International Business Search: API Quickstart

This quickstart covers the Business Verification side of Baselayer International Search product, which returns corporate registration data for businesses in 75+ supported jurisdictions. For the conceptual overview (and for international Web Presence), see Baselayer International Products.

Note: International Business Search is API-only for now, and uses a separate route from the US Business Search (/international/searches, not /searches). The two are not interchangeable.

Before you start

You need a Baselayer API key. Requests are authenticated the same way as every other Baselayer endpoint. See Authentication.
You can develop against the sandbox before going live. See Sandbox vs. Production.
Every request must include an iso2_country_code (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, e.g. GB, DE, CA). It must be one of the 75+ supported countries listed in the Basics guide.

Step 1: Choose how you'll search

POST /international/searches accepts two ways to identify a business. Both require iso2_country_code.

Mode	Provide
Name + address	`name` and `address`
Registration number	`filing_number`

Name + address is the standard approach, and all you need for the vast majority of searches, treat it as your default.

The registration number is a good optional input to offer alongside it. In many countries, owners and finance staff know their company's registration number by heart, so letting them enter it is fast and familiar. When filing_number is provided, the registry is searched by that number first; a name, if also provided, is used as a fallback when no company matches the number.

Tip: Label the registration-number field with the local term so users recognize it: for example, in Spain it's the CIF. See Best Practices for more.

Step 2 (optional add-on): Offer a registration lookup

This step is entirely optional and not needed for a great result. If you find match rates in a particular market could be better, you can offer users a smoother path: look up candidates with GET /international/registrations, show them the list, and let them pick the right one. Then search using that result's filing_number.

GET /international/registrations?iso2_country_code=GB&name=Acme%20Ltd

Query parameters: iso2_country_code, name, and/or filing_number. The endpoint returns a list of matching registrations to choose from. Take the filing_number of the chosen result and use it in Step 3.

Think of this as a nice enhancement, not a requirement: a plain name + address search is a perfectly good one-step flow.

Step 3: Create the search

By name + address:

POST /international/searches

{
    "name": "Acme Ltd",
    "address": "1 Parliament St, London SW1A 2JR, United Kingdom",
    "iso2_country_code": "GB"
}

By filing number (e.g. a filing_number chosen from Step 2):

POST /international/searches

{
    "filing_number": "01234567",
    "iso2_country_code": "GB"
}

Optional fields (either mode): officer_names, website, phone_number, email, alternative_names, and reference_id (your internal tracking ID).

Enhanced Profile add-on: to also return directors, ultimate beneficial owners, shareholders, and share capital where available, request the Order.Enhanced option. It is billed separately, and cost varies per country.

POST /international/searches

{
    "filing_number": "01234567",
    "iso2_country_code": "GB",
    "options": ["Order.Enhanced"]
}

Step 4: Get the results

International Business Search is asynchronous. The POST returns immediately with an id; retrieve results when the search completes, via webhook (recommended) or polling.

GET /international_searches/{id}
GET /international_searches

Webhooks:

InternationalBusinessSearch.submitted: accepted and processing
InternationalBusinessSearch.completed: results are available
InternationalBusinessSearch.failed: no associated business was found

See the Webhooks Guide to configure delivery.

Step 5: Read the response

A completed search returns a business object. These fields are present across all countries:

name: the official registered name
file_number: the registration/filing number in the local registry
status: normalized to active, inactive, or distressed
country: the ISO2 country code of the registration

The response also tells you how well your inputs matched the company found at the registry, the same match signals the US Business Search returns:

business_name_match: how closely your name matched: EXACT, SIMILAR, or NO_MATCH (identical to the US).
business_address_match: how closely your address matched, at international granularity: EXACT, CITY, REGION, COUNTRY, or NO_MATCH.
filing_number_match: a boolean specific to international search: true if the filing_number you supplied located the company at the registry, false if the search fell back to the name, and null if you didn't supply a filing number.

Any match field is null when the corresponding input wasn't provided. Use business_name_match and business_address_match for decisioning exactly as you do for US searches.

International Business Search also returns the same KYB and Risk ratings as the US product, using the same methodology and scale, so you can apply your existing thresholds. See Scores & Ratings.

Important: Data depth varies by country. Most countries return the core registration fields above; some return more. status is always normalized to active / inactive / unknown.

End-to-End Flow Summary

That's a complete international business verification:

Identify the business: by name + address (the default), or by registration number where the user has it.
Create the search: POST /international/searches with iso2_country_code, optionally adding Order.Enhanced for ownership data.
Receive results: via the InternationalBusinessSearch.completed webhook, or by polling GET /international_searches/{id}.
Decide: read the business object and apply your existing KYB and Risk thresholds.

With this in place, you can verify businesses across 75+ jurisdictions through the same request-and-webhook pattern you already use for US searches.

Where to Go Next

International Business Search: Best Practices — Offering and localizing the registration-number field, when to use Enhanced Profiles, what varies by country, and how to handle low match rates.
Baselayer International Products — The full overview: supported countries and international Web Presence.
Scores & Ratings — How KYB and Risk ratings are calculated and how to threshold on them.
Webhooks — Configuring delivery for InternationalBusinessSearch events.