Companies House identity verification for UK company directors in France

France is the largest EU country on the register by PSC residence, with roughly 47,100 individual PSCs (Companies House PSC data snapshot, 2026-08-21, estimated from a 12.5% sample). French nationality also ranks highly at 12,247 in the same sample. A substantial share of this group are cross-Channel business owners running a UK company alongside a French one.

Why does this matter to you personally? Because it tells you that you are not an edge case. Companies House had verified 3 million people through GOV.UK One Login and 783,000 through ACSPs by 31 March 2026, and expects 6 to 7 million in total by the end of the transition in November 2026 (Annual Report and Accounts 2025–26). A large part of the remainder is exactly this population: directors and PSCs living outside the UK.

France is one of the countries where the document position is unusually comfortable. Two routes are open. A current biometric French passport is accepted, because a biometric passport from any country is accepted (GOV.UK). Separately, the documents an ACSP may rely on expressly include biometric identity cards issued by EU member states, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein (GOV.UK identity verification standard), so a current French biometric carte nationale d'identité is within scope for an ACSP-run check. If you hold both, you have a natural second document for the two-document route as well.

The accepted-document rules in full

• A biometric passport from any country is accepted, as are a UK photo driving licence, a UK biometric residence permit, a UK biometric residence card and the UK Frontier Worker permit (GOV.UK).
• An ACSP working to the published standard may also rely on EU, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein biometric identity cards, an eVisa and the Irish passport card, under either the digital check or a two-document check (GOV.UK identity verification standard).
• An expired passport is not accepted. A driving licence may be expired by no more than 90 days, and a biometric residence permit or card by no more than 18 months (GOV.UK).
• If the person being verified does not live in the UK, they must provide at least one government issued document.

This is where the two routes diverge in a way worth understanding. GOV.UK One Login's accepted photo ID list is a biometric passport from any country plus UK-issued documents (GOV.UK); an EU biometric identity card is not on it. The ACSP standard, by contrast, expressly contemplates EU biometric identity cards (GOV.UK). So a French director who holds a carte d'identité but no current passport is in the specific position where the free route is impractical and an ACSP is not. The Post Office alternative does not help either, being available to UK residents only (GOV.UK).

There is one more fact worth knowing before you look for a local solution. GOV.UK states plainly that “Registered ACSPs must be based in the UK”, and that an ACSP must be supervised by a UK anti-money-laundering supervisory body. That is the reason a notary, lawyer or accountant in France cannot complete this for Companies House however senior they are, and it is the reason overseas directors end up engaging a UK firm. We are that UK firm: Tax and Accounting Hub Ltd, company number 08408126, on the official Companies House list of ACSPs.

Time zones. French clocks are close to UK time, so a normal working-day appointment is straightforward. The digital check needs no appointment at all and can be done whenever suits you. Where a two-document check is required, we schedule a video appointment inside your working day rather than ours.

Living in France changes nothing about whether the duty applies to you. There is no overseas exemption and no separate overseas standard.

GOV.UK lists the people who must verify as a director, the equivalent of a director, which includes members, general partners and managing officers, a director of an overseas company registered in the UK, a person with significant control, and anyone registering as an Authorised Corporate Service Provider. People who file on behalf of a company, limited partnerships, corporate directors, corporate LLP members and officers of corporate PSCs will be required to verify at a later date.

Identity verification became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025. Companies House is explicit that this date is not a deadline in itself; it marks the start of a 12-month transition period that ends in November 2026, by the end of which Companies House expects to have verified 6 to 7 million individuals (Annual Report and Accounts 2025–26). Your own deadline sits inside that window and depends on your role:

• Existing directors: by the company's next confirmation statement date.
• New directors: before appointment, and at incorporation for a new company.
• Directors of overseas companies registered in the UK: by the anniversary of the UK establishment's registration.
• A PSC who is also a director: within the 14-day period starting the day after the confirmation statement date.
• A PSC who is not a director: within the first 14 days of their birth month.

Once you have verified, Companies House issues an 11 character personal code. It is personal to you and not to your company, and if you are a director of multiple companies you only need to verify once and then use the same code for every appointment.

Distance offers no protection here. The consequences attach to the appointment, not to where you happen to live.

Companies House states that it is unlawful for a director to act as a director without completing identity verification, and that the offence arises under section 167M of the Companies Act. Three enforcement routes are available: criminal prosecution, referral to the Insolvency Service, and financial penalties. Prosecution may lead to criminal conviction, director disqualification and fines, and non-compliance can be annotated on the public register for anyone to see.

There is also an immediate, practical consequence that arrives long before any enforcement action. All directors need to verify before the company's next confirmation statement is filed, otherwise the filing will be rejected. The campaign guidance puts it more bluntly still: without verification you will not be able to make any filings for your company or start a new company. For most people that rejected filing, not the prospect of prosecution, is what makes this urgent.

Tax and Accounting Hub Ltd is a Companies House Authorised Corporate Service Provider, company number 08408126, supervised by the Association of Accounting Technicians for anti-money-laundering purposes and registered with the ICO. GOV.UK describes an ACSP as an agent, such as an accountant or solicitor, who files on behalf of others, and requires every ACSP to be supervised by a UK anti-money-laundering supervisory body. The official public list of ACSPs is published by Companies House and was last updated on 20 August 2026.

• You complete a short application, sign the engagement letter on screen and pay by card.
• You verify your identity: either a digital check on your own phone, which takes around ten minutes, or a scheduled appointment where two original documents are examined.
• We review the result against our compliance checklist and file it with Companies House as your authorised agent.
• Companies House emails you your own 11-character personal code, which you then give to every company where you hold an appointment.

Our fee for an applicant resident outside the UK is £175, all inclusive. There is no VAT, no per-document charge and nothing added later. You can read the full process on our step-by-step guide, or start now on the application page.

• All countries we serve
• Apply now as an overseas director
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• Verifying several overseas directors at once
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