I am looking for help because I have been waiting 25 days for my Shopify Payments verification to be resolved, and I have been unable to get any meaningful update from Shopify Support.
Here is what has happened:
• I submitted all the requested identity and business verification documents.
• I completed the selfie verification, but it instantly fails with the message: “We couldn’t complete your verification.”
• I contacted Shopify Support more than 10 times.
• Every agent tells me that my case has been escalated to the specialized team and that I will receive an email within a few days.
• Unfortunately, no one has contacted me, and my support tickets keep being closed without a resolution.
The strange part is that my Shopify Payments account is still active. Customers continue placing orders, Shopify continues processing payments, but my payouts remain blocked because this verification has never been completed.
Before this verification request, I had already received multiple payouts through Shopify Payments using the same business information and the same account without any issues.
This has had a serious financial impact on my business because Shopify Payments is my only payment provider, and I have been unable to scale my business or access my own funds for the past 25 days.
I am posting here because I no longer know what else to do. Has anyone experienced a similar situation? Is there any moderator or Shopify staff member who could help ensure that my case is actually reviewed by the specialized team?
That sounds like a payout hold caused by incomplete identity verification, even though checkout is still active. Shopify confirms that stores can often continue accepting orders while payouts remain blocked until the requested verification is resolved.
At this stage, I would avoid repeating the selfie process unless Shopify specifically asks you to. Check the store-owner email, spam folder, Merchant Alerts, and the banner under Settings → Payments for any exact document request. Then reply within the existing verification email thread and ask support to confirm:
Which verification step is failing
Whether further attempts are locked
Whether the case is currently with the Payments verification team
Whether any additional document is required
Whether the payout hold is caused only by identity verification
Only the store owner can resolve Shopify Payments verification details, and Shopify recommends responding directly to the account-hold email where possible.
Has Shopify given you one active ticket number or a specific verification email to reply to?
Hi, @melo6
I completely understand how frustrating it is to have payouts held for 25 days while orders keep coming in. An instant selfie verification failure usually means Shopify’s automated system is auto-rejecting the check before a human agent sees it. This often happens due to minor mismatches between your ID and business settings (Settings > General), poor lighting/glare, or active VPNs. Try re-completing the verification on a mobile browser in Incognito mode under bright lighting.
Please avoid opening new support tickets, as starting new chats can reset your queue position or merge tickets, delaying response times. Front-line support agents cannot directly resolve risk cases, so the best step is to reply directly to the original email thread from Shopify Support regarding your verification.
While waiting, I strongly recommend enabling a secondary gateway like PayPal Express Checkout so cash flow from new orders goes directly to your bank. Lastly, feel free to reply with your Support Ticket ID here (without personal data)—community moderators can sometimes flag overdue tickets internally to ensure they are being processed.
I have already tried completing the selfie verification multiple times using different devices, browsers, Incognito mode, different lighting conditions, and different internet connections, but it always fails instantly with the same message before any manual review takes place.
I have also avoided opening new support tickets recently because I understand that this can delay the process. My case has already been escalated several times by Shopify Support, but unfortunately I have been waiting for more than 25 days without any update from the specialized team.
My Shopify Payments account was working normally before this verification request, and I had already received multiple payouts using the exact same business information.
I have also noticed that I am not receiving emails from Shopify. I never received the follow-up emails that Shopify Support said the specialized team would send me. I also requested a Shopify Community login email, but it never arrived, while emails from other senders are delivered normally. I don’t know if this is related to my case, but I wanted to mention it in case it helps with the investigation.
My Support Ticket ID is: 69135626
If there is any way to flag my case internally so it can finally be manually reviewed by the specialized team, I would be extremely grateful.
If Shopify payment is pending verification and is not paying out, why would you still let customers keep placing orders with Shopify payments? move the payment processing to another provider like Paypal or something until it gets resolved.
25 days is a long time, i admit but never depend on another company to resolve things in a timely manner. You need to act yourself so you reduce the damage.
If it was me, the first sign of payouts not paying out, i would switch payment providers until i get it resolved. doesn’t matter if its only gonna take 5 mins or months.
Hi there @melo6
That sounds incredibly frustrating, especially with bells and whistles like payouts being held up while orders are still proccessing. I’ve also seen these types of cases, where the selfie check fails due to camera quality, browser settings, VPN use, or entered business information not matching the details on submitted docs.
In the meantime, you may want to confirm all your legal business information, id documents, and banking info are 100% exactly matched, and try submitting for verification again from a different computer, browser, and internet connection. If Shopify Payments your only gateway, you might also want to temporarily enable at least one other payment option, so you don’t lose out on sales while you get verified.