PPSN, IPN and VIF: Director Identity Requirements Explained

If you are appointing a director to an Irish company, one requirement stops applications dead more often than any other: the director identity requirements Ireland applies at the CRO.

Since June 2023, every director named on certain CRO filings must supply either a PPSN or an IPN. There is no exemption, no workaround and no “we’ll sort it later” option — without one of these numbers, your Form A1 cannot be filed and your company cannot be incorporated.

For Irish-resident directors this is usually a non-event. For non-resident directors it is the single biggest source of delay in company formation, and the rules changed again in April 2026.

Why the requirement exists

The obligation comes from the Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021. The purpose is protective rather than bureaucratic.

Before it, anyone could download a Form A1 or B10 from the public register and read a director’s name, address, date of birth, nationality, occupation and signature. That is more than enough to impersonate someone, and companies were being incorporated in the names of people who knew nothing about it.

Requiring a verified identity number means no director can be registered without confirming who they are. It also lets the CRO link the multiple records that build up when the same person is a director of several companies.

Importantly, the number itself is not published. It is stored in encrypted form, is not visible on any public document, and is used only to validate the director’s identity.

PPSN: the standard route

A Personal Public Service Number is the identifier issued by the Department of Social Protection. If a director holds one, it must be used — there is no choice in the matter.

The CRO checks the name and date of birth you file against the details the Department holds. This is where most rejections happen, and the reason is almost always mundane: a middle name included on one record but not the other, a married name against a maiden name, or first and last name entered in the wrong fields. The matching is exact. Treat a name like a date of birth.

Which filings are affected

Director identity numbers are required on the core filings, including:

• Form A1 — company incorporation
• Form B1 — the annual return
• Form B10 — change of director or secretary
• Form B69 — notification by a director of a change

Before incorporation, or before being appointed a director, an individual must already have a PPSN or an IPN in place.

If you think you might already have a PPSN

Check before applying for anything else. Directors who previously worked or studied in Ireland often hold a PPSN without remembering it. This matters more than it sounds: submitting a VIF application where a PPSN already exists is an offence.

IPN: the route for directors without a PPSN

Many directors of Irish companies live abroad and have no reason to hold a PPSN. For them, the CRO issues an Identified Person Number.

An IPN does the same job as a PPSN for CRO purposes. Once issued, it belongs to that individual and can be used on all their future filings — you apply once, not per company.

If you already have an RBO number

Where a non-resident director was previously issued an RBO number for beneficial ownership filings because they had no PPSN, that number has been reclassified as an IPN. In that case no separate application is needed.

Form VIF: how to get an IPN from the CRO

The Form VIF — Declaration as to Verification of Identity is the application. It records the person’s name, date of birth, nationality and address, and the declarant solemnly declares those details to be true.

The declaration must be witnessed. In Ireland that means a notary public or a practising solicitor; outside Ireland, a notary. The completed form is then uploaded through the CRO’s online portal, CORE.

Only one VIF is needed per person. Once processed and the IPN issued, that number is reusable indefinitely.

The April 2026 change: no more online witnessing

This is the part that catches people out in 2026.

The CRO amended the VIF form with effect from midnight on 30 April 2026, citing serious concerns about the integrity of online witnessing. From that date, the CRO will only accept forms witnessed and signed with the witness and the declarant physically in the same room. Remote or virtual witnessing, including online notarisation, is no longer accepted.

Two practical consequences:

1. 1Previous versions of the VIF form are rejected. Use only the current version, available on CORE.
2. 2Overseas directors must arrange an in-person appointment with a notary in their own country. If you had planned around a remote service, that plan no longer works.

Electronic and digital signatures have never been accepted on a VIF, and still are not. The form is signed in wet ink.

Former directors and the VIFa

A separate problem arises with dormant or strike-off-listed companies: an annual return needs filing, but a former director has left, cannot be contacted, or has died — and their PPSN is required to complete the filing.

For these cases the CRO provides Form VIFa, a declaration by a current director or secretary seeking an IPN for a former director, filed alongside a Form B10 so the register is brought up to date.

Planning around it

The identity step is not difficult. It is simply slower than people expect, and it sits at the very start of the chain — nothing else in the formation can proceed without it.

If you are forming a company with non-resident directors, treat the IPN as step one rather than a formality to handle alongside everything else. Our guide to registering an Irish company as a non-resident covers the wider requirements, including the EEA-resident director rule and the Section 137 bond.

If speed is the priority and the identity process would delay a live opportunity, a shelf company may be worth considering — though director appointments to that company will still require the same verification.

Frequently asked questions