Establish your role and international circumstances

Start with your Companies House role and the stage you have reached: existing or proposed director, person with significant control (PSC), both, or director of an overseas company registered in the UK. Tell Coddan what differs between your records and whether verification, code receipt or a role submission is already complete. We help clarify the remaining issue and suitable supported work; describe the facts in ordinary language without diagnosing a legal or technical solution.

Nationality, residence, document-issuing country and Companies House role are separate facts. Specialist consideration may help with material record differences, transliteration or an uncertain evidence route. Coddan confirms the work available, its scope and charges before you decide; living abroad alone does not require specialist assistance.

Being an international director shouldn’t mean endless paperwork headaches or flights to the UK. For a one-time fee of £40, Coddan CPM Ltd, as an authorised corporate service provider (ACSP), handles identity verification for Companies House on your behalf. You can complete the entire process online from anywhere in the world—no UK passport or UK address required. Coddan’s team reviews your permitted identity documents, which may include a passport, proof of address, or evidence of a name change, making it especially handy if your documents are non-biometric or if you prefer expert guidance. It’s a straightforward, professionally managed route to meeting your Companies House obligations without the fuss—ideal for overseas directors who want to stay compliant and efficient.

Decide whether the case is routine or genuinely cross-border

Check personal information and evidence for consistency

Compare the information you intend to provide with the identity evidence and relevant Companies House information. Pay particular attention to your full name, former names, date of birth, home address and recent address history where applicable.

International cases can require additional consideration where names are presented differently between documents, scripts or jurisdictions. A transliteration difference, former name, address variation or conflicting record should be identified as an actual issue rather than assumed to be problematic simply because the document is foreign.

Companies House’s current ACSP standard requires the applicable information and evidence to be checked to the required standard. Where technology is used, the ACSP remains responsible for deciding whether it is satisfied that the required standard has been met.

Consider the legitimate free Companies House route

The free GOV.UK One Login route remains a legitimate starting point where it is available and suitable. Current official guidance confirms that the Companies House verification service can be used by eligible applicants and that an eligible biometric passport from any country may be usable through the applicable online route.

Check the current GOV.UK identity-verification guidance before choosing an alternative route.

Support being available does not mean support is required. An ACSP is an optional alternative where selected, suitable and professionally relevant.

Choose suitable Coddan assistance with clear scope

For suitable cases, Coddan provides Companies House identity verification independently of formation or company filing. We consider your instructions, explain the supported evidence and participation required, set up the Credas case, review the results and clarify outstanding matters. When satisfied, Coddan submits ACSP confirmation; Companies House issues the personal code to the individual.

Normal email and telephone personal-manager assistance comes with every verification order: instructions, required information, progress and order or verification status. Priority handling, additional investigation and continuing company work have separate agreed scope and charges. Clear preparation and early clarification help avoid unnecessary back-and-forth; they do not guarantee acceptance or official processing times.

An enquiry creates no obligation to order. Describe your role, stage reached, document type and issuing country, any material record difference and relevant date. Identity evidence and confidential codes follow the instructed secure process, not ordinary initial enquiry email. For an uncertain case, obtain suitability and scope advice before selecting a service.

Understand what happens during Coddan-supported verification

Coddan cannot direct or override the technology provider’s result, require evidence to pass, lower the Companies House standard or determine Companies House’s decision or timing.

Separate verification from the Personal Code

Identity verification and the Companies House Personal Code are separate stages. Companies House issues the Personal Code after successful identity verification; it is an 11-character code personal to the individual, not to a company.

An ACSP does not create or independently issue the Companies House Personal Code. If you have already verified your identity, do not repeat verification merely because you have not yet identified the code or used it for the applicable corporate role. Use the dedicated Companies House Personal Code guide where understanding or locating the code is the remaining job.

Describe your intended task and the stage reached without emailing confidential codes. Your manager explains the required information and secure arrangements. Use official guidance to request or manage a company authentication code; registered overseas companies have their own request instructions.

Separate director linkage from PSC linkage

A person who is both director and PSC normally verifies once and uses the same personal code, providing it separately for each role. Verification purchases cover individuals rather than appointments: holding both roles or several directorships does not automatically require several purchases.

The same distinction applies where a person has several directorships. The Personal Code belongs to the individual, while its use connects the verified identity to the applicable Companies House records.

Identify the LLP, partnership, restoration or corporate-event interface

Not every international corporate structure should be treated as a director identity-verification case. An individual LLP member may have a management role comparable in practical importance to a director, but an LLP member must not be described as a director. The requirements applicable to an individual LLP member must be considered as an equivalent role, while a corporate LLP member is a distinct category.

A general partner in a limited partnership may manage the partnership’s affairs, but director requirements should not be mechanically transferred to a general partner. Current Companies House guidance states that identity verification for limited partnerships and corporate LLP members will be introduced at a later date. It should not be suggested that every general partnership is registered at Companies House or presently subject to Companies House identity verification.

Company restoration and LLP restoration are separate legal processes. Identity verification, use of a Personal Code or outstanding filing work may interface with a restoration case, but completing identity verification does not itself restore a company or LLP. Where restoration is the remaining professional job, use the appropriate company restoration guidance or LLP restoration destination rather than treating verification as the restoration process.

Separate identity verification from connected corporate events

Identity verification does not itself complete incorporation, a director appointment, a Confirmation Statement, correction of company records, restoration or another Companies House filing.

Distinguish the international evidence issue from the ordinary overseas route

International evidence can become specialist where materially different records need to be reconciled, identity information spans jurisdictions, substantial name or transliteration differences exist, or an unusual document format creates uncertainty about which verification route applies.

An overseas passport is not automatically a specialist document, and overseas residence does not automatically require an ACSP. The evidence must be considered against the requirements of the applicable route.

Where the case is simply an existing UK-company director living abroad with suitable evidence and consistent records, use the ordinary overseas-director identity-verification destination rather than this specialist page.

Keep the distinction between individual and corporate roles

Companies House identity verification concerns the individual where the applicable requirement applies to that person’s role. It should not be treated as verification of a foreign parent company, corporate shareholder or other corporate entity.

Current official guidance places corporate directors and corporate LLP members in later implementation phases. An individual’s verification does not verify a foreign corporate entity or establish its ownership and control.

Separate current requirements from later implementation phases

Current Companies House guidance identifies directors or equivalent roles, directors of overseas companies registered in the UK and PSCs among the roles subject to the current identity-verification framework. Other categories, including limited partnerships, corporate directors and corporate LLP members, are identified for later implementation.

For an overseas company registered in the UK, current guidance says the company must confirm that all its directors have verified their identities by the anniversary of the UK establishment’s registration. That specific rule must not be converted into a universal deadline for every international director.

Current guidance also places people who file and officers of corporate PSCs in later phases. Check the rule for the actual role and current task rather than treating a future filing requirement as already in force.

Understand what an unsuccessful route does and does not mean

An incomplete or unsuccessful verification outcome should be treated as a route-specific issue to be understood, not as evidence that every international applicant requires an ACSP or that the free GOV.UK route is unsuitable for overseas participants.

The cause may relate to the information provided, the evidence, the selected verification process or the circumstances presented. Coddan cannot overturn a GOV.UK, Post Office or technology outcome or require an evidence set to pass.

For help understanding an incomplete or unsuccessful attempt, use the identity-verification issues destination for help with that stage.

Route the remaining international identity issue to the right professional job

A specialist international case may concern evidence, record reconciliation, an overseas-company director position, or another cross-border issue. The correct destination depends on the unresolved task rather than the person’s nationality or location.

Tell Coddan what remains and we will explain the suitable supported next step. Personal-code questions, unsuccessful attempts, ordinary overseas preparation and separate company filings have their own guidance and service destinations. Completing identity verification does not automatically instruct or include that later work.

Identity verification is only one part of the Companies House journey

After identity verification, the participant may still need to use the Personal Code, connect the verified identity to a director or PSC role, or complete a separate company event.

A completed identity-verification result should therefore not be presented as completion of every Companies House obligation. Conversely, an outstanding corporate filing should not automatically be treated as a failed identity-verification issue.

Assess international identity documents against the applicable route

There is no single universal list of foreign documents that can be described as accepted for every verification route. Current Companies House ACSP guidance provides more than one evidence-checking option generally, with different evidence requirements applying to different options.

Coddan’s supported checks use Credas, followed by professional review and clarification. Ask about your document type, issuing country and the actual difficulty. Supported non-biometric document handling remains within the confirmed Credas procedure where appropriate; it is not a promise of an independent manual fallback, translation service or universal foreign-document acceptance.

Coddan confirms suitable supported handling from your circumstances and the current requirements, rather than asking you to choose a technical method from a generic country catalogue.

Prepare the information required for international verification

Preparation should focus on the actual evidence and information required by the selected route. Current Companies House ACSP guidance identifies full name and former names, date of birth, home address, address history and email address among the information that may be required for the identity-verification process.

Where international records contain different names, addresses or other personal information, identify the discrepancy before treating the case as routine. Do not manufacture a UK address, simplify a legal name or alter genuine information merely to make records appear identical.

Understand international name differences without assuming failure

Different scripts, transliterations, former names, compound names and ordering conventions can create genuine identity questions. They do not automatically mean that verification cannot be completed.

The relevant question is whether the identity information and evidence can be reconciled sufficiently to meet the applicable Companies House standard. Where a material discrepancy requires specialist consideration, route it as an international evidence issue rather than promising that an ACSP can simply correct or override the discrepancy.

Understand the role of an Authorised Corporate Service Provider

An ACSP is a Companies House authorised agent that can verify identity on a person’s behalf. Current official guidance confirms that an ACSP must be registered with Companies House and must meet the applicable AML-supervision requirement. The ACSP’s Companies House registration and its separate AML supervision should not be conflated.

An ACSP may charge for its services, but payment does not lower the identity-verification standard or create privileged access to Companies House.

Within the Coddan-supported route described here, technology performs the applicable checks while Coddan reviews the resulting information and determines whether it is satisfied that the required standard has been met.

Choose the right international identity-verification route for your circumstances

Choose your next step from what remains incomplete. Coddan can help clarify the position; international circumstances alone do not require specialist or paid assistance.

Keep identity verification separate from AML, KYC and CDD

KYC/AML customer due diligence helps Coddan understand its customer, relevant ownership or control and the instructed work. It can involve customer information and supporting evidence beyond an individual’s identity scan. It does not itself produce a Companies House personal code.

Companies House identity verification concerns the individual: supported checks, Coddan’s review and ACSP confirmation when satisfied, followed by Companies House code issue. Some information may overlap with customer due diligence, but earlier KYC does not automatically complete verification, and a personal code does not complete every due-diligence requirement. Tell your manager what is already complete so Coddan can explain what remains; evidence reuse is assessed rather than assumed.

Nothing Further Required may be the correct outcome

If the applicable identity verification is complete, the Personal Code has been issued, the relevant director or PSC role step has been completed and there is no connected corporate event remaining, there may be Nothing Further Required for the identity-verification task.

This does not mean that every company obligation has disappeared. A separate filing, appointment, correction, restoration or other corporate event remains the responsibility of its own process and destination.

Use current official guidance for timing and implementation

There is no universal November 2026 deadline applying to every international director. Companies House states that identity-verification timing depends on the person’s role and the applicable process, while some categories remain scheduled for later implementation.

Use the current Companies House guidance for the person’s role rather than relying on a generic international deadline or assuming that every cross-border case follows the same timetable.

Official guidance reviewed: 26 October 2026.

Practical questions about international verification