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Hardware Dev Center
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Action Required: Account Verification for Windows Hardware Program Begins October 16, 2025

NatachaC's avatar
NatachaC
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
Oct 01, 2025

Effective October 16, 2025, Microsoft will initiate mandatory account verification for all partners in the Windows Hardware Program who have not completed account verification since April 2024.  

Required Actions for Partners: 

  • Review and update your Legal Info in Partner Center to ensure it is current and accurate. 
  • Prepare to complete the account verification process when notified. 
  • Monitor your verification status on the Legal Info page in Partner Center to ensure all requirements are met and your account remains in good standing. 

To successfully complete Account Verification: 

  • The primary contact email address must be a monitored work account that can send and receive email. Generic or group email addresses are not permitted; use an individual address in the format you@yourcompany.com. 
  • The name on the government-issued ID must match the Partner Center Primary Contact. Acceptable forms of ID include a valid passport, driver’s license, or other national identification. 
  • Identity verification must be completed within 30 days of receiving the request. Failure to do so will result in rejection and suspension from the hardware program. 

Blockers that will prevent successful verification include: 

  • Failure to complete identity verification within 30 days. 
  • Primary contact email address is not a monitored work account or is a group/generic address. 
  • Mismatch between the name on the government ID and the Partner Center Primary Contact. 
  • Incomplete or outdated information in the Legal Info page on Partner Center. 

Partners who fail to complete Account Verification by the deadline, or who do not meet the requirements, will have their status set to Rejected and will be suspended from the program. 

For more information on what is required to successfully complete verification or how to check status of your account, please review Verify Your Account Information - Partner Center | Microsoft Learn. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact our support team as described on Get support for Partner Center dashboard or HLK issues - Windows drivers | Microsoft Learn. 

Updated Sep 19, 2025
Version 1.0

3 Comments

  • dftb's avatar
    dftb
    Copper Contributor
    Jan 22, 2026

    I don't recall receiving any notification.  I last signed drivers in early 2025, but on Jan 19, 2026 I needed to sign more and the account is locked out.  I can't complete the identity verification because there is no "resolve" or "fix it" button (only contact support).  Says: Identity Verification - "Estimated data by 1/15/2026", "Pending Partner Action".   The open ticket is on its forth day now with only generic response when someone just needs to take a minute to enable the ability to complete verification.   I can't get help from the link listed above because the AI won't do anything with hardware and must go through the Partner Center - Account Settings support.  You should have a special support for developers running in to this.

    • yeraibf's avatar
      yeraibf
      Copper Contributor
      Jan 23, 2026

      Hi dftb, I ran into the same issue recently. In my case the verification flow in Partner Center was stuck (no 'Resolve' or 'Fix it' button), so I opened a support ticket and asked them to reset/unblock the identity verification so I could restart it in the new verification system. After they enabled it, I was able to complete the verification, and the account was working again within about a day.

      Hope this helps, and fingers crossed they can unblock yours quickly as well.

      • dftb's avatar
        dftb
        Copper Contributor
        Jan 23, 2026

        Thanks for the encouragement.   I did get something today from a ticket I have no clue where it came from, but it had a link to complete the Identity Verification which I did and added to MS authenticator on the phone as well.  The Legal Info now says "in progress" for Identity Verification even though I completed it successfully.   Not sure if it just takes time manually to make it move pass that step?   

        I do see in the authenticator it says it shared it with "SAS T3 Support" (whatever that is).

        It took about a day then the Legal Info had a "Resolve" button that brought me to a screen with a QR code to scan using the MS Authenticator app on the phone.  I choose Verified IDs,  clicked the Scan button, Scanned the QR and allowed it to Share the ID.   After that it moved on to the next step and eventually completed in the same day.  So I'm good to go now.    

        As far as Update: Create a New Support Request | Microsoft Community Hub, that now has AI and to get past it to a screen matching the aforementioned article, I had to keep telling AI I wanted to create a new support request for the "dev center" dealing with "hardware device drivers".  You can tell it you need to Restart Identity Verification and creates a ticket that goes to Account Settings.  I can't tell you which ticket did the trick because those are still open (The one I had no clue where it came from closed as soon as they sent the link).  Took a total of 5 days.