Your position as an existing overseas director

Start with your actual Companies House position

Coddan helps existing directors of UK companies who live abroad prepare for suitable identity checks and complete the supported verification work. Tell us which stage you have reached and the help you need. We clarify what remains, explain suitable services and keep ordinary overseas cases distinct from specialist international evidence questions.

Based outside the UK but taking on a director role? Verifying your identity for Companies House doesn’t have to mean booking a flight. Coddan CPM Ltd makes the process straightforward for overseas and international directors — whether you’re going through the GOV. UK Verify Identity Service or working with a registered Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP).UK Verify Identity Service or working with a registered Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP). No UK passport, no UK address, no problem. If your documents aren’t biometric or you’d rather have professional eyes on the process, a UK-supervised accountant, solicitor, or ACSP can handle the checks on your behalf. You’ll typically need a passport, proof of address, or evidence of a name change, and you can complete the whole process online. From setting up an efficient company limited by guarantee to standard directorships, Coddan CPM Ltd helps you meet your obligations without unnecessary hassle.

Your personal manager is your email or telephone contact for instructions, questions and updates on your order and verification progress. This normal assistance comes with every verification order; paid priority handling and continuing company support have separate scopes. Your nationality, residence and document-issuing country are different facts, and living abroad alone does not make your case complex.

If identity verification is complete and the Personal Code and applicable role step are also complete, the correct outcome may be Nothing Further Required for the identity-verification task. A separate Confirmation Statement, correction or other corporate event may still be outstanding.

Establish whether identity verification remains outstanding

An overseas address does not, by itself, create a separate Companies House identity-verification standard. Establish your actual corporate position first: existing director, proposed director, PSC, or a person holding more than one role.

Check whether you have already completed identity verification and whether you already have an 11-character Companies House Personal Code. Companies House guidance states that an individual normally verifies once unless Companies House asks for verification again. The Personal Code is personal to the individual rather than to a particular company.

If you are both a director and a PSC, treat those as separate corporate roles. Completing identity verification does not itself complete every role-related step, and holding both roles does not ordinarily mean repeating identity verification merely because there are two capacities.

Separate residence, nationality and identity evidence

Living outside the UK, holding a non-UK nationality and using an identity document issued outside the UK are different circumstances. None should be used as a shortcut for deciding whether a verification route is available.

For the ordinary GOV.UK One Login route, current official guidance says an eligible biometric passport from any country can be used. The route and evidence available to you still depend on the current official requirements and the circumstances of the verification process.

Do not create UK personal details simply because you live overseas. Use your genuine residential and identity information. A company registered office or another person's address should not be substituted for your own residential details.

Choose the ordinary remote route that fits your position

Choose between the free official route and Coddan’s assisted service according to the work still needed and your preference. With Coddan, you receive case instructions, supported Credas checks, professional review, clarification and normal personal-manager assistance. For a suitable remote case, those individual checks can be completed from abroad without attending a Coddan office.

The free GOV.UK One Login verification service is a legitimate first route where you are eligible. Overseas residence does not automatically require an ACSP, and support being available does not mean support is required.

Coddan’s paid route is optional and does not require you to buy formation or company-secretarial work. Use suitable published ordering where the service fits, or ask about document suitability before ordering. We confirm the selected work and any additional charges; residence abroad does not itself establish document eligibility.

Prepare your information and evidence before starting

Prepare accurate full and former names, date of birth, genuine home address, the previous 12 months’ address history and an email address you can access. Coddan uses the contact details needed to create the case and send instructions. Your manager helps clarify differences or missing information; sensitive details follow the instructed secure process.

If suitability is unclear, describe your document type, issuing country and any name difference or access difficulty before ordering. You do not need to diagnose a technical solution or determine the applicable legal evidence route yourself. Coddan explains what the supported service needs for your case.

Evidence, expiry and any further document requirements depend on the selected route. Do not send identity images or confidential codes in an ordinary initial enquiry. We explain the appropriate secure arrangements and any further work before it proceeds; no universal certification, translation or notarisation requirement is assumed.

Complete an ordinary remote verification route from outside the UK

Where the selected route permits remote completion, an overseas director can proceed from outside the UK without treating travel to the UK as an inherent part of identity verification.

For GOV.UK One Login, follow the official instructions and its method-specific eligibility rules. For Coddan’s supported service, we review the order, create the Credas case and send the individual an email/SMS invitation and instructions. The individual completes the requested document and liveness checks; an organiser or payer cannot complete those personal checks for them.

Remote completion does not promise a successful outcome. The result remains dependent on the applicable identity checks, the evidence supplied and the requirements of the selected route.

Optional Coddan-supported ACSP verification

Choose Coddan’s standalone verification service if you want supported checks and professional assistance. Normal personal-manager help by email and telephone is included with every order. The service can be used for a company formed elsewhere without transferring your registered office, accountant or other professional arrangements.

After your individual Credas checks, Coddan reviews the results, seeks clarification where needed and determines whether the Companies House verification standard has been met. Technology supports that professional decision; a completed scan is not the end of every stage.

When satisfied, Coddan manually submits its ACSP verification confirmation through its Companies House account. Companies House issues the personal code to the individual’s supplied email address. Code receipt, the separate director or PSC submission and any company filing are different completion points.

Evidence route: keep the ordinary case separate from specialist international issues

An ordinary overseas case may suit the supported service when the required information is consistent and the evidence is eligible. Coddan helps establish suitability; the customer need not choose specialist treatment merely because they live abroad.

If your documents are usable for the selected route and your personal information is consistent, continue with that route. If the case involves materially conflicting international records, significant transliteration or name-variation issues, multiple jurisdictions, unusual document formats or other specialist evidence questions, use the dedicated International Director Identity Verification destination.

Your manager can help identify the appropriate destination when a specialist evidence question remains. An ordinary overseas enquiry does not itself commission a separate international assessment.

Keep the verification stage separate from the Personal Code

The Companies House personal code belongs to the verified individual. The company authentication code is a different credential used to authorise relevant electronic company filings. Receiving one does not supply or replace the other.

Companies House describes the individual personal code as 11 characters; the company authentication code is six alphanumeric characters. A director appointment or confirmation statement may involve personal-code and company-filing credentials for different purposes, depending on the route. Neither code is your company number, One Login password or an agent’s credentials. Keep both within the appropriate authorised secure arrangements.

For further code-specific questions, use the dedicated Companies House Personal Code guidance for help with receiving, understanding or using your individual code.

Complete the separate director or PSC role step

For an existing director with an outstanding transitional requirement, the personal code is provided through the applicable confirmation statement for each relevant company. For a new company or appointment, the code is supplied in the relevant incorporation or appointment filing. Completing verification is not an annual repeat check.

An individual PSC supplies the personal code separately through the appropriate PSC verification-details service, even when also a director. Applicable dates depend on the person’s circumstances; the director submission alone does not complete the PSC requirement. Count distinct individuals rather than roles or companies: holding both roles does not automatically require two verification purchases.

Check the official role-specific guidance for the action and date that apply. If verification and all applicable code and role steps are complete, no further verification purchase is needed. Any instructed role submission or company filing has its own scope, authority and charges.

What remains after verification and the Personal Code?

The remaining task may be a role-linkage step, a separate PSC requirement or a company event. Do not treat those tasks as additional identity verification unless Companies House requires verification again.

Separate identity verification from the company’s next event

Completing your identity verification does not itself complete a company filing or corporate event. The next task may instead concern a Confirmation Statement, a director appointment, a correction, incorporation or another Companies House event.

For an existing director preparing for a Confirmation Statement, the applicable Personal Code and filing requirements should be considered separately from the fact that identity verification has already occurred. Likewise, a correction to company or personal information is a separate task.

If the remaining job is the company’s Confirmation Statement and identity verification is not the unresolved issue, use the dedicated Confirmation Statement identity-verification guidance.

Know what Coddan can and cannot control

Coddan reviews your instructions, helps clarify outstanding information and considers the supported check results. When satisfied, Coddan submits its ACSP confirmation. Your manager explains progress and the next step; Companies House issues the code and retains responsibility for its register and filing decisions.

If your code email has not arrived after Coddan verification, ask your manager to check the email address supplied and explain the next step. Do not purchase another verification simply to resolve a code-delivery question.

Coddan cannot lower the Companies House standard, force technology to accept evidence, overturn an unsuccessful GOV.UK or other route, compel a Personal Code to be issued, or promise acceptance of a later filing. Identity verification is also separate from AML, KYC and CDD work.

What to do after an incomplete or unsuccessful attempt

Keep current and later implementation phases separate

The applicable requirement depends on the person’s role, circumstances and the current Companies House implementation position. Requirements for other filing or entity categories may follow a different timetable from those applying to an existing director of a UK company.

Keep the following distinctions clear: existing directors; proposed or new directors; former directors; PSCs; people holding both roles; and directors of overseas companies registered in the UK. A director of an overseas company registered in the UK may require a different specialist route from an individual director of a UK company who simply lives abroad.

Your applicable verification and code-submission date depends on your role and circumstances. Use the current official Companies House timing guidance for the specific role and circumstances.

Do not confuse ordinary overseas access with international complexity

An overseas director can have an ordinary remote verification case even when their residence and identity documents are outside the UK. International complexity should be identified from the circumstances, not assumed from geography alone.

Specialist international treatment may become relevant where records materially conflict, names differ substantially across jurisdictions, transliteration creates a significant identity question, multiple jurisdictions interact, or the evidence route requires specialist analysis. Directors of overseas companies registered in the UK can also fall within a different specialist context.

If one of those circumstances applies, ask Coddan about the appropriate international evidence guidance or service. We help identify the next route; overseas residence alone does not mean specialist work is needed.

Keep identity verification separate from AML, KYC and CDD

AML/KYC customer due diligence establishes the customer, relevant ownership or control and the purpose of the instructed work under Coddan’s AML procedures. Coddan CPM Limited’s HMRC supervision as a Trust or Company Service Provider is distinct from its Companies House ACSP registration.

Companies House verification concerns the individual’s supported checks, Coddan’s review and conditional ACSP confirmation, followed by Companies House code issue. AML customer checks do not themselves produce that code. Some information may overlap, but one process does not automatically complete the other.

Tell your manager which checks are already complete so we can establish what remains without assuming duplicate paid checks or automatic evidence reuse. Further company work and continuing services remain separately instructed.

Choose the next destination by what actually remains

The correct next step is determined by the unresolved task, not by the fact that you live outside the UK. Use this decision sequence to avoid repeating work that is already complete.

If verification is outstanding and the free route is suitable, start with GOV.UK One Login. If you want optional professional ACSP support and the route is suitable, Coddan may be considered. If a failed attempt needs diagnosis, use the resolving-issues destination. If specialist international evidence analysis is needed, use the International Director destination.

If verification is complete, the Personal Code has been received, the applicable director-role step is complete, any separate PSC requirement is complete, and no connected corporate event remains, the correct identity-verification outcome is Nothing Further Required.

Choose the help that matches your overseas-director position

This service helps existing UK-company directors living abroad establish any remaining verification work, prepare suitable information and complete supported checks. Coddan’s manager assistance and professional review help you proceed with an appropriate service rather than pay for a route you do not need.

Find the appropriate next service or guidance

Questions about overseas-director verification

Choose the option that describes the work still needed. If you are unsure, your personal manager can help clarify the next step.

More questions about overseas-director verification

Understand your options before ordering

Tell Coddan what you have completed, the evidence available and the help you need. We explain the suitable next step without asking you to diagnose the problem.

Complete the check that matches your present position

Choose a suitable published verification service or ask us about your documents and the work that remains. Normal email/telephone personal-manager assistance is included. Review the selected scope and optional services on the order route; a base-package price is not the final charge for an order with selected extras. Any additional work and charges are agreed separately. Written service agreements are available.

If identity verification, Personal Code issue, every applicable director or PSC role step and any connected corporate event are complete, Nothing Further Required may be the correct outcome.