Completing KYC verification - additional documents needed

To complete your KYC verification, you need to ensure that you are providing the correct supporting documents that match the requirements. Since your domain is verified, you may need to upload additional documents that demonstrate your business identity.

1. Certificate of Employment: This document is typically a letter from your employer that confirms your employment status, including your job title and the duration of your employment. It may be used as secondary supporting documentation if your primary documents are not sufficient or are older than 12 months.
2. Other Acceptable Documents: Besides the Certificate of Employment, you can also provide other types of documents such as:
   • Government issued letters, business licenses, or registrations.
   • Formation documents like articles of incorporation or partnership deeds.
   • Lease or tenancy agreements.
   • Letters or statements from financial institutions or utility companies.

Make sure that all documents are dated within the past 12 months and clearly display your company name and business address as they appear in your KYC application. If you have any documents that meet these criteria, upload them to complete your verification.

If you continue to face issues with the document upload, you may want to contact Microsoft support for further assistance.

References:

• Validate your business identity with PSTN operators using Know Your Customer
• What is the “Know Your Business Customer” requirement for company accounts?

Dear @Ryan Strickler,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum.

I’m sorry to hear about the difficulty you’re experiencing with the Know Your Customer (KYC) business verification process, especially when the system only seems to accept Domain Verification documents for the “business verified” step.

As a forum moderator, I genuinely wish I could directly access your account or delve into the backend systems to diagnose and fix this for you. However, our role here is limited to providing general guidance and solutions that can be applied by users.  

From my research, the issue is that Microsoft often separates the verification process into two stages: Domain Verification (DV) and Business Verification (BV). You've completed the DV, but the BV is where the system needs recent legal/financial proof of your company's existence and address, dated within the last 12 months.

The reason the system keeps showing the Domain Verification upload is likely because the verification process requires the correct Primary Supporting Document first before allowing secondary types.

Since your domain purchase invoice from October 2024 is too old, you must use a different, more recent document to satisfy the "issued within the last 12 months" requirement for the Business Verification.

The acceptable documents must clearly display your legal company name and business address and be dated within the last 12 months. Choose the newest document from this list:

• Utility Bill or Financial Statement: A recent (within the last 12 months) letter or statement from a financial institution (bank statement) or a utility company (electric, water, or internet bill) that lists the company's full legal name and current address.
• Government Documents: A recently issued government-issued letter, business license, registration, or tax certificate (such as an official business registration form).
• Extract from Commercial Register: A recent extract from your government's commercial register website.
• Lease Documents: A current lease or tenancy document (if signed within the last 12 months).

If the portal is stubbornly only showing the Domain Verification upload, try these steps:

• Check the Verification Summary: Navigate away from the upload screen (usually to Account Settings or Legal Info in Partner Center/Admin Center) and look for the detailed verification summary. This page often has a link next to the "Challenged" or "Rejected" status that allows you to start the Business Verification (BV) upload flow directly.
• Check for DUNS ID Entry: If available, entering your company's DUNS ID is the fastest and most reliable way to complete Business Verification, as it often bypasses the document upload requirement entirely.

For your second question, the document type "Certificate of Employment" (COE) is a Secondary Supporting Document, typically used for Employment Verification, not primary Business Verification.

A Certificate of Employment (or Employment Verification Letter) is:

• A formal letter, typically on company letterhead, that confirms an individual's employment with the company.
• It states the employee's full name, job title, start date, and the company's name and address.
• Microsoft sometimes uses this to confirm that the Primary Contact (the person submitting the documents) is a legitimate employee of the company and that their email domain is owned by the business, acting as a secondary verification for the Domain/Email ownership.

For more information, I recommend checking the answer and the link provided by the Q&A Assist above to see if it helps.
For problems of this nature, I recommend that the Global Admin in your organization create a service request with Microsoft Support. A technical support engineer can perform a remote session to investigate the situation, verify the backend configurations, and run any necessary synchronization tools to resolve the problem. If the issue requires further attention, they can escalate it to a specialized team for deeper analysis. Ask The Global Admin in your organization to create a service request with Microsoft support to get advanced technical assistance and diagnostics. For detailed instructions on how to get support, please refer to Get support - Microsoft 365 admin. If you don't know who your IT administrator is, please refer to this article: How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin? - Microsoft Support 

For additional assistance, use this link to find the appropriate contact number: Global Customer Service phone numbers - Microsoft Support 

I hope the information provided useful. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments so I can continue to support you. Thank you for your patience and understanding. I'm looking forward to your reply.

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