Why confirming where someone lives needs a real visit
A document tells you a building exists. A visit tells you somebody lives in it. For homes and for field roles, that difference is the whole point of the check.
Why paper is not enough
Utility bills are often in a landlord’s name, a parent’s name or a previous tenant’s name. Many Nigerian streets carry no numbering at all, so the line on the bill is a description rather than an address. Bills are also easy to borrow, and a photograph of one proves nothing about who sleeps there.
A shared location pin has the same weakness. It shows where a phone was at the moment it was tapped, which can be a friend’s flat or the gate of a building the person has never entered.
What an agent does on the visit
A vetted agent goes to the address the worker gave and confirms it can be found and reached. They confirm the person is known and lives there, note the type of building and the landmarks that let anyone find it again, and record the visit with the date and time.
The worker knows a visit will happen, because they agreed to it before anything started. The agent identifies themselves and never asks for money.
Why it takes 7 to 10 days
An agent has to travel to the address, and people are not always home when they arrive. That is real movement across a real city, so a visit takes 7 to 10 days while identity, guarantors and previous employment usually settle within 36 hours.
You do not wait in the dark for it. You see the fast checks as soon as they answer, the address showing as in progress with an expected date beside it, and a final report once every requested check has answered.
What a visit cannot prove
A confirmed visit says the person was known at that address on that day. It is not a promise they will still be there in a year, it says nothing about their conduct, and it is not a character reference. Treat it as one fact among several, alongside identity, guarantors and a previous employer.
Helping the visit go smoothly
Ask the worker for landmarks rather than only a street name: the nearest junction, the colour of the gate, the closest shop or church. Confirm the phone number they answer on. Those two details are the difference between a visit that closes in a week and one that runs to the far end of the window.