Verifying from outside the UK: a practical guide

A large share of UK company directors and PSCs live outside the UK. Overseas directors of English companies, international founders of British subsidiaries, expats running family businesses from abroad. None of them need to fly to London to complete Companies House identity verification. The regime was designed from the start to be finished remotely, from any country, using documents issued in the country you actually live in.

The mechanics of doing it well from abroad are worth knowing before you start, because a small number of overseas-specific issues cause most of the rejected checks.

The documents that actually work

The two universally accepted identity documents are a current passport and a national identity card that carries a photograph and machine-readable zone (the two lines of characters at the bottom that ID scanners read). Between them, these cover the vast majority of the world’s residents.

Driving licences vary by country. UK, EU, Australian, Canadian and US licences are generally accepted for identity where the country issues photocard licences with modern security features. Licences from countries that issue only paper documents or that lack the standard machine-readable format are usually not accepted - a passport is the safer choice.

Whatever document you use, it must be current. An expired passport, even one that expired last week, is not accepted. If your passport is close to expiry, renew it before you begin the check.

Proof of address, without a UK bill

This is where overseas applicants stumble most often. The requirement is a document dated within the last three months that shows your name and current residential address. In the UK, that is usually a utility bill or bank statement. In many other countries, utility bills are addressed to the property owner rather than the occupier, and bank statements are sent electronically only.

What tends to work well from outside the UK:

• A bank statement downloaded as a PDF directly from your bank’s online portal
• A government-issued tax document - most countries issue an annual assessment or notice that meets the standard
• A residency certificate from your local municipality, if your country issues these routinely
• A landline or broadband bill in your name (mobile phone bills are not usually accepted)

Documents in languages other than English can still be used. A certified translation is not always required, but if the ACSP or Companies House needs to read specific fields, they may request one. A translation from a recognised translation service is a safer starting point than machine translation for anything you plan to submit.

Names, transliteration and register mismatches

Non-Latin scripts are the source of a specific class of problem. If your passport shows your name in Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic or another non-Latin script, it will also carry an official transliteration into Latin characters. Companies House expects the register entry against your name to match that officialtransliteration, not a version an accountant typed in years ago.

Before you verify, compare three things: the Latin-script name on your passport, the name recorded against you at Companies House, and the name on your proof-of-address document. All three should agree, including the order of given names, middle names and any hyphens or apostrophes. If they do not, correct the Companies House entry first through the appropriate change filing, then verify.

Time zones and the process itself

Verification is fully asynchronous. You upload your documents, the check runs, and you get an outcome by email. There is no scheduled call, no video interview at a fixed UK time, no need to work around a specific window. Applicants in every time zone complete the process without any timing constraint from the UK side.

If a check needs a follow-up - a clearer image, an additional document - you will receive an email with a specific ask. Response times matter here more than the initial upload: the check pauses until you reply, so the person who checks their email once a week takes weeks, and the person who replies the same day takes hours.

Payment, currency and the fee

The £19.99 fee is paid in GBP by card. Any current international card - Visa, Mastercard, American Express - is accepted. Your card issuer will apply their own currency conversion; there is no additional charge on the Companies House or ACSP side. Some card issuers add an overseas transaction fee of a few pence to a pound; if that matters, use a card designed for international use.

What overseas applicants actually get

The outcome is identical to what a UK applicant gets. A verified identity on the Companies House record and a personal code linked to it. You can then act as a UK company director or PSC from wherever you live, sign confirmation statements, appoint co-directors and authorise filings, without needing to be physically present in the UK at any point.

This is the deliberate design of the new regime. Being a director of a UK company was already possible from anywhere in the world. Verifying is now possible from anywhere in the world too. If someone tells you a trip to a UK consulate or a London solicitor is required to complete Companies House identity verification, they are mistaken.