Most questions about Companies House identity verification are really questions about scope. Directors want to know whether the rule reaches people outside the UK, inactive companies, group structures and multiple appointments. The simple answer is that the requirement follows the individual director role. It is not limited to UK nationals, UK residents or companies that are actively trading (Companies House guidance).
If you are asking “do all directors need to verify identity Companies House?”, this FAQ explains the current answer. It covers the director identity verification requirement UK companies need to plan for, alongside the Companies House director ID verification rules for inactive companies, overseas directors and multiple appointments (Companies House guidance).
This FAQ deals with the current director identity verification requirement. It separates the rule for individual directors from the position for corporate directors, and explains why one person does not need to repeat the same identity check for every company (Companies House guidance). If you need a supported route, start an application with TAH; TAH is an Authorised Corporate Service Provider that can carry out verification on Companies House’s behalf.
Which individual directors are in scope?
Do all directors have to verify their identity, regardless of nationality?
Yes. The requirement applies to directors regardless of nationality. Identity verification is linked to holding the director role, not to citizenship, and Companies House provides routes for people with documents from outside the UK (Companies House guidance for PSCs and directors).
Nationality is therefore not an exemption. The requirement is about confirming the identity of people who hold specified roles at a company. Companies House introduced mandatory identity verification from 18 November 2025, with a transition arrangement for people already in scope (the rollout announcement).
The practical issue is choosing a suitable route. GOV.UK One Login is the free self-service option. An Authorised Corporate Service Provider can be useful where a person needs a wider range of documents or would prefer a supervised firm to manage the process (Companies House). You can compare the service routes on TAH’s ACSP verification page.
Does this apply to directors who don't live in the UK?
Yes. A director's residence outside the UK does not remove the requirement. Overseas directors can complete verification through the available Companies House routes, including an Authorised Corporate Service Provider where appropriate (Companies House guidance).
In other words, it is the appointment as director that matters, not where the director lives. Companies House describes a self-service route through GOV.UK One Login and an ACSP route for people who need document-based support or a broader range of accepted documents (Companies House).
TAH’s service is designed to support UK-based and overseas directors. For an overview of the documents and verification options, see the step-by-step guide. The key point for an overseas director is to start in enough time to complete the required process, rather than assuming residence abroad changes the duty.
Do directors of dormant companies still need to verify?
Yes. Directors of dormant companies still need to verify. The requirement is tied to holding the director role, not to whether the company is trading (Companies House guidance).
A dormant company may have fewer day-to-day activities, but its directors still hold the office of director. For this requirement, the relevant question is not whether the company is making sales or carrying on business. It is whether the person is in the role covered by the identity-verification regime.
This can be easy to overlook where a company is kept for a future project, a group structure or an asset. Build identity verification into the company’s compliance calendar even if the company is dormant. Leaving it until a confirmation statement is due may create avoidable pressure.
Current limits of the rule
What about corporate directors — companies that are themselves directors?
Corporate directors do not currently have an identity-verification requirement. Companies House says that requirements for corporate directors are planned but have not yet been introduced (Companies House guidance).
This is an important distinction. The current requirement concerns individual people who are directors. A company acting as a director is not yet subject to the same identity-verification requirement. That does not mean an individual director elsewhere in the structure is exempt; their own director role remains separate.
Rules can develop over time, so the safest approach for a company using corporate-director arrangements is to keep its records current and follow Companies House announcements. For now, do not apply an unintroduced corporate-director requirement in place of the current requirement for individual directors (Companies House).
Not sure which verification route fits your directorship? TAH can manage the check and Companies House submission.
Start your applicationNew appointments and more than one company
When exactly does a newly appointed director need to verify?
A director of a new company needs to complete identity verification as part of the incorporation process. Identity verification became mandatory from 18 November 2025; the 12-month transition arrangement is for people who were already in scope, tied to the company's confirmation statement date (Companies House rollout information).
That difference is worth keeping clear. The transition period gives existing in-scope people a route linked to the company’s confirmation statement. It should not be treated as a general delay option for a new company. If you are incorporating a company with more than one director, make verification a task for every person who will hold that role.
It also helps to remember that identity verification and the filing step are distinct. The published approach describes completing verification to obtain a Companies House personal code and filing a verification statement that supplies the code. Completing the identity check alone does not satisfy the law (Companies House non-compliance guidance).
Do I need to verify separately for each company I'm a director of?
No. You verify as a person and receive one Companies House personal code, rather than a new code for every directorship. The same code is used to link your verified identity to the roles you hold, so you should not start a new verification for each company (Companies House guidance).
The personal code belongs to the individual, not to one company. This makes the underlying identity verification simpler for people with several directorships. You should keep the code safe and make sure it is used for the relevant roles and company filings. Repeating the identity check for each company is not the intended approach.
The code still needs to be supplied where Companies House requires it. The published non-compliance guidance explains that completing identity verification and filing a verification statement are separate steps (Companies House published approach). If you manage several companies, keep a clear record of each company’s own filing requirements rather than assuming that a code used once automatically completes every company task.
Choosing a practical verification route
Companies House offers verification through GOV.UK One Login or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider. The self-service option is free. An ACSP charges its own service fee and can accept a wider range of documents, which can be useful for some overseas directors or for people who would rather have support with the process (Companies House).
TAH provides both an online/digital route and an in-person or manual route. Its process includes the identity check, a compliance review and the authorised submission to Companies House. Companies House then emails the personal code directly to the applicant, so TAH does not handle the code. You can view the all-inclusive fixed fees and choose the route that works for your documents and circumstances.
Whatever route you choose, keep the objective simple: verify the individual director, obtain the personal code, and make sure the required verification statement is supplied. That is more reliable than trying to decide whether nationality, residence, dormancy or a second directorship creates an exception.
Key takeaways
- Individual directors must verify regardless of nationality or where they live.
- Dormant status does not remove the requirement because it follows the director role, not trading activity (Companies House).
- Corporate directors are not currently required to verify, although Companies House plans to introduce requirements later (Companies House).
- For a new company, directors complete verification as part of incorporation; the transition arrangement relates to existing people already in scope (Companies House).
- One individual verifies once and receives one personal code, rather than repeating the verification for every directorship (Companies House).