The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) works with ID.me to verify your identity for the External User Management System (XMS). ID.me is certified against federal standards to provide secure identity verification. Your ID.me Verified Identity helps businesses and government agencies ensure that the person logging in to your account is really you and not someone pretending to be you.
This article explains how to set up your ID.me account to use with XMS for work purposes.
Important
- If you are accessing the External User Management System (XMS), or another HHS application, for personal use, visit Health and Human Services Department and ID.me.
- If you are looking for the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), go to National Practitioner Data Bank and ID.me.
Get started
XMS requires that the email address on your XMS account be the primary email on your ID.me account. Because of this requirement, the process varies slightly depending on whether you already have an ID.me account or are creating an account for the first time.
Select the appropriate tab below for step-by-step instructions.
If you are an existing ID.me member, do not create another account. Instead, you’ll need to:
- Add your work email to your ID.me account
- Sign in to XMS and consent to share your verified identity information
Add your work email address
To add your work email address to your ID.me account:
- Go to ID.me My Account and sign in.
- From My Account, select Profile, then in the Email section, select +Add an email.
- Enter your work email address. If you want to label this email address as your work email, check the box next to “Work”.
- Select Send confirmation. A confirmation message will be sent to the newly added email address.
Tip: If you don’t receive the email, check your spam folder. To send a new confirmation email, select the three dots next to the email, then select Resend confirmation. - Select the link in the email to confirm this email address.
After you have confirmed the email, it displays in the “Profile” tab of your account. - To set your new email address as the primary address on your account, select the three dot menu next to the email, then select Set as primary.
Sign in and share your information
To access XMS:
- Go to the HHS External User Management System.
- Select Sign In with ID.me, then sign in with your ID.me account and complete multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- If required, follow the prompts to provide any additional information.
- From the Authorize screen, review the information that XMS will receive and then select Allow to consent to share that information with them.
If you have never created an ID.me account, you need to:
- Create an ID.me account using your personal email address
- Add your XMS email as the primary email on your ID.me account
- Verify your identity
Create an ID.me account
To help ensure you always have access to your ID.me account, create your ID.me account using your personal email address, then add your XMS email.
To create a new account:
- Go to ID.me and select Create an ID.me account.
- Enter your personal email address and a strong password, then select Create account. Learn how to create a strong password.
- Follow the prompts to finish setting up your ID.me account and to confirm ownership of your email.
Add your XMS email as the primary email on your ID.me account
To successfully verify your identity for XMS, the email address you use with XMS must be the primary email address on your ID.me account.
To add your XMS email as primary:
- Under “Email,” select + Add an email.
- Enter your work email address. If you want to label this email address as your work email, check the box next to “Work”.
- Select Send confirmation. A confirmation message will be sent to the newly added email address.
Tip: If you don’t receive the email, check your spam folder. To send a new confirmation email, select the three dots next to the email, then select Resend confirmation. - Select the link in the email to confirm this email address.
After you have confirmed the email, it displays in the “Profile” tab of your account.
- To set your new email address as the primary address on your account, select the three dot menu next to the email, then select Set as primary.
Verify for XMS
You only need to verify your identity once—then you can use your ID.me log in at XMS and anywhere else ID.me is accepted.
To verify for XMS:
- Go to the HHS External User Management System.
- Select Sign in with ID.me and sign in to your ID.me account.
- Set up multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- You can verify using Self-Service or on a video call with an ID.me Video Chat Agent agent:
- Self-Service: For step-by-step instructions, visit Verifying with Self-Service
- Video Call: For step-by-step instructions, visit Verifying with a short video call.
- From the Authorize screen, review the information that the organization will receive and then select Allow to consent to share that information with XMS.
After ID.me verifies your identity, you will receive a confirmation message as a way to protect you from fraud.
Do you have multiple ID.me accounts?
If you already created a duplicate ID.me account using your work email address or another email address that you own, follow the steps in Using an email address that’s on your duplicate account to make your email address available to add to your original ID.me account.
Getting help
ID.me can help if you have trouble with the identity verification process. Common issues include:
- Account sign-in issues
- Uploading identification documents or selfies
- Fixing documents that were rejected
They can best help with questions and next steps after you complete the verification process. For example, you may have questions about your benefits or services. Before contacting them:
- Confirm your verification was successful
- Confirm you shared your information with the organization
- Review our best practices and sample messages of how to request help from the organization you need to access