It’s been more than a year since LinkedIn rolled out its own form of profile verification for users. This is the one adding a grey check within a shield next to the name. While the methods for obtaining it have varied from work email to using third-party identity partners like CLEAR or Persona, the option varied based on your location.
Persona is one of LinkedIn’s verification partners that uses government-issued IDs in select countries for providing verification on the professional network. As of few days ago, LinkedIn updated the list of countries on their Help section with more countries in the MENA and South Asia region. This allows users to use government-issued passport from the respective countries to get the grey verified mark to demonstrate the profile’s authenticity.
Persona process for LinkedIn
Using Persona for the verification process requires a few things
- Passport with NFC chip
- Mobile phone with NFC enabled (ensure the passport has the NFC logo on the front cover)
- Logged into your LinkedIn account via the native mobile app (doing it from the desktop will direct you to
According to their help page, passport holders from any of the below countries in the MENA and South Asia region can use it to get verified on LinkedIn via Persona.
| GCC | North Africa | Others |
|---|---|---|
| Bahrain | Algeria | Turkey |
| Kuwait | Morocco | Pakistan |
| Oman | Iraq | |
| Qatar | Nepal | |
| Saudi Arabia | ||
| UAE |
While some have started adding their own form of verification behind a subscription paywall , LinkedIn is offering this for free. The verification badge will help to provide authenticity and build trust, helping the profile stand out even as some bad actors try to use the platform to impersonate or engage in phishing activities.
Image Credit: Persona
