This guide is for individuals going through a Persona-powered identity verification flow. While we’ve included helpful tips, the verification was set up by the business, service, or organization that asked you to verify. They use Persona as a tool, and they ultimately decide what’s required and can assist with your specific situation, if you’re having trouble.
What happens to your progress
Photos and scans are sent as you go, so a step you have already completed is usually safe. The step that was in flight when the signal cut out is the one that has to be done again.
If the drop lasted a while, you may come back to a session that has closed rather than to the step you left. That is a separate message, and I see a “Session Expired” error. covers it.
Pick it back up
- Get a stable signal first, before you reopen anything. Reconnecting mid step just drops you again.
- Reopen the link the business sent you. Use the original link or email rather than the back button.
- Redo the step you were on when it cut out.
Avoid a second drop
- Do not walk around while a capture or a chip scan is running. Moving between rooms, or in and out of range, is the most common cause of a drop partway.
- Pick one network and stay on it. A phone that keeps handing off between weak Wi-Fi and mobile data interrupts uploads. If your Wi-Fi is patchy, turn it off and use mobile data for the few minutes the verification flow takes.
- Get off a busy or restricted network. Guest Wi-Fi in a hotel, cafe, airport, or office can be slow enough to time a step out, and some corporate networks block parts of the flow outright.
- Turn off a VPN for the duration if you are using one, then turn it back on afterwards.
- Charge the phone or plug it in. Low Power Mode limits background activity and the camera, which makes a stalled step more likely.
If it keeps dropping in the same place
A step that always fails at the same point is more likely a camera, chip, or document problem than a network one. See I see a “Something went wrong” error for how to tell the difference, or Verification is stuck on loading if the screen never moves at all.