Verify international businesses

Middesk verifies businesses registered outside the United States. Middesk uses the international addresses you submit to identify which countries to search for registrations, and you can also provide known registration numbers directly. Either way, Middesk enriches the results with verified data from international registry sources and returns them in the same registrations format you already use for US Secretary of State data — giving you a single, unified view of a business across every jurisdiction.

How to trigger international verification

Add an international_business_verification order when you create a business. Read the quickstart for an example workflow.

Built on the API you already use

International Business Verification uses the same POST /v1/businesses endpoint, the same authentication, the same Business object and webhooks, and the same registrations response shape you work with today. If you already integrate with Middesk, the entire delta is:

One new product: add international_business_verification to the orders array.
One new optional input field: supply known registration numbers through the registrations array. If you omit it, Middesk searches based on the submitted address.
One new optional endpoint: POST /v1/businesses/{id}/registrations to add registrations to a business after creation.
A few new values on the registration object: country_code, jurisdiction_details, and additional jurisdiction enums.

There are no breaking changes, and nothing changes for your existing US verifications.

How Middesk verifies international businesses

To order international verification, include an international_business_verification order and provide an international address, a known registration number, or both.

If you provide only an address, Middesk searches for registrations in that country.
If you already have a registration number, pass it in the registrations array and Middesk looks it up directly.

Middesk then enriches every result with verified data from international registry sources and returns it under the existing registrations key, normalized to the same shape as US registrations.

International verification flow

How Middesk verifies an international business

How to verify an international business

Create a business with an international verification order

Submit a business with the same fields you use today, plus an international_business_verification order. Provide an international address, a known registration number, or both.

Create a business with an international address

$ curl -X POST https://api.middesk.com/v1/businesses \
>   -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
>   -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
>   -d '{
>     "name": "Acme Corp",
>     "addresses": [
>       { "full_address": "111 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (K1A 0A9)" }
>     ],
>     "registrations": [
>       {
>         "file_number": "123",
>         "country_code": "CA",
>         "jurisdiction_details": { "abbr": "AB" }
>       }
>     ],
>     "orders": [{ "product": "international_business_verification" }]
>   }'

Wait for verification to complete

Middesk sends a business.updated webhook when verification completes. Set up webhooks to receive notifications.

Review the results

Retrieve the business to read the enriched international registrations under the registrations key, and check the review tasks on the Business object.

Add a registration to an existing business

Use POST /v1/businesses/{id}/registrations to add a single international registration to a business after creation. Middesk automatically creates a new International Business Verification order. To add multiple registrations, call this endpoint once per registration.

Add a registration to an existing business

$ curl -X POST https://api.middesk.com/v1/businesses/{business_id}/registrations \
>   -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
>   -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
>   -d '{
>     "file_number": "UK-999999",
>     "country_code": "GB"
>   }'

Registration input fields

Each object in the registrations array accepts the following fields.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`file_number`	string	Yes	The registration or filing number in the foreign jurisdiction.
`country_code`	string	Yes	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code (e.g., `FR`, `DE`, `GB`).
`jurisdiction_details.abbr`	string	No*	Sub-national jurisdiction abbreviation such as a province, state, or region, passed as `{"jurisdiction_details": {"abbr": "AB"}}`.

Canada requires a sub-national jurisdiction

jurisdiction_details.abbr is required when country_code is CA.

Understanding the registration response

International registrations are returned under the existing registrations key in the GET /v1/businesses/{id} response — the same place US registrations appear today. Each registration object shares the same shape described in the Registration object reference.

The following new fields support international registrations.

Field	Description
`country_code`	`US` for domestic registrations, or an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for international registrations (e.g., `FR`, `DE`, `GB`).
`jurisdiction_details`	Object with the sub-national jurisdiction `name` and `abbr`. Present for international registrations only, and `null` for US.
`submitted`	`true` if you submitted the registration, `false` if Middesk sourced it.

Jurisdiction values

The existing jurisdiction field indicates the relationship between a business and the jurisdiction where it’s registered. Today, US registrations use DOMESTIC for the business’s home state and FOREIGN for a different state. International registrations extend this field with equivalent values for other countries.

Value	Context
`DOMESTIC`	US — registered in the home state.
`FOREIGN`	US — registered outside the home state.
`HOME`	Canada — registered in the home province.
`EXTRA_PROVINCIAL`	Canada — registered outside the home province.
`UNKNOWN`	US or Canada — the relationship could not be determined.
`null`	All other international registrations, where the jurisdiction concept does not apply.

The following example shows a fully enriched Canadian registration returned under the registrations key.

Example international registration (Canada)

1 {
2   "object": "registration",
3   "id": "9b2e7c14-5d3a-4f8b-a1c2-6e7f8d9a0b12",
4   "business_id": "6fa5f1bd-afc8-49e4-985e-77cb2f0c28c1",
5   "name": "ACME CORP",
6   "status": "active",
7   "sub_status": "GOOD_STANDING",
8   "status_details": null,
9   "jurisdiction": "HOME",
10   "jurisdiction_details": {
11     "name": "Alberta",
12     "abbr": "AB"
13   },
14   "entity_type": "CORPORATION",
15   "file_number": "123",
16   "country_code": "CA",
17   "state": null,
18   "addresses": [
19     "111 WELLINGTON STREET, OTTAWA, ON K1A 0A9, CANADA"
20   ],
21   "officers": [],
22   "registered_agent": null,
23   "registration_date": "2019-04-12",
24   "source": null,
25   "submitted": true
26 }

Review the results

When an international_business_verification order completes, Middesk generates review tasks that summarize the verification results. These tasks appear in the tasks array of the Review object under the registrations category — the same structure used for US Secretary of State data.

See international verification review tasks for each task, status, and message.

Next steps

International verification review tasks

Understand the review tasks Middesk generates for international registrations.

Registration object

Review every field returned on a registration record.

Get a demo

Contact your account manager or contact sales to inquire about access.