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.
There is more than one clock
People assume there is a single deadline. There are usually three, and they are the reason a link can work fine one minute and refuse you the next.
- The link. The link the business sent you stays valid for a set period, commonly a day, after which it stops opening. The business can make that window shorter or longer.
- The session. Once you open the link, your place in the verification flow is held by your browser. Close the tab, open the link in a different browser, or switch to a private window, and that place is gone even if the link itself is still good.
- The handoff code. If you move from a computer to your phone by scanning a code, that code has its own, much shorter life, often around an hour. It is meant for right now, not for later.
Every one of these lengths is a setting the business chose. There is no single number that is true for every Persona verification, which is why we describe them rather than quote them.
Why the limits are short
A verification link is a door into a step where you hand over a document and a photo of your face. The longer that door stays open, the longer it is available to anyone who gets hold of the link, including from a forwarded message or a shared screen. Short windows are one of the plainest protections there is for the information you are about to submit.
How to avoid running out
- Do it in one sitting. Have your document with you and a few uninterrupted minutes before you start.
- Stay in the same tab. Do not reopen the link somewhere else partway through.
- Do not forward the link to another device by email or message. Use the handoff option in the flow if you need to switch. See Device handoff: continue verification on another device.
- Finish a handoff quickly once you have scanned the code.
- Come back to a message you have already read rather than waiting on a new one, since the clock started when the link was created, not when you opened it.
If your time has already run out
Which article you need depends on what you saw:
- The link will not open at all: My verification link has expired
- You were partway through and got sent back: I see a “Session Expired” error.
- You need a fresh start: How do I get a new verification link?
In all three cases the business that asked you to verify is the one who can issue a new link, and asking for one is routine. Some can also resume the verification you started, so the steps you already finished do not have to be repeated. It is worth asking for that specifically.