Every professional on GigsDex goes through the same verification process before their profile becomes discoverable — there's no way to skip it, no paid fast-track, and no automated shortcut. This is deliberate. A directory of home-service professionals is only as useful as the trust people can place in it, and trust has to be earned the same way every time.
A professional picks one government-issued document type — a Driving Licence or a Voter ID card — and uploads a clear photo of the front. A back-side photo is optional but recommended, since some details (like the issuing authority) sometimes sit on the reverse side. If the document has a legible number, it's stored as a one-way cryptographic hash rather than the plain text — meaning even GigsDex's own systems can't reverse it back into the original number. The photo itself is stored on a private, access-controlled disk and is only ever visible to the small admin team reviewing that specific submission. It is never shown to other users, never attached to search results, and never exposed through any public API.
A real person on the GigsDex admin team checks every submission by hand — comparing the name and photo on the document against the details on the profile, checking that the document looks genuine and current, and flagging anything inconsistent. There's no machine-learning model rubber-stamping documents in bulk. Typical turnaround is 24–48 hours, though it can take longer during high-volume periods. If a submission is rejected, the professional is told why — a blurry photo, a mismatched name, an expired document — and can resubmit once the issue is fixed.
Approved profiles get a visible "GigsDex Verified Professional" badge that follows them everywhere they appear in the app — search results, category listing pages, and their own profile. Guests browsing for a professional can filter results to show verified professionals only, which matters most for trades where letting a stranger into your home is part of the job: electricians, plumbers, appliance repair technicians, and similar categories where in-person visits are routine.
It's worth being precise about what this process actually guarantees, because it's easy to over-read a badge. Verification confirms that the person behind a profile is who they say they are — it is not a certification of skill, and it is not a guarantee about the quality of any specific job. A verified electrician can still do a mediocre job on a bad day, the same as anyone else in any trade. That's exactly what the review system on each profile exists to surface: real, written feedback from people who've actually hired that professional, moderated before it goes live so a competitor can't post a fake one-star review and a professional can't post a fake five-star one either.
Identity verification and reputation (reviews) solve two different problems. Identity verification answers "is this a real person, and are they who they claim to be?" — a one-time check that protects against fraud and impersonation. Reviews answer "was this person actually good to work with?" — an ongoing, cumulative signal that updates every time someone leaves feedback. Neither one substitutes for the other, and relying on only one would leave an obvious gap. Together, they give a homeowner a reasonably complete picture before making that first call.