Overview
Some organizations require visitors to submit documentation in advance to meet security, regulatory, or compliance requirements. With Required Document Uploads, admins can request specific documents during pre-registration, allowing visitors or admins to securely upload them for review before arriving on-site.
This is especially useful for use cases such as:
Collecting certifications or safety training records before granting access to restricted areas
Requiring separate NDAs, compliance forms, or insurance documents prior to site visits
By collecting and reviewing documentation in advance, teams can ensure visitors meet access requirements, reduce check-in delays, and maintain a clear audit trail for compliance.
How Required Document Uploads works
Required document uploads require visitors to submit files, such as identification or training certificates, during the pre-registration process.
Admins can:
Define certain document types that can be used across sign-in flows
Upload, review, and approve documents
Enforce document requirements at check-in
Visitors receive instructions in their invite email and can upload documents before their visit to complete their pre-registration. Learn more about customizing the invite email.
If a visitor cannot upload their own documents, someone can upload on their behalf.
Location and global admins can upload a document to a visitor's invite or entry record.
Hosts can upload a document for a visitor they invited.
Uploading and approving are separate steps. Documents submitted by a visitor or a host always need an admin to approve them before the visitor can complete registration. Admin-submitted documents are the one exception, and only when your organization has Admin automatic approval turned on.
Document types are created at the location level and can be used with multiple visitor types.
At this time, Visitors can only upload documents via pre-registration. Visitors cannot upload documents directly via the sign-in kiosk or QR code. Learn more about how visitors can upload their required documents.
If a visitor cannot upload their document(s), an admin or their host can upload it for them.
Configuration
Step 1: Create a document type
First, you must create document types to be shared across sign-in flows.
Navigate to Visitors > Settings > Sign-in flows and select the sign-in flow you want to add a document to.
Navigate to the Documents tab, then click the toggle next to Required document uploads. Click New Document.
For the initial setup, you won't see any document types available. Click the drop-down menu, then click
Manage document types.
Click
Add a new document type.
Give your document a descriptive name. Remember, this will be seen by other admins and visitors!
Add a Description, which is shown to visitors.
(Optional) You can check the box next to Auto-extract expiration dates for Envoy to "read" the document and populate the expiration data. Not recommended for use with identity documents.
Set the Expiration and re-upload rules.
Always require re-upload: The visitor will need to upload a copy each time they visit, regardless of whether they're a returning visitor
Never require re-upload: Visitors only need to upload a copy once, and it is used by all future visits
Sync to document's expiration date: Automatically require re-upload when the document expires.
Set expiration duration: Provide a fixed set of days from upload for the document to be valid.
Set a fixed expiration date: Provide a specific date that this document will expire.
Click Save after filling out all required fields. Your document will be added to your available types, and you can assign it to sign-in flows.
Select an admin to be notified about a visitor's submission under Configure document notifications.
Step 2: Adding documents to a sign-in flow
Once you've created documents, you can assign them to specific sign-in flows.
While in your sign-in flow, navigate to the Documents tab, toggle Required document uploads to On, then click New Document.
Click the drop-down under Document type, then select the document required for this visitor type.
Expiration dates will be set in line with the document's defaults. Click Add document to save.
Approving or Denying documents
The admin chosen to be notified upon a visitor's submission will receive an email notification when a visitor's submission needs approval.
Click Review now to open that visitor's invite record, where you can approve or deny the document.
You don't need the email to take action. Submitted documents are always available from the Invites log, the visitor's profile, and the approvals log.
Documents can arrive for approval from more than one source:
Visitor-submitted documents are set to Pending and wait for admin review.
Host-submitted documents are also set to Pending and require admin approval before the visitor can complete registration and receive their QR code.
Admin-submitted documents may bypass the approval step if your company has Admin automatic approval turned on.
Denying a document cancels the visitor's invitation. The visitor receives an email letting them know their invitation was canceled and to contact their host. There is no re-upload link, so the host needs to send a new invite before the visitor can upload again. If you only need a better copy of a file, it's worth contacting the visitor before you deny it.
To approve or deny a document from the Invites log
Navigate to Visitors > Invites to view the Invites log. All pending invites will appear as Approval required.
If you don't see the visitor, check the date filter at the top of the log. It defaults to today, so you may need to move to their expected arrival date.
Click the visitor’s name to open their visitor invite record.
There are a few ways to view documents.
You can click Review Documents to open the document viewer.
Navigate to the Documents tab.
The submitted document will be shown inline. To open a full-screen view, hover over the document and click Open.
Click Approve or Deny.
Viewing Documents
On a visitor's invite or entry record
Both the invite and entry records include a Documents section showing all required documents for the visit, along with each document’s current status.
Statuses include:
— Document uploaded and awaiting review
— Document accepted
— Document rejected; the invitation is canceled and the visitor needs to be reinvited
— No document submitted yet
Click any pending document to open the viewer and approve or deny it.
On a visitor profile
The visitor’s profile includes a Documents tab showing all documents uploaded across their visits. For each document, admins can view:
Current status (Approved, Denied, or Pending)
Upload date
Document Type
Click any document to open the full file preview.
You can download each document by clicking the elipses (...) and selecting Download.
FAQ
Can visitors upload documents after receiving their invite?
Yes. Visitors can upload documents at any time using the pre-registration link in their invite email. If near-visit registration is enabled, visitors will not be able to upload their documents until 24-hours before their visit time.
What happens when I deny a document?
Denying a document cancels the visitor's invitation. The visitor receives an email letting them know their invitation was canceled and to contact their host. There is no re-upload link, and a denied document cannot be replaced from the visitor's existing pre-registration link — the host needs to send a new invite before the visitor can upload again.
Can I use this feature to collect identity documents, like driver's licenses or Passports?
Yes, you can use this feature to collect identity documents, but it cannot determine the validity of these documents. For document verification, see our ID Scanning feature.
What happens if document requirements change after an invite is sent?
Visitors will see the updated requirements when they open the pre-registration flow. Compliance is evaluated using the latest configuration.
Can admins download uploaded documents?
Yes. Admins can download documents individually from the visitor profile. Bulk document export is not currently supported.
Who can upload documents on a visitor's behalf, and do those uploads need approval?
Location and global admins and hosts can upload documents for visitors. Visitor- and host-submitted documents always need an admin to approve them before the visitor can finish registration. Admin-submitted documents may skip that step if your organization has Admin automatic approval turned on. See Uploading Documents on Behalf of Visitors for admins and the host guide for hosts.
How does this work with Legal Documents?
Envoy has a separate Legal Documents feature that lets visitors read and sign legal agreements on the iPad or during pre-registration. Required Document Uploads is distinct — it collects files like IDs or certifications that admins review and approve. Both features can be used together in the same sign-in flow. See About Documents in Envoy Visitors for a side-by-side comparison.