Member benefit · British Chamber of Commerce in Spain
Own a UK company? 18 November applies to you.
Since November 2025, every director and every person with significant control of a UK company has had to verify their identity with Companies House. The transition period ends on Wednesday 18 November 2026. After that, an unverified director or owner is committing an offence, and the company cannot file its confirmation statement. Companies House sends its warning letters to the company's UK registered office, not to the owner in Spain, which is why so many members have never heard about it. Through our Corporate Member Vaulex Group, the chamber is making sure they hear it now.
Order the standard service by Thursday 12 November, or the fast track by Tuesday 17 November.
Public register read on Saturday 17 October 2026. The figures leave out directors who are not also owners, so the real number is higher.
Why the letter never reaches Spain
Companies House sends its reminders to the company's UK registered office – often an accountant's or a formation agent's address. The letter stops there, and the owner in Spain hears nothing until the company cannot file.
When the register was read on Saturday 17 October, 831 British owners of UK companies living in Spain had not verified, across 729 companies, and 386 of those companies were already past the date Companies House had set. Spain ranks third in the world for this, behind only the UAE and the United States. The figure excludes directors who are not also shareholders, so the real number is higher. If you hold a UK company for consulting, property, pensions or a business you kept open after moving, this applies to you.
Why the free GOV.UK route fails from Spain
The GOV.UK One Login app needs a passport chip it can read and a face match that works first time; if it cannot, it falls back on a UK credit history or a visit to a UK Post Office. Living abroad, many people fail at one of those steps and are left with no route at all. Verification through an authorised agent avoids every one of them.
The passport chip
The app has to read the chip in your passport with your phone. Older passports, worn chips and many phones fail at this step.
The face match
It then compares a live selfie with the photo on the chip. Poor light, glasses or an older photo can be enough to fail it.
The UK footprint
If either fails, the fall-backs need a UK credit history or a visit to a UK Post Office – which people who have lived abroad for years no longer have.
How it works with Vaulex Group
Vaulex Group is an Authorised Corporate Service Provider with Companies House and is supervised by HMRC. You verify from your phone, anywhere in Spain.
A photo of your passport
Any current passport, of any nationality.
A short live selfie
Taken on your phone, so we know the passport is yours.
Proof of where you live
A recent bank statement or utility bill is fine.
We file it – your code is for life
A real person reviews it and we file your verification statement with Companies House. Your personal code is then issued to you, for life.
Two services, one payment, nothing recurring
Standard
Fast track
Your card is charged in pounds and your bank converts it; the EUR figure is a guide.
Dates to keep
Questions members ask
- Who has to verify their identity with Companies House?
- Every director of a UK company, every LLP member and every individual person with significant control (PSC). New appointments verify before they are appointed; existing directors verify when the company files its next confirmation statement due on or after 18 November 2025; an existing PSC who is also a director gives their code for the PSC role within 14 days of the company's confirmation statement date; an existing PSC who is not a director verifies within the first 14 days of their birth month. A person verifies once, then gives their personal code for each role they hold.
- What is the deadline for existing directors?
- The company's next confirmation statement due on or after 18 November 2025. The statement cannot be filed until every director has verified, so the confirmation statement due date is the deadline. The transition year ends on 18 November 2026.
- Can a director living abroad use GOV.UK One Login?
- Sometimes. The One Login app needs a passport with a chip, a phone that can read it and a face match that passes. Where that is not possible, the other free routes (security questions drawn from a UK credit file, or the Post Office) need a UK address history that people who have lived abroad for years no longer have. The other route the law allows is an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), which checks the person's documents directly and tells Companies House.
- How does this check know who has verified?
- The Companies House public register now records, for each appointment, whether the identity verification statement has been supplied and the date Companies House wants it by. The check reads the register live and shows those entries.
- What happens if someone does not verify in time?
- Companies House says the person may be committing an offence and may face prosecution, a fine through the courts or a financial penalty, and that a note will be published against their name on the public register. The company cannot file its confirmation statement until its directors have verified.
- Can I use a non-British passport?
- Yes. Any current passport, of any nationality, is accepted.
- Can I pay in euros?
- The price is in pounds and your card is charged in pounds; your bank converts it at its own rate. The EUR figure on this page is a guide.
Regulated and supervised
Vaulex Group Ltd, Corporate Member of the British Chamber of Commerce in Spain. Companies House ACSP AP021384 · HMRC-supervised TCSP XLML00000218127 · ICO ZC087196. Information, not legal advice.