What Is Airbnb Identity Verification?

Airbnb identity verification is the check Airbnb runs on every host, new co-host and booking guest, confirming personal information such as legal name and address and, when that is not enough, asking for a photo of a government-issued ID and sometimes a selfie (Verifying your identity on Airbnb (Airbnb Help Center)).

Last updated: November 2026

How Airbnb identity verification works

Airbnb guest verification happens at the moment of booking, whether the guest is reserving a stay, a service or an experience (Verifying your identity on Airbnb (Airbnb Help Center)). Hosts verify when they create their first listing, and a person invited to be a new co-host verifies at that point too (Verifying your identity on Airbnb (Airbnb Help Center)).

The check starts with personal information, and in some cases that is all Airbnb needs (Verifying your identity on Airbnb (Airbnb Help Center)). It may compare a user's name, phone number, address and date of birth with secure third-party databases, or compare a driver's license, passport or national identity card with the details the user gave (An update on identity verification on Airbnb (Airbnb Newsroom, June 2023)). When Airbnb asks for a photo of a government ID, it may also ask for a photo of the person to go with it (Verifying your identity on Airbnb (Airbnb Help Center)).

The requirement grew in two steps. Airbnb's 2022 Winter Release first required verification for guests traveling to the top 35 countries and regions on the platform (An update on identity verification on Airbnb (Airbnb Newsroom, June 2023)). Those markets accounted for about 90% of Airbnb bookings at the time, according to trade press coverage (Comparing Airbnb and Vrbo's Policies on Verifying Guests and Preventing Party Bookings (Rental Scale-Up, Feb 2023)). By the end of June 2023, the rule covered 100% of guests booking homes and primary hosts getting booked, worldwide (An update on identity verification on Airbnb (Airbnb Newsroom, June 2023)).

Why it matters for hotel distribution

Because Airbnb checks both sides of the booking, an operator listing homes there deals with guests whose details Airbnb has checked, and those guests book knowing the host passed the same check. The "Identity verified" result is a useful baseline with limits Airbnb spells out: verification does not guarantee that someone is who they claim to be, and no facial matching process is entirely accurate (Photo matching (Airbnb Help Center)).

Checks also vary from one channel to the next, as the table below shows. A hotel, aparthotel or rental operator selling the same rooms on Airbnb, Vrbo and its own website therefore gets a different level of guest checking depending on where each reservation came from. On a direct booking, any check is the operator's own. Recording the source channel of every reservation tells the front desk or host which checks a guest has already passed before arrival.

Identity verification is about the person behind the account. The extra steps an operator can take on its own side, on every channel, are in our guide to vacation rental guest screening.

Airbnb identity verification compared with other trust checks

 What it checksHow it differs from Airbnb identity verification
Vrbo identity verificationThe guest's name, email, phone number, physical address and date of birthOptional. Once it is confirmed, hosts only see that the guest is verified. Lighter than Airbnb's check in 2023: the basic checks did not always require photo ID
Airbnb listing verificationThe property: photos, address, listing details, cleanliness, safety and basic amenitiesChecks the home, not the person. Airbnb pledged in November 2019 to verify all 7 million listings by December 15, 2020, following the Halloween deaths at an Airbnb rental
Airbnb high-risk reservation screeningReservations Airbnb considers potentially high-riskLooks at the booking itself. Airbnb said in 2019 it would expand this screening globally the following year

Table sources: About identity verification (Vrbo Help) Comparing Airbnb and Vrbo's Policies on Verifying Guests and Preventing Party Bookings (Rental Scale-Up, Feb 2023) Airbnb to verify all of its listings (TechCrunch, Nov 2019) Airbnb Finally Embraces Verified Listings After Halloween Deaths (Skift, Nov 2019)

Frequently asked questions

How long does identity verification take on Airbnb?
Usually less than an hour. Airbnb says verification typically takes under 1 hour once the information is submitted. Last-minute stays run on a tighter clock: if check-in starts within 12 hours, the guest has 1 hour to complete verification. Hosts who accept same-day arrivals will see that shorter window most often.
Is identity verification safe?
The documents stay away from other users. The government-issued ID and selfie a person submits are not shared with any host or guest on the platform, and all the information collected is handled under Airbnb's Privacy Policy. Facial recognition is a choice where it is offered: some users may be able to opt into it to match their selfie to their ID.
Why is identity verification not working?
A rejected ID type is one cause worth ruling out first. Accepted IDs depend on where the person lives and include national ID cards, driver's licenses, passports and residence permits. IDs issued for school, college, the library or a gym are refused, and military IDs are not accepted either.
How much does identity verification cost?
Nothing. Airbnb provides verification at no cost to hosts or guests, a commitment its Director of Trust, Nabarupa Banerjee, repeated in the June 2023 announcement that took the requirement worldwide. Hosts face the check when they create their first listing, and guests when they book.

Related terms

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Where Jetstream fits

Each channel sets its own rules for checking guests, and an operator selling through several of them needs every reservation, rate and night of availability to stay accurate wherever it appears. Jetstream builds an AI channel manager that connects a property's systems to the channels where guests book and keeps rooms, rates and availability accurate on each one, managed from one place.

See Jetstream's AI channel manager Book a demo