Overview
In Legl you can run global due diligence checks, so you can onboard clients anywhere in the world. Legl supports several verification checks for overseas clients, with coverage varying by check type and country.
Some checks cannot run for clients outside the UK. Identity Validation and Financial Screening use UK data sources only, so for a client with a non-UK address they return N/A on the CDD report. N/A is not an error and needs no action. It means Legl could not run that check for the client's country.
CDD options for overseas clients
You can use these workflows for clients with a non-UK address:
Standard CDD with Proof of Address Verification: ID document validation, biometric check and Watchlist Screening, with Proof of Address Verification in place of Identity Validation. This is the recommended default for overseas clients.
Dual-ID CDD: adds a second photo ID (a national ID card or a driving licence), matched to the same selfie. You can apply it to all clients, or only to clients with a non-UK address.
Enhanced CDD (NFC): the client scans the chip in their biometric passport with their phone. This works with biometric passports from outside the UK.
In-Person CDD: for when you meet the client face to face and check their documents in person.
A standalone Proof of Address step: add a second proof of address step to any workflow for extra address assurance.
ℹ️ Further guidance
ID document verification and biometric checks
Legl's ID document verification and biometric checks are available for clients in 195+ countries. When a client submits their identity document as part of an Engage request, Legl runs an automated document fraud and validity check alongside a biometric and liveness check to confirm the document belongs to the person submitting it.
ℹ️ Further guidance
Watchlist Screening
Watchlist Screening checks sanctions lists, PEP lists and adverse media worldwide. It returns a result as normal wherever the client lives.
ℹ️ Further guidance
Proof of Address Verification
Legl can run automated Proof of Address Verification for clients in 80+ countries. This is an automated document fraud and validity check. Legl checks the document itself rather than matching it against data sources.
For clients in countries outside this coverage, Legl collects the document through a document upload step in the client's Engage request, which can then be screened manually by an individual at the firm.
ℹ️ Further guidance
Collecting additional information from overseas clients
In some scenarios, you may need to collect additional documents from an overseas client to support identity or address verification: for example, where your firm requires supporting evidence beyond the standard automated checks. In these cases, you can use the customisable forms feature or a document request, both of which can be built directly into the same Engage workflow alongside your standard CDD steps.
To add a document collection step to a workflow:
Navigate to Engage > Workflows and open the workflow you want to edit.
Select Add step and choose Customisable form (document requests can be added within a customisable form) or Document request for a standalone document upload step.
ℹ️ Further guidance
Important information
Identity document verification and biometric checks are available for government-issued photo IDs from 195+ countries
Identity validation (matching against data sources) is only available for clients with a UK address — clients without a UK address will always return an N/A result for this check
Watchlist Screening is global and runs for clients in any country.
For clients without a UK address, consider enabling additional document collection in your workflow
For questions about coverage for a specific country, contact our Support team