The process of ID verification includes the following steps:

1. Applicants upload photos of their ID documents via WebSDK or MobileSDK. This can also be done by you via Sumsub API.
2. Sumsub checks the submitted documents for authenticity, image integrity, and validates document data.
3. The extracted data is checked against external sources using our Database Validation solution. Note this step applies only if you have this service enabled on your account.
4. You handle verification results.

There are certain requirements that ID documents must meet to successfully pass verification. These requirements are applied to the original document, its contents and photo characteristics.

Document requirements

The ID documents must meet the following requirements:

• The document validity period lies within the limits set in Minimum residual validity of ID document. You can set this parameter in Global settings.
• The document is not scratched, stained, or torn.
• The applicant's full name, date of birth, MRZ (Machine Readable Zone), and other important information are present and readable.
• All the documents in the applicant profile must belong to the same person.

Sumsub can process IDs in 40+ languages from 220+ countries and territories. To see if your ID document is supported, follow this link.

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Tip

To get a complete list of extended documents organized by jurisdiction that includes new validity periods, contact your customer success manager or our support team.

Content requirements

ID documents must contain:

• Owner full name, date of birth, photo, and (if applicable) a signature.
• Document number.
• Validity data (issue date or validity period).

Photo requirements

The ID document photo should meet the following requirements:

• The file is an original photo (static image), scan, or a screenshot (if allowed) in JPG, JPEG, PNG, PDF, or HEIC.
• If the document has data on the front and back sides, the photos of both sides should be uploaded.
• The file size is no less than 100 KB or 300 DPI.
• The photo is in color.
• The information in the document is readable.
• All corners of the document are visible, and no foreign objects or graphic elements are present.
• The uploaded photo has not been edited with any software or converted to PDF.
• The document is not digital (in most cases).

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Note

You are allowed to provide a notarized copy of your identity document. All the documents issued in breakaway regions are not accepted by default.

Supported languages

We support all languages, including Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Cyrillic, and Semitic, with the following exceptions:

• For Amharic, Bengali, Burmese, Dari, Dhivehi, Hindi, Khmer (Cambodian), Kinyarwanda, Mongolian, Nepali, and Sinhalese, we only accept documents with Latin characters. If the document is submitted with the country-specific characters, a notarized translation must be provided.
• Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Lao are available upon request at an additional cost. For more information, contact your Customer Success Manager.

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Did you know?

Our OCR engine extracts both local and Latin characters from the documents. In addition, we provide a built-in transliteration module that transforms all of the local characters into Latin in accordance with the rules stipulated by the country.

Document authenticity and integrity checks

Sumsub checks the uploaded document image to detect signs of electronic editing, tampering, generation, or inconsistencies with the expected document design. These checks help confirm that the image represents an official document and has not been altered before submission.

Sumsub analyzes both the image file and the document shown in the image. This includes checking the following:

• Software signatures
• File metadata
• Document templates
• Fonts
• Required fields
• Inscriptions
• Security features
• Other signals that may indicate manipulation or mismatch with the original document format

Image tampering analysis

Sumsub checks the uploaded image for traces of electronic editing or other image manipulation. This helps detect whether the image may have been modified before submission.

The analysis includes checking software signatures and other technical characteristics of the uploaded file. A software signature may include:

• File metadata
• Compression parameters
• Vendor or software-specific tags
• File sections
• Other technical characteristics

Sumsub uses an extensive database of camera and software signatures to determine the source of an image, detect traces of modification software, and estimate the risk of intentional image tampering. This helps distinguish potential fraud attempts from common cosmetic changes, such as cropping, resizing, or rotation.

Document template and field consistency

Sumsub compares the uploaded document image with templates from the database of original documents. This helps detect whether the document matches the expected official format.

The analysis includes checking:

• General conformity to the template.
• Font originality and compliance with the relevant standards, such as width and spaces between letters.
• Required fields and inscriptions.
• Overall consistency of the document appearance and layout.
• Image quality.
• Capture conditions, such as lighting, angle, blur, glare, cropping, and available image metadata.
• Document texture and visual characteristics.
• Signs of tampering, editing, or generation.

Security features

Sumsub uses machine learning models based on document templates to identify patterns related to document authenticity and tampering. Instead of checking individual features separately, the system evaluates the document as a whole and considers security features as part of the broader analysis.

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Note

While the presence or absence of a security feature is a strong signal, it alone does not reliably indicate document authenticity.

Verification results depend on multiple factors considered together. These factors may affect the verification decision depending on their visibility and how well they match the document design.

Security features may include:

Data validation

At the final step, the data extracted from the document is checked against various sources, including our sanctions and watchlists database.

Potentially matching data from various sanctions and watchlists is compared against the applicant profile to determine if the applicant name matches one or more watchlist records and to assign a certain match status.

Depending on the match status, the applicant is either approved or declined, or—in controversial cases—delegated to your compliance officers for manual processing.