Passporting notification: documents to prepare
Passporting notification lets an authorised provider offer services in another EU member state without a fresh licence there. The file has three parts: proof of the home authorisation, a description of the services to be offered abroad, and a translation pack for the host regulator. Assemble all three before the clock starts, because incomplete notifications are returned, not queued.
What changes once notification is filed
Filing does not create an automatic right to trade. The home regulator reviews the file first and forwards it to the host regulator only if it is complete. From that forwarding date, a waiting period runs before the host state can object. Until the period lapses, the provider should not advertise or onboard clients in the target state — that is the practical point of no return most files miss.
Where the notified activity touches personal data of clients in the host state, keep the internal data mapping current alongside the notification file. See Record of processing data protection explained for what that register should contain and when supervisors ask to see it.
Documents to prepare
The table below lists what a host regulator typically expects to see, and who inside the organisation usually holds the source document.
| Document | Purpose | Usually held by |
|---|---|---|
| Authorisation certificate or extract | Confirms the home licence covers the notified activity | Compliance officer |
| Description of services to be passported | Defines scope for the host regulator | Product or legal lead |
| List of target member states | Sets which notifications run in parallel | Compliance officer |
| Business plan extract for the target market | Shows expected volume and client type | Finance or commercial lead |
| Certified translations | Required by most host regulators for the operative pages | External translator, reviewed by counsel |
| Contact point for the host state | Names who answers host regulator queries | Compliance officer |
Certified translation is the step most often underestimated. A translator without sector experience produces text a host regulator sends back for clarification, which restarts the clock on that document alone.
Steps to take
- Confirm with the home regulator that the activity is covered by the existing authorisation before drafting anything else.
- Draft the service description in plain terms; avoid copying marketing text into a regulatory file.
- Commission certified translations early — they take longer than the substantive drafting.
- Submit the complete file to the home regulator, not directly to the host state.
- Track the forwarding date once the home regulator passes the file on; the waiting period counts from there.
- Hold off on client-facing activity in the target state until the waiting period lapses without objection.
Who decides
The home regulator decides whether the file is complete and whether to forward it. The host regulator decides only whether to object within the waiting period; it does not issue a separate licence. If the host regulator raises a question, it goes back through the home regulator — the provider does not correspond with the host authority directly unless a contact point was specifically requested.
Forks
If you also hold registered trade marks or designs tied to the notified product, note that customs enforcement against counterfeits runs on a separate track from the passporting file. See Customs application for action step by step for that separate procedure.
If an outside agency built the design files or interface used in the notified service, confirm who holds the underlying rights before the file goes to the host state. Media, content and streaming — when an agency keeps covers what the register shows in that situation.
If the notified service references an external work by link or embed, removing that work later has cost consequences that sit outside the passporting file itself. When the referenced work is removed sets out what changes when that happens.
What this page does not decide
This page does not decide whether your activity needs authorisation at all, or which member state counts as home for a given structure — those are separate questions answered before a notification file is drafted. It also does not cover withdrawing a passport once granted; that runs a different file with its own timing.
Verified
Checked against current national regulator guidance on passporting notifications for digital asset service providers. State as of the review date shown in the page footer. No article-level citation is given on this page because the national implementing texts for the relevant regulators are not yet mapped in our source registry — see the note above on scope.
Related publications
Withdrawing a passporting notification follows a different procedure with its own deadlines. See Withdrawal procedure step by step for what that file requires.
FAQ
How long does passporting notification take in practice?
Timing runs in two parts: the home regulator's completeness review, then a waiting period after forwarding to the host state. Delays almost always come from translation rework or an incomplete service description, not from the waiting period itself.
Which documents are needed to start?
At minimum: the authorisation certificate, a service description, the list of target states, and certified translations. Missing any one of these gets the file returned rather than queued for review.
What happens if the other side does not respond?
Silence from the host regulator within the waiting period is not the same as approval delay — it means the notification stands and the waiting period simply lapses. Keep written confirmation of the forwarding date from the home regulator, since that date, not the host regulator's silence, is what starts the clock.