diff --git a/swh/deposit/parsers.py b/swh/deposit/parsers.py
--- a/swh/deposit/parsers.py
+++ b/swh/deposit/parsers.py
@@ -16,7 +16,15 @@
 import xmltodict
 
 from swh.deposit.errors import ParserError
-from swh.model.identifiers import SWHID, parse_swhid
+from swh.model.exceptions import ValidationError
+from swh.model.identifiers import (
+    DIRECTORY,
+    RELEASE,
+    REVISION,
+    SNAPSHOT,
+    SWHID,
+    parse_swhid,
+)
 
 
 class SWHFileUploadZipParser(FileUploadParser):
@@ -106,6 +114,9 @@
         raise ParserError(str(e))
 
 
+ALLOWED_QUALIFIERS_NODE_TYPE = (SNAPSHOT, REVISION, RELEASE, DIRECTORY)
+
+
 def parse_swh_reference(metadata: Dict) -> Optional[Union[str, SWHID]]:
     """Parse swh reference within the metadata dict (or origin) reference if found, None
     otherwise.
@@ -152,4 +163,25 @@
     swhid = swh_object.get("@swhid")
     if not swhid:
         return None
-    return parse_swhid(swhid)
+    swhid_reference = parse_swhid(swhid)
+
+    if swhid_reference.metadata:
+        anchor = swhid_reference.metadata.get("anchor")
+        if anchor:
+            anchor_swhid = parse_swhid(anchor)
+            if anchor_swhid.object_type not in ALLOWED_QUALIFIERS_NODE_TYPE:
+                error_msg = (
+                    "anchor qualifier should be a core SWHID with type one of "
+                    f" {', '.join(ALLOWED_QUALIFIERS_NODE_TYPE)}"
+                )
+                raise ValidationError(error_msg)
+
+        visit = swhid_reference.metadata.get("visit")
+        if visit:
+            visit_swhid = parse_swhid(visit)
+            if visit_swhid.object_type != SNAPSHOT:
+                raise ValidationError(
+                    f"visit qualifier should be a core SWHID with type {SNAPSHOT}"
+                )
+
+    return swhid_reference
diff --git a/swh/deposit/tests/api/test_parsers.py b/swh/deposit/tests/api/test_parsers.py
--- a/swh/deposit/tests/api/test_parsers.py
+++ b/swh/deposit/tests/api/test_parsers.py
@@ -205,7 +205,11 @@
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "swhid",
     [
-        "swh:1:dir:31b5c8cc985d190b5a7ef4878128ebfdc2358f49;origin=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01243573;visit=swh:1:snp:4fc1e36fca86b2070204bedd51106014a614f321;anchor=swh:1:rev:9c5de20cfb54682370a398fcc733e829903c8cba;path=/moranegg-AffectationRO-df7f68b/",  # noqa
+        "swh:1:cnt:31b5c8cc985d190b5a7ef4878128ebfdc2358f49;origin=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01243573;visit=swh:1:snp:4fc1e36fca86b2070204bedd51106014a614f321;anchor=swh:1:rev:9c5de20cfb54682370a398fcc733e829903c8cba;path=/moranegg-AffectationRO-df7f68b/",  # noqa
+        "swh:1:dir:31b5c8cc985d190b5a7ef4878128ebfdc2358f49;anchor=swh:1:dir:9c5de20cfb54682370a398fcc733e829903c8cba",  # noqa
+        "swh:1:rev:31b5c8cc985d190b5a7ef4878128ebfdc2358f49;anchor=swh:1:rev:9c5de20cfb54682370a398fcc733e829903c8cba",  # noqa
+        "swh:1:rel:31b5c8cc985d190b5a7ef4878128ebfdc2358f49;anchor=swh:1:rel:9c5de20cfb54682370a398fcc733e829903c8cba",  # noqa
+        "swh:1:snp:31b5c8cc985d190b5a7ef4878128ebfdc2358f49;anchor=swh:1:snp:9c5de20cfb54682370a398fcc733e829903c8cba",  # noqa
         "swh:1:dir:31b5c8cc985d190b5a7ef4878128ebfdc2358f49",
     ],
 )
@@ -220,13 +224,26 @@
     assert actual_swhid == expected_swhid
 
 
-def test_parse_swh_reference_invalid_swhid(xml_with_swhid):
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "invalid_swhid,error_msg",
+    [
+        ("swh:1:cnt:31b5c8cc985d190b5a7ef4878128ebfdc235", "Unexpected length"),
+        (
+            "swh:1:dir:c4993c872593e960dc84e4430dbbfbc34fd706d0;visit=swh:1:rev:0175049fc45055a3824a1675ac06e3711619a55a",  # noqa
+            "visit qualifier should be a core SWHID with type",
+        ),
+        (
+            "swh:1:rev:c4993c872593e960dc84e4430dbbfbc34fd706d0;anchor=swh:1:cnt:b5f505b005435fa5c4fa4c279792bd7b17167c04;path=/",  # noqa
+            "anchor qualifier should be a core SWHID with type one of",
+        ),  # noqa
+    ],
+)
+def test_parse_swh_reference_invalid_swhid(invalid_swhid, error_msg, xml_with_swhid):
     """Unparsable swhid should raise
 
     """
-    invalid_swhid = "swh:1:dir:31b5c8cc985d190b5a7ef4878128ebfdc235"
     xml_invalid_swhid = xml_with_swhid.format(swhid=invalid_swhid)
     metadata = parse_xml(xml_invalid_swhid)
 
-    with pytest.raises(ValidationError, match="Unexpected length"):
+    with pytest.raises(ValidationError, match=error_msg):
         parse_swh_reference(metadata)