How to Verify Email Without Asking the User to Login to Laravel

First, remove the line $this->middleware('auth');, like you did.

Next, copy the verify method from the VerifiesEmails trait to your VerificationController and change it up a bit. The method should look like this:

public function verify(Request $request)
{
    $user = User::find($request->route('id'));

    if (!hash_equals((string) $request->route('hash'), sha1($user->getEmailForVerification()))) {
        throw new AuthorizationException;
    }

    if ($user->markEmailAsVerified())
        event(new Verified($user));

    return redirect($this->redirectPath())->with('verified', true);
}

This overrides the method in the VerifiesUsers trait and removes the authorization check.

Security (correct me if I’m wrong!)

It’s still secure, as the request is signed and verified. Someone could verify another user’s email address if they somehow gain access to the verification email, but in 99% of cases this is hardly a risk at all.