What global employers should know about digital identity checks, from a VP of People & Culture

Digital identity checks give employers a practical way to confirm that a candidate is who they claim to be before other screening begins. For HR teams recruiting internationally, they are particularly useful when candidates and hiring teams may never meet in person. Veremark supports background screening across more than 180 countries, and certain identity checks can be completed within 1 to 3 days, helping employers establish identity early without adding unnecessary delays to hiring.

I have spent enough time in HR to know that some of the simplest questions become surprisingly difficult once hiring crosses borders.

One of them is: How do we know this candidate is actually who they say they are?

When everyone worked in the same office and recruitment happened locally, checking a passport in person felt fairly routine. Global and remote hiring have changed that. Today, I might be working with a candidate thousands of miles away, whom the hiring manager has only ever met on video.

That is where digital identity checks have become useful.

What is a digital identity check?

A digital identity check verifies a person's identity electronically.

Depending on the service and country, the process can involve checking a passport, national identity card or other accepted document, confirming that the document appears genuine, and matching the document to the person completing the check.

Some checks also use biometric verification, such as comparing a live photograph with the image shown on an identity document.

From an HR perspective, the purpose is quite simple. Before I rely on someone's employment history, qualifications or other background information, I want reasonable confidence that I am checking the right person.

Veremark's identity checks can be incorporated into a wider pre-employment screening process, allowing hiring teams to manage identity verification alongside other checks.

Why should employers verify identity before running other background checks?

Because every other background check depends on the identity attached to it.

This sounds obvious, but it is easy to overlook when a hiring team is concentrating on deadlines, references and start dates.

Imagine that a candidate submits an impressive employment history and qualifications. You verify both successfully. The information may be perfectly accurate, yet that does not help if the person applying has used someone else's identity.

Identity verification gives the rest of the screening process a reliable starting point.

I find it useful to think of it as the first question in the process: Who are we actually checking?

Once that has been established, employers can move on to the checks that make sense for the role, such as employment history verification, education checks or criminal record screening where permitted.

What do digital identity checks verify?

They usually verify identity-related information rather than a candidate's entire background.

Depending on the type of check, this can include the candidate's legal name, date of birth, identity document and whether the person presenting that document appears to be its legitimate holder.

That distinction matters.

An identity check does not prove that somebody worked at the company listed on their CV. It does not confirm their university degree. It does not automatically establish their legal right to work in a particular country.

Those are separate questions and may require separate checks.

For HR teams, that means the screening process should be built around the risks associated with the role rather than applying the same group of checks to everyone.

Are identity checks the same as right to work checks?

No.

This is one of the questions I see employers confuse most often.

An identity check establishes whether someone appears to be the person they claim to be. A right to work check establishes whether that person has the legal permission required to work in a particular country.

One does not automatically prove the other.

The exact rules also depend on where the employee will be working. Employers hiring internationally need to follow the requirements of the relevant jurisdiction rather than assuming that a process accepted in one country will work everywhere else.

For UK hiring, for example, employers should follow the applicable right to work checking requirements.

Why are digital checks useful for global employers?

The practical benefit becomes very clear once you recruit across several countries.

A recruiter in London may be onboarding someone in Singapore while another HR colleague is hiring in Australia. Asking candidates to appear at an office with original documents quickly becomes difficult.

A digital process allows the candidate to complete identity verification remotely.

That can also create a more consistent experience for HR. Rather than different recruiters collecting passport copies through email or improvising their own process, identity verification can sit within a defined screening workflow.

Veremark provides background screening across more than 180 countries, which means international hiring teams can manage checks across a broad range of markets through one provider.

For organisations hiring internationally, this can also sit within a wider approach to international background checks.

How long do digital identity checks take?

Timing depends on the type of identity check, the country and whether the candidate submits the required information correctly.

Some simple identity checks can return within hours, while Veremark's published turnaround for its 100-point identity check is 1 to 3 days.

That speed matters more than it may sound.

Screening often happens at the point when a candidate has accepted an offer and everyone wants the process to move. A delayed check can affect a confirmed start date, payroll preparation or system access.

For HR, visibility is just as valuable as speed. I would rather know exactly where a check stands than spend my afternoon sending follow-up emails asking for an update.

What should employers look for in an identity checking provider?

I would start with coverage and the actual verification being carried out.

Ask which identity documents are supported in the countries where you recruit. Check whether the service assesses document authenticity, verifies the person presenting it, or simply collects a copy.

Then look at the candidate experience.

Identity verification involves asking someone to share highly sensitive personal information at a point when they are still forming an opinion of your organisation. Instructions need to be clear, the process should work well on the devices candidates actually use, and personal information needs to be handled appropriately.

For international hiring, local requirements matter as well. Data protection rules, acceptable documents and employment screening requirements differ between countries. A global process still needs to account for those differences.

Where should digital identity checks sit in the hiring process?

Usually near the beginning of formal pre-employment screening.

Once a candidate has reached the stage at which checks are appropriate and the necessary consent has been obtained, confirming identity creates a sensible foundation for everything that follows.

That is how I would approach digital identity checks as an HR professional. I would not treat them as another administrative box to tick. I would use them to answer the first question that the rest of the screening process depends on: Are we checking the right person?

For global employers, getting that answer early makes the rest of the hiring decision far easier to trust.