diff --git a/newsfragments/1486.change.rst b/newsfragments/1486.change.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0eea55a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/1486.change.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Make ``upload_vumark_template`` return the ID of the target it uploaded.
+It now waits for VWS to finish processing the target, which takes longer
+than waiting for the target to appear in the targets table.
diff --git a/src/vws_web_tools/__init__.py b/src/vws_web_tools/__init__.py
index 5945b8ae..4743f5e8 100644
--- a/src/vws_web_tools/__init__.py
+++ b/src/vws_web_tools/__init__.py
@@ -598,8 +598,14 @@ def upload_vumark_template(
     svg_file_path: Path,
     template_name: str,
     width: float,
-) -> None:
-    """Upload a VuMark SVG template to a VuMark database."""
+) -> str:
+    """Upload a VuMark SVG template to a VuMark database.
+
+    Returns:
+        The ID of the uploaded target. Waiting for the ID means waiting
+        for VWS to finish processing the target, which takes longer than
+        waiting for the target to appear in the targets table.
+    """
     navigate_to_database(driver=driver, database_name=database_name)
 
     thirty_second_wait = WebDriverWait(
@@ -675,6 +681,17 @@ def upload_vumark_template(
         ),
     )
 
+    wait_for_vumark_target_link(
+        driver=driver,
+        database_name=database_name,
+        target_name=template_name,
+    )
+    return get_vumark_target_id(
+        driver=driver,
+        database_name=database_name,
+        target_name=template_name,
+    )
+
 
 @beartype
 def _xpath_literal(
diff --git a/tests/test_create_database.py b/tests/test_create_database.py
index 1437ac73..0a9b9ff9 100644
--- a/tests/test_create_database.py
+++ b/tests/test_create_database.py
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ def test_upload_vumark_template(
     assert test_file_path is not None
     svg_path = test_file_path.parent / "fixtures" / "vumark_template.svg"
     template_name = f"template-{random_str}"
-    vws_web_tools.upload_vumark_template(
+    target_id = vws_web_tools.upload_vumark_template(
         driver=chrome_driver,
         database_name=database_name,
         svg_file_path=svg_path,
@@ -358,6 +358,9 @@ def test_upload_vumark_template(
     )
 
     assert template_name in chrome_driver.page_source
+    expected_target_id_length = 32
+    assert len(target_id) == expected_target_id_length
+    assert target_id.isalnum()
 
 
 def test_upload_vumark_template_cli(