reject('mock http/404'))
+      // template@latest != version → old tag
+      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve({version: '0.76.5'}))
+      // template@latest == version → correct tag
+      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve({version}));
+    mockSleep
+      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve())
+      .mockReturnValueOnce(Promise.resolve())
+      .mockImplementation(() => {
+        throw new Error('Should not be called again!');
+      });
+    debugger;
+    await verifyPublishedPackage(REACT_NATIVE_PACKAGE, version, 'next');
+
+    expect(mockGetNpmPackageInfo).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      REACT_NATIVE_PACKAGE,
+      'next',
+    );
+  });
+
+  describe('timeouts', () => {
+    let mockProcess;
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      mockProcess = jest.spyOn(process, 'exit').mockImplementation(code => {
+        throw new Error(`process.exit(${code}) called!`);
+      });
+    });
+    afterEach(() => mockProcess.mockRestore());
+    it('will timeout if npm does not update package version after a set number of retries', async () => {
+      const RETRIES = 2;
+      mockGetNpmPackageInfo.mockReturnValue(Promise.reject('mock http/404'));
+      mockSleep.mockReturnValue(Promise.resolve());
+      await expect(() =>
+        verifyPublishedPackage(
+          REACT_NATIVE_PACKAGE,
+          '0.77.0',
+          'latest',
+          RETRIES,
+        ),
+      ).rejects.toThrowError('process.exit(1) called!');
+      expect(mockGetNpmPackageInfo).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(RETRIES);
+    });
+
+    it('will timeout if npm does not update latest tag after a set number of retries', async () => {
+      const RETRIES = 7;
+      const IS_LATEST = true;
+      mockGetNpmPackageInfo.mockReturnValue(
+        Promise.resolve({version: '0.76.5'}),
+      );
+      mockSleep.mockReturnValue(Promise.resolve());
+      await expect(async () => {
+        await verifyPublishedPackage(
+          REACT_NATIVE_PACKAGE,
+          '0.77.0',
+          'latest',
+          RETRIES,
+        );
+      }).rejects.toThrowError('process.exit(1) called!');
+      expect(mockGetNpmPackageInfo).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(RETRIES);
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/.github/workflow-scripts/publishTemplate.js b/.github/workflow-scripts/publishTemplate.js
index b0c8946b679..d112922c11d 100644
--- a/.github/workflow-scripts/publishTemplate.js
+++ b/.github/workflow-scripts/publishTemplate.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
  * @format
  */
 
-const {run, sleep, getNpmPackageInfo, log} = require('./utils.js');
+const {run, sleep, log, verifyPublishedPackage} = require('./utils.js');
 
 const TAG_AS_LATEST_REGEX = /#publish-packages-to-npm&latest/;
 
@@ -53,8 +53,7 @@ module.exports.publishTemplate = async (github, version, dryRun = true) => {
   });
 };
 
-const SLEEP_S = 10;
-const MAX_RETRIES = 3 * 6; // 3 minutes
+const MAX_RETRIES = 3 * 6; // 18 attempts. Waiting between attempt: 10 s. Total time: 3 mins.
 const TEMPLATE_NPM_PKG = '@react-native-community/template';
 
 /**
@@ -68,36 +67,15 @@ module.exports.verifyPublishedTemplate = async (
   latest = false,
   retries = MAX_RETRIES,
 ) => {
-  log(`🔍 Is ${TEMPLATE_NPM_PKG}@${version} on npm?`);
-
-  let count = retries;
-  while (count-- > 0) {
-    try {
-      const json = await getNpmPackageInfo(
-        TEMPLATE_NPM_PKG,
-        latest ? 'latest' : version,
-      );
-      log(`🎉 Found ${TEMPLATE_NPM_PKG}@${version} on npm`);
-      if (!latest) {
-        return;
-      }
-      if (json.version === version) {
-        log(`🎉 ${TEMPLATE_NPM_PKG}@latest → ${version} on npm`);
-        return;
-      }
-      log(
-        `🐌 ${TEMPLATE_NPM_PKG}@latest → ${pkg.version} on npm and not ${version} as expected, retrying...`,
-      );
-    } catch (e) {
-      log(`Nope, fetch failed: ${e.message}`);
-    }
-    await sleep(SLEEP_S);
+  try {
+    await verifyPublishedPackage(
+      TEMPLATE_NPM_PKG,
+      version,
+      latest ? 'latest' : null,
+      retries,
+    );
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.error(e.message);
+    process.exit(1);
   }
-
-  let msg = `🚨 Timed out when trying to verify ${TEMPLATE_NPM_PKG}@${version} on npm`;
-  if (latest) {
-    msg += ' and latest tag points to this version.';
-  }
-  log(msg);
-  process.exit(1);
 };
diff --git a/.github/workflow-scripts/utils.js b/.github/workflow-scripts/utils.js
index 403ed5ff767..fdc13b9f0fc 100644
--- a/.github/workflow-scripts/utils.js
+++ b/.github/workflow-scripts/utils.js
@@ -12,18 +12,22 @@ const {execSync} = require('child_process');
 function run(cmd) {
   return execSync(cmd, 'utf8').toString().trim();
 }
-module.exports.run = run;
 
 async function sleep(seconds) {
   return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, seconds * 1000));
 }
-module.exports.sleep = sleep;
 
 async function getNpmPackageInfo(pkg, versionOrTag) {
   return fetch(`https://registry.npmjs.org/${pkg}/${versionOrTag}`).then(resp =>
     resp.json(),
   );
 }
-module.exports.getNpmPackageInfo = getNpmPackageInfo;
 
-module.exports.log = (...args) => console.log(...args);
+const log = (...args) => console.log(...args);
+
+module.exports = {
+  log,
+  getNpmPackageInfo,
+  sleep,
+  run,
+};
diff --git a/.github/workflow-scripts/verifyPublishedPackage.js b/.github/workflow-scripts/verifyPublishedPackage.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7f84283ef26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflow-scripts/verifyPublishedPackage.js
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Meta Platforms, Inc. and affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ *
+ * @format
+ */
+
+const {log, getNpmPackageInfo, sleep} = require('./utils');
+
+const SLEEP_S = 10;
+const MAX_RETRIES = 3 * 6; // 18 attempts. Waiting between attempt: 10 s. Total time: 3 mins.
+
+async function verifyPublishedPackage(
+  packageName,
+  version,
+  tag = null,
+  retries = MAX_RETRIES,
+) {
+  debugger;
+  log(`🔍 Is ${packageName}@${version} on npm?`);
+
+  let count = retries;
+  while (count-- > 0) {
+    try {
+      const json = await getNpmPackageInfo(packageName, tag ? tag : version);
+      log(`🎉 Found ${packageName}@${version} on npm`);
+      if (!tag) {
+        return;
+      }
+
+      // check for next tag
+      if (tag === 'next' && json.version === version) {
+        log(`🎉 ${packageName}@next → ${version} on npm`);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      // Check for latest tag
+      if (tag === 'latest' && json.version === version) {
+        log(`🎉 ${packageName}@latest → ${version} on npm`);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      log(
+        `🐌 ${packageName}@${tag} → ${pkg.version} on npm and not ${version} as expected, retrying...`,
+      );
+    } catch (e) {
+      log(`Nope, fetch failed: ${e.message}`);
+    }
+    await sleep(SLEEP_S);
+  }
+
+  let msg = `🚨 Timed out when trying to verify ${packageName}@${version} on npm`;
+  if (tag) {
+    msg += ` and ${tag} tag points to this version.`;
+  }
+  log(msg);
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+  verifyPublishedPackage,
+};
diff --git a/.github/workflow-scripts/verifyReleaseOnNpm.js b/.github/workflow-scripts/verifyReleaseOnNpm.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b9352233959
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflow-scripts/verifyReleaseOnNpm.js
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Meta Platforms, Inc. and affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ *
+ * @format
+ */
+
+const {run, sleep, log, verifyPublishedPackage} = require('./utils.js');
+const REACT_NATIVE_NPM_PKG = 'react-native';
+const MAX_RETRIES = 3 * 6; // 18 attempts. Waiting between attempt: 10 s. Total time: 3 mins.
+/**
+ * Will verify that @latest, @next and the @<version> have been published.
+ *
+ * NOTE: This will infinitely query each step until successful, make sure the
+ *       calling job has a timeout.
+ */
+module.exports.verifyReleaseOnNpm = async (
+  version,
+  latest = false,
+  retries = MAX_RETRIES,
+) => {
+  const tag = version.includes('-rc.') ? 'next' : latest ? 'latest' : null;
+  await verifyPublishedPackage(REACT_NATIVE_NPM_PKG, version, tag, retries);
+};
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-release.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-release.yml
index d0fc186728b..734ef4c5fe9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-release.yml
@@ -214,3 +214,13 @@ jobs:
             -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
             -H "Authorization: Bearer $REACT_NATIVE_BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN" \
             -d "{\"event_type\": \"publish\", \"client_payload\": { \"version\": \"${{ github.ref_name }}\" }}"
+      - name: Verify Release is on NPM
+        timeout-minutes: 3
+        uses: actions/github-script@v6
+        with:
+          github-token: ${{ secrets.REACT_NATIVE_BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          script: |
+            const {verifyReleaseOnNpm} = require('./.github/workflow-scripts/verifyReleaseOnNpm.js');
+            const {isLatest()} = require('./.github/workflow-scripts/publishTemplate.js');
+            const version = "${{ github.ref_name }}";
+            await verifyReleaseOnNpm(version, isLatest());