diff --git a/sop-java/src/main/java/sop/Verification.java b/sop-java/src/main/java/sop/Verification.java
index 6ff63f6..de5b2d3 100644
--- a/sop-java/src/main/java/sop/Verification.java
+++ b/sop-java/src/main/java/sop/Verification.java
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package sop;
 
 import java.util.Date;
 
+import sop.enums.SignatureMode;
 import sop.util.UTCUtil;
 
 public class Verification {
@@ -13,20 +14,52 @@ public class Verification {
     private final Date creationTime;
     private final String signingKeyFingerprint;
     private final String signingCertFingerprint;
+    private final SignatureMode signatureMode;
+    private final String description;
+
+    public static final String MODE = "mode:";
+
 
     public Verification(Date creationTime, String signingKeyFingerprint, String signingCertFingerprint) {
+        this(creationTime, signingKeyFingerprint, signingCertFingerprint, null, null);
+    }
+
+    public Verification(Date creationTime, String signingKeyFingerprint, String signingCertFingerprint, SignatureMode signatureMode, String description) {
         this.creationTime = creationTime;
         this.signingKeyFingerprint = signingKeyFingerprint;
         this.signingCertFingerprint = signingCertFingerprint;
+        this.signatureMode = signatureMode;
+        this.description = description == null ? null : description.trim();
     }
 
     public static Verification fromString(String toString) {
         String[] split = toString.trim().split(" ");
-        if (split.length != 3) {
+        if (split.length < 3) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Verification must be of the format 'UTC-DATE OpenPGPFingerprint OpenPGPFingerprint'");
         }
 
-        return new Verification(UTCUtil.parseUTCDate(split[0]), split[1], split[2]);
+        SignatureMode mode = null;
+        int index = 3;
+        if (split[index].startsWith(MODE)) {
+            mode = SignatureMode.valueOf(split[3].substring(MODE.length()));
+            index++;
+        }
+
+        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+        for (int i = index; i < split.length; i++) {
+            if (sb.length() != 0) {
+                sb.append(' ');
+            }
+            sb.append(split[i]);
+        }
+
+        return new Verification(
+                UTCUtil.parseUTCDate(split[0]),
+                split[1], // key FP
+                split[2], // cert FP
+                mode,
+                sb.length() != 0 ? sb.toString() : null // description
+        );
     }
 
     /**
@@ -56,13 +89,42 @@ public class Verification {
         return signingCertFingerprint;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Return the mode of the signature.
+     *
+     * @return signature mode
+     */
+    public SignatureMode getSignatureMode() {
+        return signatureMode;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Return an optional description.
+     *
+     * @return description
+     */
+    public String getDescription() {
+        return description;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public String toString() {
-        return UTCUtil.formatUTCDate(getCreationTime()) +
-                ' ' +
-                getSigningKeyFingerprint() +
-                ' ' +
-                getSigningCertFingerprint();
+        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder()
+                .append(UTCUtil.formatUTCDate(getCreationTime()))
+                .append(' ')
+                .append(getSigningKeyFingerprint())
+                .append(' ')
+                .append(getSigningCertFingerprint());
+
+        if (signatureMode != null) {
+            sb.append(' ').append(MODE).append(signatureMode);
+        }
+
+        if (description != null) {
+            sb.append(' ').append(description);
+        }
+
+        return sb.toString();
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/sop-java/src/main/java/sop/enums/SignatureMode.java b/sop-java/src/main/java/sop/enums/SignatureMode.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b41f6ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sop-java/src/main/java/sop/enums/SignatureMode.java
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2023 Paul Schaub <vanitasvitae@fsfe.org>
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package sop.enums;
+
+public enum SignatureMode {
+    binary,
+    text
+}
diff --git a/sop-java/src/test/java/sop/util/VerificationTest.java b/sop-java/src/test/java/sop/util/VerificationTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3688d6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sop-java/src/test/java/sop/util/VerificationTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2023 Paul Schaub <vanitasvitae@fsfe.org>
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package sop.util;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import sop.Verification;
+import sop.enums.SignatureMode;
+
+import java.util.Date;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+
+public class VerificationTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void limitedConstructorTest() {
+        Date signDate = UTCUtil.parseUTCDate("2022-11-07T15:01:24Z");
+        String keyFP = "F9E6F53F7201C60A87064EAB0B27F2B0760A1209";
+        String certFP = "4E2C78519512C2AE9A8BFE7EB3298EB2FBE5F51B";
+        Verification verification = new Verification(signDate, keyFP, certFP);
+        assertEquals("2022-11-07T15:01:24Z F9E6F53F7201C60A87064EAB0B27F2B0760A1209 4E2C78519512C2AE9A8BFE7EB3298EB2FBE5F51B", verification.toString());
+    }
+
+    public void limitedParsingTest() {
+        String string = "2022-11-07T15:01:24Z F9E6F53F7201C60A87064EAB0B27F2B0760A1209 4E2C78519512C2AE9A8BFE7EB3298EB2FBE5F51B";
+        Verification verification = Verification.fromString(string);
+        assertEquals(string, verification.toString());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void extendedConstructorTest() {
+        Date signDate = UTCUtil.parseUTCDate("2022-11-07T15:01:24Z");
+        String keyFP = "F9E6F53F7201C60A87064EAB0B27F2B0760A1209";
+        String certFP = "4E2C78519512C2AE9A8BFE7EB3298EB2FBE5F51B";
+        SignatureMode mode = SignatureMode.binary;
+        String description = "certificate from dkg.asc";
+        Verification verification = new Verification(signDate, keyFP, certFP, mode, description);
+        assertEquals("2022-11-07T15:01:24Z F9E6F53F7201C60A87064EAB0B27F2B0760A1209 4E2C78519512C2AE9A8BFE7EB3298EB2FBE5F51B mode:binary certificate from dkg.asc", verification.toString());
+        assertEquals(SignatureMode.binary, verification.getSignatureMode());
+        assertEquals(description, verification.getDescription());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void extendedParsingTest() {
+        String string = "2022-11-07T15:01:24Z F9E6F53F7201C60A87064EAB0B27F2B0760A1209 4E2C78519512C2AE9A8BFE7EB3298EB2FBE5F51B mode:binary certificate from dkg.asc";
+        Verification verification = Verification.fromString(string);
+        assertEquals(string, verification.toString());
+
+        // no mode
+        string = "2022-11-07T15:01:24Z F9E6F53F7201C60A87064EAB0B27F2B0760A1209 4E2C78519512C2AE9A8BFE7EB3298EB2FBE5F51B certificate from dkg.asc";
+        verification = Verification.fromString(string);
+        assertEquals(string, verification.toString());
+    }
+}