Overview
You can onboard overseas individual clients through Legl using the same Engage workflow you use for UK clients. Legl's ID document verification supports government-issued photo ID from any country.
Some checks will return different results for international clients. This guide covers the full process, from sending the request through to reviewing the results.
Before you start
Make sure you have an Engage workflow set up that includes Standard CDD or Basic CDD
If you want to collect Proof of Address from international clients, check that Proof of Address Verification is enabled in your workflow. You can turn this on in your workflow settings
You will need the client's name and email address to send the request
How to onboard an overseas individual client
Go to Engage and select New request.
Enter the client's details and select the relevant workflow.
Send the request. The client will receive an email with a link to complete their checks.
The client opens the link and selects their country and the issuing country of their ID document.
The client uploads their government-issued photo ID (passport, national ID card, or driving licence).
The client completes a biometric selfie to confirm their identity.
If Proof of Address Verification is included in the workflow, the client uploads a proof of address document.
Once the client completes all steps, the request moves to Ready for review in your Engage dashboard.
What happens next
Once the request is ready for review, open it from your Engage dashboard to see the results. For international clients, you should expect the following:
ID Document Verification: This will run as normal. Legl can verify government-issued photo ID from any country
Biometric Check: The selfie match will run as normal regardless of the client's location
Identity Validation: This may return N/A for international clients. Identity Validation relies on UK datasets (such as credit agencies and the electoral register), so there is often insufficient data to validate an overseas client's identity through this method
Financial Screening: This will return N/A for international clients. Financial Screening uses UK-only CCJ (County Court Judgments) data, which does not cover addresses outside the UK
Watchlist Screening: This will run as normal. Sanctions and PEP screening is global
Proof of Address Verification: If enabled, this provides an alternative way to verify the client's address when Identity Validation is unavailable. Review the Clear or Consider result on the PoA check
Once you have reviewed the results, complete your review in Legl. If your firm uses Risk Assessments, you can connect the completed CDD to a risk assessment from the contact page.
ℹ️ Important
N/A results for Identity Validation and Financial Screening are expected for overseas clients. They are not errors and do not indicate a problem with the check. The UK-specific datasets used by these checks simply do not hold records for clients based outside the UK.
Important information
Proof of Address Verification is the recommended way to verify an overseas client's address when Identity Validation returns N/A
NFC identity verification is currently UK-only and is not available for international ID documents
If you need to collect additional documents from overseas clients, you can configure this in your workflow settings by editing the CDD step and enabling the document upload toggle for specific countries
If you have any questions, contact our Support team