What is Companies House identity verification?

Identity verification is a new legal requirement under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. All company directors and PSCs must verify their identity to receive a Companies House personal code.

How much does identity verification cost?

Digital verification starts from £39, with video call verification available from £49. We also offer in-person verification from £59 and priority same-day service at £99.

How long does verification take?

Most digital verifications are completed within 24 hours. The actual identity check takes just 5-10 minutes.

What documents do I need?

For digital verification, you need a biometric passport or UK driving licence. For video call and in-person verification, a wider range of documents is accepted including national ID cards.

UK-regulated verification agent · supervised under MLR 2017

BVI company holding UK property? It must be on the Register of Overseas Entities

BVI business companies are among the most common overseas vehicles for holding UK property — and every one of them that owns, or wants to buy, UK property must register at Companies House and hold a valid Overseas Entity ID (OEID). We verify the beneficial owners as a UK-regulated agent and handle the registration end-to-end, including companies registering late.

Free two-minute check & instant quote

No account, no obligation. Standard cases — late registrations included — see an itemised quote immediately.

MLR 2017–supervised agent

Owners verified remotely, worldwide

ACCA-regulated accountancy practice

TaxStats ID is an independent service by TaxStats Ltd — we are not Companies House, GOV.UK or any government body.

How BVI structures meet the ROE

BVI business companies

Companies incorporated under the BVI Business Companies Act — typically single-property SPVs or family holding companies — are squarely in scope. The company itself registers and its registrable beneficial owners are disclosed and verified.

Nominee shareholders

Nominee arrangements do not change who the beneficial owners are: the ROE looks through nominees to the individuals (or entities) who ultimately own or control the company, and it is those people who are disclosed and verified.

Underlying trusts

Where the BVI company is held by a trust, trust details are disclosed and the entity cannot use the Companies House online service — the registration goes on paper. We route these correctly from the start.

Doesn't BVI already have a beneficial-ownership register?

The BVI keeps beneficial-ownership information in its own system, accessible to authorities rather than the public. That makes no difference to the UK obligation: the Register of Overseas Entities requires its own public disclosure, with the beneficial owners verified by a UK-supervised agent. Your BVI registered agent cannot do this part — the verification agent must be UK-regulated.

What we handle for BVI entities

The whole UK side, online: first registration and the OEID (including entities registering late), the annual update statement with its deadline tracked year after year, and the statutory beneficial-owner verification behind both — each owner verified remotely by smartphone, wherever they are, within the three-month window before filing.

Trust structures and protected-status owners are filed on the correct Companies House paper route from the start. The free check asks the questions that decide all of this and shows standard cases an itemised quote immediately.

British Virgin Islands entities — ROE FAQ

Yes. Any BVI company holding a qualifying interest in UK property — in England and Wales, a freehold or a lease over seven years acquired on or after 1 January 1999 — must be registered at Companies House with a valid Overseas Entity ID. A BVI company buying UK property now needs the OEID before the purchase can complete.

Register now. The transitional deadline was 31 January 2023, so the company is in ongoing breach — an offence with fines that can accrue daily — and the property cannot be sold, leased long-term or mortgaged in the meantime. Companies House accepts late registrations; completing one is what unfreezes the property. Late registrations are routine work for us.

No. UK law requires the beneficial-owner verification behind the registration to be carried out by a UK agent supervised under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. TaxStats Ltd is such an agent — ACCA-regulated and a Companies House Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP AP006589). Your BVI agent remains the company’s registered agent in the BVI; the UK filing needs a UK-supervised agent.

Broadly, anyone who holds more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, can appoint or remove a majority of directors, or otherwise exercises significant influence or control — looking through nominees. Where a trust holds the company, trustees and the trust itself come into the disclosure and the filing moves to the paper route.

Entirely remotely. Each beneficial owner completes an identity check by smartphone wherever they are in the world; we complete the statutory checks as the UK-supervised agent and confirm them to Companies House. Verification must be completed no more than three months before the registration is filed.

Updated 29 August 2026 · By the TaxStats ID Register of Overseas Entities team · About our ROE verification agent service

Get the BVI entity compliant

Two minutes, free, no account. The check confirms what the entity needs — registration, late registration or this year's update statement — and shows an itemised quote straight away.

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