Which ID documents can an ACSP accept? Why your passport is the one that always works

In short: a biometric or machine readable passport, from any country, is the one document an ACSP such as directorverifications.com can always accept for Companies House ID verification, whatever your nationality. On the standard automated check, a driving licence only counts if it’s from the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or an EU country, and a national identity card only counts if it’s a biometric card from the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.

That catches a lot of people out. Recently one company director tried to verify their ID with an Indian driving licence and another with a Saudi driving licence, and both times we’ve had to say the same thing: we can’t accept it, please use your passport instead. It’s not us being awkward - it’s the standard Companies House sets for every ACSP (Authorised Corporate Service Provider), and it’s written around a short list of documents.

This guide sets out exactly which documents an ACSP can accept, why most driving licences and ID cards from outside Europe don’t make the list, what happens with an expired or damaged document, and what we’ll ask you for. If you’re not sure what an ACSP is in the first place, our plain guide to what an ACSP is explains it.

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The short answer: send us your passport

If you’ve got a passport, use it. A biometric or machine readable passport from any country in the world is on the Companies House list of acceptable documents, and it’s the one document that works for everybody, wherever you live and whatever your nationality. A machine readable passport is the kind with two lines of letters, numbers and chevrons along the bottom of the photo page.

That’s also the document most of our customers use. Most of the people who come to us hold a non-British passport and live outside the UK, and for them a passport is almost always the quickest way through.

The documents an ACSP can accept

Companies House gives every ACSP two ways to check your ID. The first, and the one we use for almost every verification, is an automated check with ID document validation technology: the software reads the security features of one photo ID document and compares the photo with your face. On that route, Companies House accepts one document from this list, and nothing else:

• a biometric or machine readable passport, from any country, or an Irish passport card
• a photocard driving licence from the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or an EU country
• a biometric identity card from an EU country, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
• a UK biometric residence permit or biometric residence card
• a UK Frontier Worker permit
• an eVisa

Read the list carefully and you’ll see the pattern. Passports are accepted from anywhere in the world. Everything else is either British or European.

Why your driving licence may not be accepted

This is the question we’re asked most, and the answer is simple: Companies House only lists photocard driving licences from the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the EU. A driving licence from India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Nigeria, the United States or anywhere else outside Europe isn’t on that list, so it can’t be used on the automated check. It doesn’t matter that it’s a perfectly valid, government-issued photo ID in your own country.

The standard does leave a narrow, slower route for some other photo documents, where a person checks them by hand alongside a second document. Not every country’s licence qualifies even for that - Saudi Arabia’s doesn’t, for example - and it takes longer. So the quickest answer for you is almost always the same: use your passport.

The government’s own service, GOV.UK One Login, is no help here either. Its app doesn’t take a non-UK driving licence at all, and it only takes a non-UK passport if it has a biometric chip. We can accept a machine readable passport even if it doesn’t have a biometric chip.

What about national ID cards?

The same rule applies. A biometric national identity card from an EU country, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein is on the list, so a current German or Italian electronic ID card, for example, will do. A national ID card from anywhere else isn’t on the main list, so if that’s what you were planning to use, please use your passport instead.

Expired, damaged or replaced documents

An expired passport can still be used, within limits. On the automated route, a passport can be up to six months out of date, as long as the technology can still check the security chip inside it. When a document is checked by a person rather than by the technology, a passport can be up to 18 months out of date.

A document that’s been cancelled or replaced is never acceptable, whatever its date - a passport with a cut-off corner, for instance, or an old passport you’ve since renewed. A damaged document is likely to be queried too, so if your photo page is worn, cracked or peeling, it’s worth using a newer document if you’ve got one.

If you don’t live in the UK

Companies House adds one more rule for people who live outside the UK: if your documents are checked by a person rather than by the technology, at least one of them has to be government issued. If you’re using your passport, that’s covered either way - a passport is about as government issued as a document gets. It’s one more reason the passport is the safe choice for overseas directors.

You don’t need a UK address to verify through us, and you don’t need to come to the UK. If you’re a non-British director, our guide for directors with non-British passports goes through the rest of what’s different for you.

What we’ll ask you for

Our process is short and simple. You pay £24.99 per person (or £39.99 for Fast Track, completed the same day when your payment and your ID document both reach us before 5pm, seven days a week), and we email you a secure link. Through that link you upload a clear photo of your passport’s photo page and a photo of yourself, then we check your ID.

If our automated, AI-powered check cannot verify your ID, a member of our team reviews your documents by hand. That’s included in the price - we’ll never charge you twice.

Once your ID is verified, we submit your verified details to Companies House, and Companies House emails your 11-character personal code direct to your inbox. Submitting the personal code to Companies House is then your job, and our guide to what an ACSP is explains exactly where it goes.

If you’ve already tried the government route and been turned down, see what to do when GOV.UK One Login refuses you. And for everything we check and what we send to Companies House, see our ACSP verification service page.

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Questions people ask

Can I use my Indian driving licence to verify my ID for Companies House?

Not on the standard check. An Indian driving licence isn’t on the Companies House list of documents for the automated check, so we’ll usually ask you for your passport instead. Any biometric or machine readable passport works, from any country.

Can I use my Saudi driving licence?

No. A Saudi driving licence isn’t on the Companies House list, and it doesn’t qualify for the slower hand-checked route either. Please use your passport.

Which driving licences can an ACSP accept?

On the automated check, only photocard driving licences from the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or an EU country. Licences from anywhere else aren’t on that list, and we’ll ask for your passport instead.

Can I use an expired passport?

On the automated check, yes, if it’s no more than six months out of date and the technology can still check the security chip inside it. A passport that’s been cancelled or replaced can’t be used, whatever its date.

Do I need a UK address or UK documents?

No. A passport from any country is enough, and you don’t need a UK address. If you don’t live in the UK and your documents are checked by a person, at least one of them has to be government issued - a passport covers that.

What if I don’t have a passport?

If you hold a photocard driving licence from the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the EU, or a biometric ID card from the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you can use that instead. If you don’t, please get in touch before you pay. In some cases we can check another photo ID, such as a UK PASS card, alongside a second document like a bank statement.

Written by the directorverifications.com team

An ACSP registered with Companies House

directorverifications.com is the ID verification service of Finovium Limited, a firm of accountants and tax advisers based in Chelsea, West London. Finovium is registered with Companies House as an ACSP (Authorised Corporate Service Provider), registered with HMRC as an authorised tax agent, and registered with the ICO. We set this service up after the government's own ID verification route refused to verify one of our own directors, and we built it to provide a good value, hassle-free ID verification service for the people the government's free service rejects and turns away. More about us.