FAQs¶

First, check that the applicant is using the same email address the invitation was sent to. If they have created a new account with a different address, their profile will not be linked.

If the email is correct, ask them to use the Forgot Password link on the login page to reset their password. If they still cannot access their account, contact support.

Invitation links expire after a set period. To resend a new link, go to the applicant's profile, click the three dots next to their name, and select Resend Invitation. The applicant will receive a fresh link by email.

Ask them to check their spam or junk folder first. If the email is not there, verify the email address you entered when sending the invite — even a single character error will cause it to fail. You can correct the email address and resend from the profile.

If you are setting up MFA for the first time, follow the steps in the Two-Factor Authentication guide.

If you need to change the phone number or authenticator app registered to your account (e.g. you have a new phone), contact support and we can reset your MFA so you can set it up again.

Accounts are temporarily locked after a number of failed login attempts as a security measure. The lock lifts automatically after a short period. If the applicant needs immediate access, ask them to use the Forgot Password link to reset their credentials, which also unlocks the account.

The DBS certificate is posted directly to the applicant — this is a statutory requirement of the Disclosure and Barring Service. Your organisation receives a digital result through VettingGateway indicating whether the certificate is clear or contains disclosed information, but you will not receive a physical copy.

Once a DBS has been requested, a new Auto-Retrieval section appears on the profile containing the applicant's E Number. The applicant can use this number on the DBS website to track their certificate.

Processing times vary by check level:

• Basic DBS — typically returned digitally within a few hours to 1–2 business days.
• Standard and Enhanced DBS — typically returned digitally within a few hours to 2 business days. The physical certificate is posted to the applicant and usually arrives within 6–7 days.

If a check has been in Processing status for more than 3 business days, contact support with the applicant's name and E Number.

Occasionally a DBS check can be held for additional review by the DBS. Use the E Number shown in the Auto-Retrieval section of the profile to check the current status on the DBS tracking website.

If the check has been pending for more than 5 business days and there is no update on the DBS website, contact support with the applicant's name, E Number, and the date the check was requested.

Go to the Additional Checks section of the applicant's profile and select the appropriate check level (Basic, Standard, or Enhanced). For Standard and Enhanced checks, your organisation must first complete DBS Registration.

See the Criminal Record Checks guide for a full overview.

Go to Admin > DBS Registration and complete the registration form. This creates a link between VettingGateway and the DBS check provider. Once submitted, positions are reviewed and approved by the provider before Standard or Enhanced checks can be requested.

See DBS Registration for step-by-step guidance.

The DBS certificate is posted to the applicant's current address as recorded in their profile at the time the check was submitted. The DBS cannot amend the delivery address once an application has been submitted.

If the address was incorrect, the applicant should contact the DBS directly using their E Number to arrange redelivery.

GSAT training is triggered from the Additional Checks section of the applicant's profile. VettingGateway will only allow a GSAT link to be sent once the applicant has reached the required level of background checks (full whereabouts verified and all CRCs received).

Once the applicant completes their training, a PDF certificate is automatically attached to their profile. If the GSAT shows as completed but no certificate is attached, contact support with the applicant's name.

Contact support with the applicant's name, profile link, and the correct name to be used. The GSAT provider will need to update their record and reissue the certificate.

The most common reasons an applicant cannot submit are:

• Incomplete sections — all mandatory sections must be completed before submission is allowed. Ask the applicant to check for any sections still showing as incomplete or flagged in red.
• Gaps in their history — VettingGateway requires the applicant's history to be fully accounted for. Any unaccounted gaps will prevent submission.
• Missing documents — some bundles require specific documents to be uploaded before submission.

If all sections appear complete but submission still fails, ask the applicant to clear their browser cache and try again, or use a different browser. If the issue persists, contact support with the applicant's name.

Minor corrections (e.g. spelling errors) can be made from within the applicant's profile by going to their Basic Details section. For more significant changes (e.g. a name used on a DBS submission), contact support as this may affect checks already in progress.

To withdraw a profile, go to the applicant's profile, click the three dots next to their name, and select Withdraw Profile. This removes the profile from your active workload. Withdrawn profiles can be retrieved if needed.

If you have received a withdrawn screening and need to retrieve it, contact support.

This can happen if the applicant has more than one profile under the same email address across different organisations. VettingGateway shows all profiles linked to a single account. The applicant should check they are viewing the correct profile using the profile selector in their account.

All you need is the employee's name and email address. If you have the employee's start date this is also helpful as VettingGateway can help you by setting deadlines. Simply go to + New Check and select your referencing bundle of choice.

There are two ways to do this from the dashboard:

• Select outstanding tasks on the far right of the dashboard.
• When you are in an applicant's profile, you can see your next task in the left-hand side menu under Tasks.

You can contact your applicant by using the Message function in the left-hand menu, also available here will be any message templates that you have previously created.

You will have the option to download a full PDF of all the references contained in your employee's background check, or you can use one of VettingGateway's preset airport forms. Alternatively, if your employee is based at an airport using AirportGateway, your employee's file will be transferred directly to their system.

Unfortunately you are unable to delete a file note once it has been added to a section on an applicant's profile.

Yes, an applicant may have more than one vetting profile on their account, with more than one sponsor organisation. If they have been invited under the same email address they should be able to see their vetting profiles when they log into their account.

• Press the + icon next to the organisation's name.
• Click Request Reference.
• Click Send a reference request to send your reference.

For a full guide including contact methods and troubleshooting, see Sending Reference Requests.

Lots of handy automation means that all your reference requests are chased automatically by email. You can configure how often in Organisation Settings.

The referee may have replied to the request email rather than completing the online form. Ask them to confirm they clicked the link in the email and filled in the form on the VettingGateway reference portal — email replies are not captured automatically.

If the issue persists, contact support with the applicant's name and the referee's email address.

Ask the referee to check their spam or junk folder. If the email is not there:

1. Verify the referee's email address in the applicant's profile.
2. Correct it if necessary and use Resend Reference Request to send a new request.

If a referee has completed their reference through their own company portal or returned a hardcopy document, you can import it manually. Go to References > Upload References, click Select PDF(s), upload the scanned document, and then associate it with the correct profile during the verification step.

See Sending Reference Requests for full import guidance.

Add the previous name via the Basic Details section of the applicant's profile (or ask the applicant to add it themselves from their portal). Once saved, resend the reference request — the previous name will be included so the referee can identify the correct individual.

As soon as a reference arrives it will appear as a task to action in your outstanding tasks list. Click the task and it will take you to the applicant's profile. Next to the referee organisation's name you'll notice the status has changed to Received not yet approved, highlighted in orange. If you click the '+' icon next to the organisation name you can view the reference and accept it, or query it with the referee.

There are two ways of doing this:

• Go to the organisation name for the referee and use the attachments section to upload a scan of the document.
• Under References > Upload References, click Select PDF(s) and import the scanned document.

Yes — if you have a specific template you would like to use, you can create your own templates under Reference Templates and select + Create a new template.

Here you can configure your own questions and select the response field types as required (e.g. single line response, yes/no, etc). This is then saved for you to use against any applicants you wish. Make sure that the template has been assigned to a group and is also selected in your referencing rule so that your users can apply it.

Yes it can. You can assign each applicant to a specific team so that when that user logs in to start their referencing tasks they will only see the applicants within their team.

To assign a profile to a team, click the three black dots next to their name on their profile and click Allocate Profile. Select which team you want to allocate it to, and click Save.

You can action this by going to Organisation Settings > Role Management. The Buyer role will allow users access to the VettingGateway Marketplace. You can assign this role to another user by clicking on the role and scrolling to the bottom of the page, then ticking the box next to their name to apply it to their account.

Click Edit next to the Buyer role, scroll down until you see your colleague's name, click the checkbox next to it, and click Save Role to save any changes.

Go to the VettingGateway Marketplace in your left-hand menu and select the credits you wish to purchase. Clicking the '+' icon will increase the number of credits and Add to basket moves them into your basket for purchasing.

You can view all currently offered referencing packages available through VettingGateway on the Marketplace.

Within your Organisation Settings, click Chasing. Here you can select in days how often a referee is chased (the default is set to every 3 days).

You can find information on how to set up the AirportGateway integration here.

Our SSO solution only supports SP-initiated SSO, not IDP-initiated.

What your organisation can do to achieve the same result is copy the SSO link from your SSO settings page and add it to your bookmarks or Microsoft dashboard. When users click this, they will be taken straight into VettingGateway.