Verify your identity for Companies House from Pakistan
A director or PSC of a UK company does not need to be in the UK, hold a UK document or have a UK address. From Pakistan the check is done on your phone with your passport, and Companies House issues your personal code exactly as it would for a UK resident.
What this means
- Your Pakistani passport is the document to use. The £39 digital check accepts a biometric or machine-readable passport from any country — the chipped e-passport works, and so does the older machine-readable design with the two lines of characters at the foot of the photo page. Only a very old hand-written passport will not read.
- Your CNIC is not accepted on the automated check, which is limited to identity cards from the EU, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. It is accepted on the video call route, where a qualified accountant examines it — Companies House itself gives the Pakistani National Identity Card as an example of a document it accepts that way.
- No proof of address is needed for the digital check. If you take the video call instead, a bank statement is accepted whatever address it shows, so a Pakistani bank statement is fine.
- One rule applies to you because you live outside the UK: at least one of your documents must be government-issued. Your passport satisfies it on its own.
- Forming the company as well? We can verify both directors, incorporate the company and provide the UK registered office address it must have, in one order — several Pakistani founders have done exactly that with us this year.
How to put it right
- 1
Check your documents
Tell the free checker what you hold. For almost everyone from Pakistan the answer is the digital check with your passport.
- 2
Verify on your phone
About five minutes from anywhere in Pakistan: photograph your passport, take a short live photo. No appointment, no UK time-zone problem, no travel.
- 3
Get your code
Companies House issues your personal code once we confirm your identity — usually within minutes, occasionally up to two working days.
Regulated Companies House agent (ACSP AP006589)
We deal with strike-offs, overdue filings and identity verification every day. If we can’t help, we’ll tell you who can.
Check your documents free →Frequently asked questions
Does Companies House accept a Pakistani passport?
Yes. There is no list of approved passport countries. The digital check reads any biometric or machine-readable passport, and Pakistani passports issued in the current machine-readable and e-passport designs both qualify. If yours is an older hand-written booklet, a qualified accountant can examine it on a video call instead.
Can I verify with my CNIC or NICOP?
Not on the automated check — it accepts identity cards only from the EU, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. On the video call route a qualified accountant can accept any photographic identity document catalogued on PRADO, and the Pakistani National Identity Card is one Companies House names specifically. The video call needs a second document alongside it, such as a bank statement.
I do not have a UK address. Is that a problem?
No. Companies House asks for your usual residential address, wherever that is, and it is never shown on the public register. Your address in Pakistan is exactly what they expect. The company needs a UK registered office; you do not need a UK address of your own.
Can you also set up the company?
Yes. Incorporation is £200, and we provide the UK registered office address the company must have. The two directors are verified first — Companies House now requires that before anyone can be appointed — and the incorporation follows the same day once the codes are issued.
What about the time difference?
The digital check needs no appointment at all, so it does not matter. If you need a video call, we book around you — Pakistan is four or five hours ahead of the UK, so a UK morning slot is your early afternoon.
What does it cost, and is there anything on top?
The digital check is £39 and the video call is £49, per person. We add no VAT to any fee, and there is no surcharge for being outside the UK.
We’re TaxStats ID, an authorised Companies House agent (ACSP AP006589) from TaxStats Ltd — independent, and not Companies House or GOV.UK. We’ll do what we can and, for anything outside what we handle, we’ll tell you honestly and point you to the right person. Prefer to talk? Call 0161 317 8556.