If you’re a director or a person with significant control (PSC) of a UK limited company, you now have to verify your identity with Companies House, wherever you live (checked September 2026). It became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025 under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (legislation.gov.uk). From abroad, most people do it free through GOV.UK One Login with a biometric passport. If you can’t, a registered Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) can verify you for a fee.

Existing companies are in a 12-month transition period that started on 18 November 2025. For an existing director, the deadline is the company’s next confirmation statement. Companies House won’t accept that statement until every director has verified.

This page covers who has to verify now and who doesn’t yet, the exact deadlines, how to do it from outside the UK, the personal code, and what happens if you don’t. For forming, running and banking a UK company as a whole, see our guide to a UK limited company for non-residents.

On this page: Who has to verify · Deadlines · How to verify from outside the UK · Your personal code · If you don’t verify · What’s still coming · Checklist for an existing company · FAQ

Who has to verify, and who doesn’t yet

Companies House requires verification from directors (and their equivalents, such as LLP members) and from people with significant control (GOV.UK: Verifying your identity for Companies House, updated 1 June 2026). A PSC is anyone who holds more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, can appoint or remove a majority of the board, or otherwise has significant influence or control over the company (GOV.UK: People with significant control).

In a one-person company, you’re the director and the PSC, so you’ll verify once and give your code in both roles.

Role	Does it need verifying today?
Director of a UK company	Yes, whether you live in the UK or not.
Person with significant control	Yes.
Shareholder who isn’t a director or PSC	No. A shareholder only has to verify if they become a director or a PSC.
Company secretary	Not yet. GOV.UK lists secretaries among the roles where verification will be “introduced at a later date”.
Corporate directors, officers of corporate PSCs, corporate LLP members, limited partnerships	Not yet; also “at a later date”.
Accountants, agents and staff who file for the company	Not yet. Companies House says this will start “no earlier than November 2027”.

Sources: GOV.UK: When you need to verify your identity (updated 30 July 2026); Changes to UK company law: identity verification.

An earlier version of this page said company secretaries and anyone submitting filings had to verify already. That was wrong, and we’ve corrected it.

When you have to verify

The legal requirement started on 18 November 2025. Companies House says that date “is not a deadline. It marks the start of a 12-month transition period” (Changes to UK company law). Each person’s deadline depends on their role:

Who	When the personal code is needed
Directors of a new company	At registration. Each director’s personal code goes into the incorporation application.
Someone appointed director of an existing company	When they’re appointed. GOV.UK says “it will be an offence to act as a director without being verified”.
Existing directors	With the company’s next confirmation statement filed in the transition period. The statement won’t be accepted until all directors have verified.
New PSCs (since 18 November 2025)	When added to the register, or within 14 days afterwards.
Existing PSCs who are also directors	Within 14 days starting the day after the company’s confirmation statement date. The code is given separately as a PSC, through the PSC verification service. Verifying as a director doesn’t cover it.
Existing PSCs who aren’t directors	Within the first 14 days of their birth month.

Sources: GOV.UK: When you need to verify; Companies House blog on PSC verification (16 January 2026); Companies House rollout announcement; GOV.UK: Filing your confirmation statement.

A PSC who can’t make their 14-day window can ask for a 14-day extension, but only before the deadline passes (GOV.UK: Provide PSC verification).

Check your own dates on the register. Since 18 November 2025, directors and PSCs can see the identity verification due dates for all their roles on the Companies House register (GOV.UK announcement). Search your company on Find and update company information.

If your confirmation statement is due soon: the transition period runs to November 2026, and the confirmation statement can be filed up to 14 days after its review period ends. Verify well before that. If your only option turns out to be an ACSP, you’ll need time to find one and complete their checks.

How to verify from outside the UK

There are two routes (GOV.UK).

Route 1: GOV.UK One Login (free)

You verify online with Companies House using GOV.UK One Login, and it costs nothing. The documents it accepts are a “biometric passport from any country”, a UK photo driving licence, a UK biometric residence permit or card, or a Frontier Worker permit (GOV.UK: Verify your identity for Companies House, updated 30 April 2026).

For most people living in Nigeria, Pakistan, India, the UAE or anywhere else outside the UK, that means one document: a biometric passport. A biometric passport has a chip in it, and it usually carries the chip symbol on the cover. The page’s other routes don’t really work from abroad either. Answering security questions with bank details needs a UK National Insurance number, and the Post Office route means a visit to a UK Post Office.

A national identity card from another country isn’t on the One Login list. Older guides, including an earlier version of this one, said otherwise.

Route 2: an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP)

An ACSP is a business, usually an accountant, solicitor or company formation agent, that has registered with Companies House to verify people’s identities. GOV.UK says you can verify through an ACSP “from any country”. You give them documents from an approved list, and “the ACSP may charge a fee” (Companies House: Verifying with an ACSP). When they’re done, your personal code is emailed to you.

Use this route if your passport isn’t biometric or the One Login checks fail for you. Before you pay anyone:

Find them on the GOV.UK list of ACSPs. Companies House also publishes a list of suspended and ceased ACSPs (Companies House blog).
Ask which documents they accept from your country, whether the check can be done remotely, what they charge, and how long it takes. Companies House doesn’t set any of those; each ACSP does.
Don’t pay an unregistered “agent” to verify you. Only an ACSP can.

Your Companies House personal code

Once you’re verified, you get a personal code (GOV.UK: Personal codes, updated 13 July 2026):

It’s 11 characters long.
It belongs to you, not to a company. If you’re a director of three companies, you use the same code for all three.
If you verified with One Login, it’s under “Manage account” when you sign in to Companies House. If you used an ACSP, it’s in the email they arranged.
Keep it safe. You can share it with someone who files for you, such as your accountant.
If it’s lost or someone else gets hold of it, ask Companies House for a replacement. The old code is then cancelled.

“In most cases, you’ll only need to verify your identity once. You must not verify again unless we tell you to” (GOV.UK).

What happens if you don’t verify

Companies House puts it plainly: “If you do not comply with identity verification requirements on time, you’ll be committing an offence. There will be a range of consequences, including a financial penalty. You will not be able to make any filings for your company or start a new company” (Changes to UK company law).

In practice, for a company run from abroad:

The confirmation statement is blocked until every director has verified (GOV.UK). Not filing a confirmation statement can lead to a financial penalty and the company being struck off the register.
Acting as a director while unverified is an offence (GOV.UK announcement).
A PSC who doesn’t comply may be committing an offence, may face a financial penalty or fine, and may have “a note against your name on the public register” (GOV.UK: Provide PSC verification).

Companies House hasn’t published penalty amounts for identity verification on the pages above, so we don’t quote any. Be wary of guides that give figures or talk about “daily penalties” without a source.

What’s still coming

People who file at Companies House. Identity verification for filers will start “no earlier than November 2027”, with at least six months’ notice (Changes to UK company law).
Agents who file for clients. From the same point, “no earlier than November 2027”, businesses will have to be registered ACSPs to file on behalf of clients (Changes to UK company law: ACSPs). If a formation agent or accountant files for your company, ask whether they’re registered.
Company secretaries, corporate directors, officers of corporate PSCs, corporate LLP members and limited partnerships. Verification will be introduced “at a later date” (GOV.UK).

Separately, from 1 April 2028 company accounts can only be filed using commercial software (GOV.UK, 9 June 2026). That isn’t part of identity verification, but it comes from the same reform programme.

Checklist for a non-resident director of an existing company

Look up your company on the Companies House register and note the verification due date shown for each director and PSC.
Check the next confirmation statement date. That’s the latest point for every director.
Check each person’s passport for the biometric chip symbol. Anyone without one should start on the ACSP route now.
Verify through GOV.UK One Login and save the 11-character personal code.
If you’re also a PSC, give your code as a PSC within the 14 days starting the day after the confirmation statement date.
Make sure the company’s registered email address is read regularly. Companies House uses it, and it’s where problems will show up first.
If an agent files the confirmation statement for you, give them your code. Don’t give them your One Login password.

Frequently asked questions

Does identity verification apply if I live outside the UK?

Yes. It applies to directors and PSCs of UK companies wherever they live. You can verify online with a biometric passport from any country, or through an ACSP, which GOV.UK says you can use from any country.

Can I register a new UK company without verifying?

No. Each director’s personal code is part of the incorporation application. PSCs of a new company give theirs at registration or within 14 days.

Does verification cost anything?

Verifying through GOV.UK One Login is free. ACSPs may charge, and they set their own prices.

Do I have to verify again every year?

No. GOV.UK says that in most cases you verify once, and you must not verify again unless Companies House tells you to. You reuse the same personal code for every company and role.

My passport isn’t biometric. What can I do?

Use an ACSP. Check that they’re on the GOV.UK list, and ask which of your documents they accept before you pay.

Does my accountant need to verify?

Not yet. Verification for people who file at Companies House won’t start before November 2027. If your accountant is verifying you, though, they must be a registered ACSP.

Where Bizstartz fits

You have to verify yourself through GOV.UK One Login, or have a registered ACSP do it; nobody else can do it for you. If you’re weighing a UK Ltd against a U.S. LLC, or want to know what running a UK company from your country involves before you commit, book a free 30-minute consultation. Companies House makes its own decisions, and nobody can promise you an outcome.

This page was researched with the help of AI tools and replaces our November 2025 version, which had errors about who must verify and which documents are accepted. Every rule and date links to the GOV.UK or Companies House page it came from; those pages were checked on 17 September 2026. The rules are still being phased in, so check the linked guidance again before you act.

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UK Ltd Identity Verification (2026): What Directors and PSCs Must Do