Can I verify my identity with Companies House from Greece?

Yes. GOV.UK One Login works from anywhere if you have a chipped British passport, a phone with NFC and the face match passes. If not, an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) checks your passport and proof of address and tells Companies House. You get the same 11-character personal code either way, and it covers every UK company you are involved in.

What can I use as proof of address in Greece?

A DEH electricity bill or one from another supplier, a water bill, a landline bill, a bank statement from a Greek bank, your lease agreement, or a statement from the tax office. It must be in your name, show where you live and be dated within the last three months. A document in Greek is fine as long as the name, address and date can be read.

My bill has the address in Greek characters. What do I do?

Upload it as it is and type the address in Latin letters when you fill in the form, in the same order as the document: street, number, area and postcode. The reviewer matches the two. Your name may also appear in Greek on the bill; that is fine as long as it reads as the name on your passport.

The DEH bill is in my landlord's name. What can I send?

Something in your own name: a bank statement from a Greek bank, your lease agreement, which carries your name because it is declared to the tax authority, or a statement from the tax office. A bill in the landlord's name proves where the landlord lives, not where you live, so the reviewer cannot accept it on its own.

Guides · 21 October 2026 · 5 min read

Verifying your identity with Companies House from Greece: a guide for British directors

By Zak Ali, founder of Vaulex Group Ltd – Authorised Corporate Service Provider AP021384, HMRC-supervised TCSP. Reviewed 21 October 2026.

If you are a British director or person with significant control (PSC) of a UK company living in Greece, you must verify your identity with Companies House, and you can do it from there. The free route is GOV.UK One Login: it reads the chip in a biometric passport with an NFC phone and takes a face match. One Login cannot always be used from abroad, because its fall-backs - security questions drawn from a UK credit file, or an in-person check at a Post Office - need a UK footprint. The other route is an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP), an agent registered with Companies House and supervised for anti-money laundering, which checks your British passport and a proof of address and tells Companies House. Either way you get one 11-character personal code that covers every company you are involved in.

Who must verify, and the date that applies to you

Every director, every LLP member and every individual PSC of a UK company must verify, once, for every role. Since 18 November 2025 a new director verifies before appointment and a new PSC within 14 days of registration. An existing director's deadline is the company's confirmation statement due date; the statement cannot be filed until every director has verified. An existing PSC has a 14-day window set out in a Companies House letter. The transition year ends on 18 November 2026.

Why One Login cannot always be used from Greece

If One Login works for you, use it. The chip in a British passport reads in Athens as it does in Aberdeen. What stops people is the fall-back: an older passport without a chip, a phone without NFC, a failed face match or a changed name sends One Login to security questions drawn from a UK credit file, or to a Post Office counter. After years in Greece you may have neither. Guidance: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/verifying-your-identity-for-companies-house.

Verifying through an ACSP from Greece

An ACSP checks your documents to the Companies House standard and tells Companies House, which issues your personal code. Vaulex Group Ltd is an ACSP, number AP021384. Upload your British passport and a proof of address at https://my.vaulex.co.uk/verify, complete the biometric checks on your phone, and an AML-qualified reviewer checks everything. £149.99 per person, three working days from when everything is in. Fast track is £349 per person: 24 hours on working days once the biometric checks are complete and we have everything we need.

Proof of address in Greece, in either alphabet

The documents Greek banks rely on are the ones to send: a DEH electricity bill or one from another supplier, a water bill, a landline bill, a bank statement from a Greek bank, your lease agreement, or a statement from the tax office. Send one dated within the last three months, in your own name.

Two local points. The address on a Greek document is usually in Greek characters. Upload it as it is and type the address in Latin letters in the same order: street, number, area, postcode. The reviewer matches the two; your name in Greek is fine if it reads as the name on your passport. And the electricity: with a rented home the DEH account often stays in the landlord's name, and that bill proves where the landlord lives. Your bank statement or your lease, which carries your name because it is declared to the tax authority, is the answer. Your Withdrawal Agreement residence permit is a good second document, but not a proof of address.

Two passports? Use the British one

We check a British passport. If you hold both British and Greek passports, upload the British one and tell us if the name on it differs from the register. Close to expiry: use it now, while it is in date. Away being renewed: wait for the new one; a photocopy is not a passport.

Timing it from Greece

Greece is two hours ahead of the UK all year, because both countries change their clocks on the same dates. Anything uploaded in your working day lands in ours. Working days are UK working days, less UK bank holidays: Orthodox Easter does not pause the clock; an English bank holiday does.

The registered office back in the UK

Many people in Greece keep the registered office at a relative's house in the UK, where Companies House letters can sit unopened past the date. Since 4 March 2024 a registered office must be an "appropriate address", one where a delivered document would come to the attention of someone acting for the company. Switch - Business Pro moves it to Vaulex House in Penarth for £39.99 a month, every letter scanned: https://vaulex.co.uk/switch/.

If the date passes

Companies House's letters say: "If you do not comply, you may be committing an offence. You may face prosecution and a fine through the courts, or a financial penalty." The first convictions came on 16 September 2026, with fines of £80 to £307 plus costs. A PSC can request an extension within the window. This is information, not legal advice; we are not solicitors or accountants.

Start when you are ready

Verify your identity and receive your personal code, then provide the code for each role: with the confirmation statement for a director, or through the PSC verification service (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/provide-psc-verification). If you already have a personal code, you do not verify again.

If One Login works for you from Greece, use it. If not, start at https://my.vaulex.co.uk/verify today with your British passport, a proof of address and your phone. Check who in your company still has to verify at https://guides.vaulex.co.uk/am-i-affected.

Questions people ask

Can I verify my identity with Companies House from Greece?: Yes. GOV.UK One Login works from anywhere if you have a chipped British passport, a phone with NFC and the face match passes. If not, an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP) checks your passport and proof of address and tells Companies House. You get the same 11-character personal code either way, and it covers every UK company you are involved in.
What can I use as proof of address in Greece?: A DEH electricity bill or one from another supplier, a water bill, a landline bill, a bank statement from a Greek bank, your lease agreement, or a statement from the tax office. It must be in your name, show where you live and be dated within the last three months. A document in Greek is fine as long as the name, address and date can be read.
My bill has the address in Greek characters. What do I do?: Upload it as it is and type the address in Latin letters when you fill in the form, in the same order as the document: street, number, area and postcode. The reviewer matches the two. Your name may also appear in Greek on the bill; that is fine as long as it reads as the name on your passport.
How does the time difference affect the three working days?: Barely. Greece is two hours ahead of the UK all year, because both countries change their clocks on the same dates. Anything uploaded in your working day lands in ours. Working days are UK working days, and the three working days run from when everything is in.
The DEH bill is in my landlord's name. What can I send?: Something in your own name: a bank statement from a Greek bank, your lease agreement, which carries your name because it is declared to the tax authority, or a statement from the tax office. A bill in the landlord's name proves where the landlord lives, not where you live, so the reviewer cannot accept it on its own.

Is your company affected?

Type any UK company and see who must verify their identity with Companies House, who already has, and the date for each person – free, live from the register.

Check my company

Ready to go? Start here.

More guides

Verifying your identity with Companies House from the United States: a guide for British directorsHow a British director or PSC living in the USA verifies with Companies House: One Login abroad, the ACSP route, US proof of address, time zones and deadlines. Verifying your identity with Companies House from Thailand: a guide for British directorsHow a British director or PSC in Thailand verifies with Companies House: One Login abroad, the ACSP route, Thai proof of address, time difference, deadlines. Verifying your identity with Companies House from Switzerland: a guide for British directorsHow a British director or PSC in Switzerland verifies with Companies House: One Login abroad, the ACSP route, Swiss proof of address, timing and deadlines. Verifying your identity with Companies House from South Africa: a guide for British directorsHow a British director or PSC in South Africa verifies identity with Companies House: One Login abroad, the ACSP route, FICA-style proof of address, timing.

Vaulex Group Ltd is not a firm of solicitors or accountants; these guides are information, not legal or tax advice. Facts are taken from GOV.UK and Companies House; our own register analysis is attributed and dated. If you spot something out of date, email clientsupport@vaulex.co.uk.