Submitting verification documents - 'The photo ID couldn’t be verified'

[danielle_c]

I received a notification last week stating ‘The documents you uploaded were not valid. To continue using Shopify Payments, resubmit them in order to verify your business.’

I would have uploaded ID documents over a year and a half ago with no issue. Not sure why I am being asked to verify ID documents out of the blue now. I have tried numerous times to upload the very same documents again but cannot get it to work. The ID is still valid. I am getting an error message ‘The photo ID couldn’t be verified’.

It is very frustrating that you cannot contact Shopify support anymore to assist with issues like this. Can someone from Shopify please contact me to resolve this issue before this impacts my payment collections or payouts.

[Jossor]

Hi,
unfortunately i am facing the same issue, but in my case i am a new customer just about to launch my store. I have been trying to submit the verification document for the last week, yet i still get the following response: The photo ID couldn’t be verified. although i tried with 2 different documents, my passport and my residence permit, but still no result.

looking forward to see how we would solve this issue.

[Ava]

Hi @danielle_c & @Jossor !

I’m sorry to hear you are both having difficulty here. Hopefully, I can help out!

The ID you submit must be a government-issued ID that is clearly printed and in colour, it must also be in date (not expired). The image you use must be uncropped so that the edges of your passport fill the screen. Any form of government ID will be perfect, so you can use a drivers license if you don’t have a passport, and vice versa. If you’re using a drivers license, our team have advised making sure both sides of the license are uploaded and it is a clear, uncropped/edited colour image of a valid license. For example, if you took a photo of your ID with your mobile device and your ID was left on a coloured background, you would need to crop had a background so that only the ID is showing. You must also ensure that the information on your ID matches the information we have on file for you: full name, date of birth, address, etc.

Let me know how you get on!

Ava
Social Care | help.shopify.com

Could you try uploading again and making sure none of the image is being cut off, and that it is very clear?

[cbkev]

I’m getting the same. I keep thinking It’s worked, and then I get the same message again a few hours later. I’ve tried a few times, I upload both sides of the driving license, it’s in colour, nothing is cropped off, I don’t understand what the issue is.

Also, I’m uploading the company registration document, as a Jpg, it’s the registration document from companies house, you keep rejecting it.

Thanks

[Ava]

I’m sorry to hear that, @cbkev !

Can you confirm that your full name, date of birth and your address on your ID exactly matches what is on file in your Shopify admin? For example, documents can sometimes be rejected if you’ve included your middle name in the Shopify admin, but it is not shown on your ID, or are you using a newer address in your admin than what you have listed on your ID. There can be many reasons an ID might not be accepted, so if we could narrow things down a bit here, I’m sure we can get this sorted out for you.

Let me know!

Ava
Social Care | help.shopify.com

[cbkev]

Hi Eva,

Thanks for your reply

Yes, this is all correct. I’ve had an email now from support, and this is what they’re saying (I replied yesterday but I’ve not heard back yet, I’m sure they’re very busy):

By the way I’ve hidden the full address and just used (rest of address)

"Here’s what we need:

Business Registration Document

Unit 1, (rest of address)

Proof of address dated within 90 days

Unit 1, (rest of address)

What you need to do:
Please visit your store’s admin:

https://www.cworks.co.uk/admin to securely upload a scanned or photographed color copy of a government-issued photo ID that matches the name of the Shopify Payments account owner.

Our analysts will review your ID within 3 business days. During that time your payouts will be temporarily paused — but not to worry, your Shopify account will continue to operate as normal and customers will still be able to purchase from your store."

---

This address, unit 1, is my office address, it’s what I’d initially put in “store address”.

I’d assumed what they wanted was the certificate or incorporation, is it another document that they’re asking for here?

I’m not sure why they’re asking for a business registration document at this address, the registration document doesn’t have an address on - do you know exactly what they’re asking for? I’d submitted my certification of incorporation, and there is no address on this.

When they say they want a government issued photo ID, and they’re listing my office address again, I’m confused - why would a government issued photo ID have my office address on it? I’m assuming this means they’re rejecting my driving license as it contains my home address, which doesn’t match the store address they’re quoting?

Thanks in advance

[Jossor]

Hi Eva,

Thanks for your support! I used my passport and followed your instructions, but still haven’t managed to get it work. Now, i am getting this notification in my account

which means i can’t try to upload anything at the moment, and every time i hit the button “Contact support” it redirects me here:

which i already took a look at it but could not find something useful for my situation.

Could you please advise on how to proceeds form here.

Thanks in advance.

[Jossor]

@Ava
Hi Ava,

I would like to share a new update with you.

Now, I can see a new notification as in (SS 1) indicating the reason for refusing my document, which is good because now we know the problem. The bad news is that i can’t find the button which links me to where i can update my Date Of Birth as in(SS 2). I did some searching on youtube and it appears to me that there should be an Edit button as in (SS 3) and (SS 4).

Could you please let me know if i am missing something here, or maybe you have a suggestion to share.

Please be advised that SS 2, SS 3, SS 4 are all screenshots taken from Youtube.

Thanks in advance

Jossor.

SS 1:

SS 2:

SS 3:

SS 4:

[Ava]

Hey, @cbkev !

No problem at all, I can go through those options with you now:

The first request is to verify your business address: you’ve mentioned your certification of incorporation doesn’t have an address attached. That’s ok! If you have anything else with that address it can help with our review, such as a utility bill, you can use that also. If you do not have any business documentation with an address, then, of course, that’s not something you can upload! You can use the “Upload documents” button in the admin and submit your information there, so you can use the added comment box for added details like that.

The second request is to verify your personal identity, so the team are looking for an official document for photo ID like a passport or driver’s license with your photo and home address. When setting up Shopify Payments, if you added your business address rather than your personal address, we can fix this for you! You can again use the “Upload documents” button to submit your information and use the comment box to explain the situation. We can then change the address on file to match if you like!

Let me know what you think!

Ava
Social Care | help.shopify.com

[Ava]

Hey, @Jossor !

Not to worry, I can ask our team to edit that for you internally. I’ve reached out to the email address linked to your Community Forums account here, would you be able to reply to that email? If you can, I’ll be able to authenticate you as the account owner so I can look into this issue for you. You should see my email in your inbox under ticket #19976061. If you can reply to that email, we can get started!

Speak soon!

Ava
Social Care | help.shopify.com

[Carleenfitz]

I am facing the same problem. I have been using Shopify as a new customer and now have payments sitting waiting to be paid and it is now saying to submit new ID. I have done this several times and now it is saying the address doesn’t match. However it actually does so I don’t know why it is saying this. Please help??

[cbkev]

I got in touch with support and they eventually sorted it, with me it was because I’d used my driving licence for both photo ID and proof of address I think, and they were wanting separate documents, also there was some confusion re which address they were wanting me to confirm, my home address or the business address. Also they were wanting to see an address on the business registration document, but there isn’t an address on the company registration documents issued via companies house, so they managed to verify my another way, we got there in the end :-).

Good luck!

[Ava]

Hi, @Carleenfitz !

There can sometimes be confusion over the type of ID needed for verification. If you’ve already provided a passport ID that was accepted, then a valid proof of address may be needed here, not a photo ID. The proof of address is needed for the business representative (your name), not the company name. So the ID you would need to submit should show your name and the address stated on the file. This is the address listed under Settings > General! If you do have a document for proof of address (a utility/electric bill) with your name and address, you can submit it through the admin home screen. When you log in, you should see a banner in the admin asking you to submit documents, you can submit it there!

The address used when setting up your Shopify Payments initially has already been submitted to our banking partners, but it can still be changed if you need it? You can reply here and let me know if you need to change this, I can chat with our Accounts team about setting that up for you.

Could you try that and let me know how you get on? Just to make sure that was the issue and that it was resolved for you!

Ava
Social Care | help.shopify.com

[peekabloombaby]

I also got a notice to verify my ID.

My issue is that my website has transferred ownership (to me) a year and a half go. The ID it wants me to verify is the previous owner.

All details were updated at the time of transfer to my information. (or so i thought). I don’t know where to go from here

[Ava]

Hey, @peekabloombaby ,

I’m so sorry to hear that! At the time of the transfer, do you know if your name was added to the Shopify Payments account also? If they were, then you should be fine to go ahead and submit your own ID, as your name would be the business owners!

Have you tried with your ID and then seen an error message pop up?

Speak soon!

Ava
Social Care | help.shopify.com

[Khalid-C]

Dear Ava,

I am facing the same problem! I have created a new Shopify account as a new customer and I have issues with payments setting is still on hold and they are asking me to submit the ID and proof of address. I have done all this several times, and always I get the message ‘the address doesn’t match.

What happened I think that the address used when I was setting up the Shopify Payments initially has been submitted wrong to your banking partners, please could you help me to change it to be the same as the address I have in my shoplifty account?

Cheers,

[Ava]

Hey @Khalid-C ,

I’m sorry to hear you’re having some issues uploading your ID. I can see you’ve spoken to my colleague Hank on this thread on the same topic! Your ID is now with our Accounts team so they can verify it, they will be back in touch as soon as they have more information for you. You can speak with them about the address that was initially submitted and if you need to change it. They would be able to resolve this for you soon, thank you for your patience here.

Let me know if you have any more questions, happy to help!

Ava
Social Care | help.shopify.com

[Khalid-C]

Hello Eva,

Thanks for your feedback! I am waiting for the response from your team, yes indeed I want to change the address that was initially filled in, I want to put the same address as the documents sent.
Thanks again for your intervention!

Cheers,

[Gaulavana]

Documents are so important now in our time, especially with a pandemic!!

[ken30]

Hello, I am someone who’s just starting as well and got rejected too. How can I have business document when I just started my store? Also my ID was rejected as well.