Quick Answer
Since 18 November 2025, every new UK company director and PSC must verify their identity with Companies House, and every existing director must verify by 18 November 2026, with each person's deadline tied to their company's confirmation statement date.
Overseas directors verify remotely through GOV.UK One Login with a biometric passport, or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider if their documents fail the automated route.
Acting as an unverified director is a criminal offence, and unverified status blocks filings and shows publicly on the register. Singapore reaches the same policy goal through a contained model: your Corporate Service Provider verifies you once, privately, at onboarding. Savvy Platform runs that model end to end through SavvyStart.
What the Rules Are
Identity verification is the centrepiece of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act's reform of Companies House, converting the registry from a passive filing cabinet into a verification authority. The rollout:
|
Date |
Requirement |
|
8 April 2025 |
Voluntary verification opened |
|
18 November 2025 |
Mandatory for all new directors, PSCs and new incorporations |
|
November 2025 to November 2026 |
Transition year: existing directors verify by the date of their company's next confirmation statement |
|
18 November 2026 |
Final deadline for all existing directors and PSCs |
|
From late 2026 |
Active enforcement against unverified individuals |
Verification happens once per person, then applies across every UK company role. On success, Companies House issues a personal code that connects the verified identity to each directorship, and that code has to be supplied in the relevant filings, starting with the confirmation statement.
Who Has to Verify
The requirement covers more people than many overseas owners expect:
- All directors of UK companies, wherever in the world they live. Foreign residence gives no exemption
- People with Significant Control, typically anyone holding more than 25% of shares or voting rights, including shareholders who are not directors
- LLP members
- Directors of overseas companies with a UK establishment, who file their verification details on form OS VS01
For a typical foreign founder who owns and directs their UK Ltd, that means verifying once, in both capacities, connected through the same personal code.
The Two Routes, and How They Work From Abroad
|
Factor |
GOV.UK One Login (direct) |
Authorised Corporate Service Provider |
|
Cost |
Free |
Provider fee, commonly £35 to £45 through specialist services, more through law firms |
|
What you need |
A biometric passport (any country) and an NFC-capable smartphone |
Identity documents reviewed by the ACSP under AML rules |
|
Process |
Scan the passport chip, take a selfie for facial matching, roughly 15 to 20 minutes |
Document submission to the provider, typically completed within days |
|
Works for |
Directors whose passport is on the supported list and whose register data matches their ID |
Non-biometric passports, unsupported documents, politically exposed persons, complex cases |
There is also a Post Office route, which requires being in the UK, so it is irrelevant for genuinely overseas directors. ACSPs are UK-supervised firms, formation agents, accountants and solicitors, registered with Companies House since March 2025 and required to verify to the same standard as the direct route.
For most overseas directors, the honest news is positive: a valid biometric passport plus a smartphone completes the direct route from anywhere, with no UK trip and no in-person step.
Where Overseas Directors Get Stuck
The failure cases are specific and predictable:
- No biometric passport. The One Login route depends on chip-based document checks. Holders of non-biometric or unsupported documents must use an ACSP
- No manual fallback. One Login has no alternative path for people its automated checks reject. The system either matches you or it does not, and the answer to a failure is the ACSP route
- Register mismatches. If the name or date of birth on the Companies House record differs from your passport, after a marriage, a transliteration difference or an old filing error, verification fails until the record is corrected. Fix the register first, then verify
- Access friction. Overseas users report problems receiving SMS security codes and completing GOV.UK flows from some countries
- Multiple companies, multiple deadlines. During the transition year, each directorship's deadline follows that company's confirmation statement date. A director of 3 companies can face 3 different deadlines, and missing any one is an offence
- The year-end crunch. Advisers expect ACSP backlogs in October and November 2026 as late movers converge on the final deadline
The Practical Sequence
For an overseas director who wants this done cleanly:
- Check your Companies House record now and correct any name or date-of-birth discrepancies before attempting verification
- Check your passport: biometric chip present, not close to expiry
- Attempt the free One Login route with the passport and an NFC smartphone
- If it fails or your documents do not qualify, engage an ACSP and complete the document review remotely
- Record your personal code and supply it in your next confirmation statement and any new appointment filings
- Do all of this months before your confirmation statement date, ahead of the late-2026 rush
Done early with clean documents, the whole exercise takes under half an hour. The directors who will have a bad November 2026 are the ones with an expired passport, a mismatched register entry and a filing deadline in the same week.
What Happens If You Do Not Verify
The consequences escalate through the company rather than stopping at the individual:
- Acting as an unverified director after your deadline is a criminal offence, exposing the director to fines
- The company cannot validly file its confirmation statement without verified director codes, and non-filing is itself an offence and a ground for strike-off
- A struck-off company is dissolved and its assets pass to the Crown, a severe outcome for a business that simply lost track of an admin deadline
- Verification status is public. The register your clients, banks and counterparties check displays whether each director is verified, and that flag is accessible to credit agencies and compliance systems through the Companies House API
This is the system working as designed. The register's new job is distinguishing verified people from unverified ones, visibly.
The Singapore Contrast: Same Goal, Contained Delivery
Singapore pursues identical policy objectives, register integrity and anti-money-laundering control, through a different architecture:
|
Factor |
United Kingdom |
Singapore |
|
Who verifies the individual |
The state, via Companies House, for every director and PSC |
The Corporate Service Provider, at onboarding, under the CSP Act in force since June 2025 |
|
Who the state supervises |
Each individual directly, plus ACSPs |
The CSPs, which must register with ACRA, meet fit-and-proper criteria and run AML programmes |
|
When verification happens |
Per person, against public deadlines, with a national transition calendar |
Once, privately, as part of becoming a client |
|
Public register flags |
Verification status visible to anyone |
KYC records held by the CSP, available to regulators |
|
Who owns the deadline |
The director, across each company they hold |
The CSP, as part of the ongoing engagement |
The trade-off is symmetrical and worth naming. The UK lets anyone self-file and then verifies everyone individually in public. Singapore requires foreigners to work through a registered gatekeeper from day one, and in exchange, verification is a private onboarding step inside a relationship that already handles the filings, the deadlines and the register data. Compliance still happens; it arrives inside the provider relationship instead of as a personal statutory deadline with a criminal offence attached to your calendar management.
For a foreign director, the practical difference is who carries the risk of an admin miss: in the UK, you; in Singapore, the corporate service provider whose job it is.
How Savvy Platform Handles This in Singapore
Savvy Platform is the contained model in practice: an ACRA-registered provider that verifies clients once and then owns the compliance calendar.
Savvy Platform provides:
- Company incorporation through SavvyStart, with KYC completed at onboarding
- Local nominee director, appointed through the registered CSP structure the law requires
- Company secretary and registered address, held with the filings they support
- Annual returns and tax filings managed against ACRA and IRAS deadlines
- Bank account setup support and Employment Pass assistance when founders relocate
A director who never wants to think about a verification deadline again gets exactly that: one provider, verified once, accountable for the calendar.
Conclusion
The UK's identity verification regime is workable for foreign directors: a biometric passport and a smartphone clear the free route in 20 minutes, and ACSPs cover the rest for modest fees. The risks are operational, mismatched register data, per-company deadlines, the late-2026 crunch, and the consequences of a miss run from a public "unverified" flag to a criminal offence and strike-off.
Singapore reaches the same anti-abuse goal by regulating the gatekeeper instead of scheduling the individual, which is why its compliance feels contained rather than calendar-driven. Savvy Platform delivers that model through SavvyStart, with verification handled once at onboarding and every deadline owned by the provider.
FAQ
Do directors living outside the UK have to verify?
Yes. Every director of a UK company must verify, regardless of where they live. Foreign PSCs and LLP members are covered too, and directors of overseas companies with a UK establishment file their details on form OS VS01.
What is the deadline for existing directors?
The date of your company's next confirmation statement during the transition year, and no later than 18 November 2026. Directors of several companies can face several different deadlines.
Can I verify from abroad without visiting the UK?
Yes. The GOV.UK One Login route works from anywhere with a biometric passport and an NFC-capable smartphone. If the automated checks reject your documents, an Authorised Corporate Service Provider completes verification remotely.
What if my passport is not biometric?
The direct online route will not work, and there is no manual fallback within One Login. Use an ACSP, which can verify alternative documentation under AML standards, typically for a fee of £35 to £45 through specialist providers.
What happens if I miss my deadline?
Continuing to act as a director is a criminal offence, the company's confirmation statement cannot be validly filed, and persistent non-filing leads toward strike-off. Your unverified status also displays publicly on the register.
How many times do I need to verify?
Once. Companies House issues a personal code after successful verification, and the same code connects your identity to every directorship and PSC position you hold.
How does Singapore handle director identity checks?
Through the provider rather than the person. Corporate Service Providers, mandatory for foreign-owned setups, are registered with ACRA under the CSP Act and verify clients at onboarding under AML rules. There is no public per-director verification deadline or register flag.
Does Savvy Platform handle identity compliance for Singapore companies?
Yes. KYC is completed once when the client onboards through SavvyStart, and Savvy Platform then owns the filing calendar: annual returns, tax filings, secretarial records and the nominee director arrangement, all under one registered provider.
Main sources
- GOV.UK, Changes to UK company law: identity verification (routes and ACSP framework): https://changestoukcompanylaw.campaign.gov.uk/identity-verification/
- Moving to the UK, Companies House identity verification for non-resident and overseas directors: https://movingtotheuk.co.uk/companies-house/identity-verification-companies-house-non-resident-directors
- Accusolve Accountants, identity verification for overseas directors (biometric passports, personal codes): https://accusolveaccountants.com/insights/companies-house-identity-verification-overseas-directors/
- Nicholas & Co Solicitors, Companies House verification 2026 and ACSP compliance (deadlines, mismatch failures): https://www.nicholassolicitors.com/blog/companies-house-verification-2026-and-acsp-compliance
- ASEAN Briefing, Singapore CSP Act and 2025 compliance framework for corporate service providers: https://www.aseanbriefing.com/news/tax-incentive-requirements-for-family-offices-in-singapore/
