Airbnb Host Asking for ID? When It's OK

The date a guest booked decides what an Airbnb host asking for ID may request. On bookings made before November 20, 2026, a host may ask for ID only with a legal or compliance reason the listing disclosed. On bookings made from that date, a host can by default only see the ID at check-in and keep no copy.

Airbnb's updated policy puts the new rule in one sentence:

"Hosts may physically check a guest's ID to verify identity in person at check-in if they disclose the requirement in the requests section of their listing; they may not, however, retain a digital or physical copy of the ID, except as outlined in the exceptions below."

If your guests let themselves in with a keypad, neither rule lets you ask for an ID photo just because you'd like to see one. The older rule needed a legal or compliance reason in the listing. The new one is stricter about anything a guest sends or you keep, and more explicit about the in-person look, which is its only default check and needs someone standing at the door. If you're the guest being asked, the section just before the FAQ is for you.

Can an Airbnb host ask for ID?

Hosts can request a guest's ID on Airbnb only if the listing disclosed it before the guest booked. Bookings made before November 20, 2026 also need a legal or compliance reason in the listing, while bookings made on or after that date allow a disclosed look at the ID in person with no copy kept.

An October booking for July 2027 keeps the older rule for the whole trip, while the same dates booked in December fall under the new one. On those newer bookings, asking for ID means one thing by default: you disclose a look in the requests section, look at the ID when the guest arrives, and hand it straight back. That placement matters, because guests must follow a host's house rules but are only encouraged to follow requests. Anything a guest is asked to send, upload, or leave with you is barred unless one of three exceptions applies.

The three are a law, a documented community association rule such as an HOA or building security requirement, and an allowed contract, such as a rental agreement for a monthly stay of 28 nights or more. Your requests section then has to say what guests provide and why. You collect only what that law, rule, or contract calls for, you store it securely, and Airbnb can ask you for evidence. Airbnb doesn't say whether an allowed contract can cover an ID, or what makes an HOA rule documented, so check the HOA's own documents or ask a lawyer before you rely on either.

*Unless one of the three exceptions above applies and the requests section says so.

On older bookings, if your listing description gave a legal or compliance reason, such as a local law, an HOA rule, or a building security rule, you can ask for a photo of the guest's ID in Airbnb messages after booking. You can't spring a new check on a guest who has already booked, though, because both rules need a check disclosed before booking. For newer bookings, Airbnb's house rules and requests policy also bars adding requests after booking, whether by message, a sign in the home, or in person, so a check you add on November 25 reaches only the guests who book after that edit.

If your listing already asks for ID, check where that line sits, because each rule looks in a different place. For older bookings Airbnb goes by the listing description, while for newer ones only the requests section counts. Unless the line rests on one of those three grounds, the most it can cover on newer bookings is a disclosed in-person look. In the Listing editor, Airbnb will highlight requests that don't follow the new policy and offer a way to appeal.

How does an Airbnb ID check at check-in work?

At the door, you compare three things on the guest's ID: the photo with the person in front of you, the name with the guest listed in Airbnb's Reservation details, and the expiration date with today's. Then you hand it back, because Airbnb's default check lets you keep no copy of any kind.

On older bookings, the older host policy never mentions a look at the door, but Airbnb's help articles for guests allow a request for ID after booking only for the legal or compliance reason the listing gave, which would cover this look too.

Reading the card is the easier half, and our guide to spotting a fake ID covers what to look for on it. The harder half is matching the card to the people, because the check matters most when whoever arrives isn't the person Airbnb verified.

When someone books for another person, Airbnb may ask the booker to verify their identity. The traveler has to verify before accepting the booking-permissions request that lets someone else book for them, and Reservation details lists both people, so you know which name the ID at the door should match. Guests invited to join a reservation need only an Airbnb account, though, and nothing in Airbnb's own verification checks that the people who arrive are the people on the reservation.

A host replying in an October 2026 r/airbnb_hosts thread on the new rules had it happen: "a woman booked my airbnb and then instead of her showing up, two random men who weren't on the reservation came."

If the name on the ID doesn't match the reservation, or the face doesn't match the ID, contact Airbnb before you cancel rather than cancelling on your own, which is the same step the section on a guest who refuses the check sets out further down. If there's an emergency in progress, Airbnb's safety tips say to contact local emergency services.

If something goes wrong on a booking made for someone else, Airbnb's own documents disagree on who pays: the booking-for-others help article puts costs on the primary guest, while the Booking Permissions Terms make the booker liable for losses caused by the guests they booked for. Save the Reservation details page, which lists both the guest and the booker, and the host confirmation email that names the booker. File your reimbursement request within 14 days of checkout and cite both documents in it.

Can you check guest ID with Airbnb self check-in?

Airbnb's default ID check needs someone to meet the guest in person, which self check-in is built to avoid. On bookings made on or after November 20, 2026, that look at the door is the only check a host can run without an exception, so a keypad listing gets no ID check unless one applies.

On older bookings, a remote ID check, such as an ID photo in Airbnb messages, is allowed only if your listing description gave a legal or compliance reason. Without a law, HOA rule, or contract behind it, the new rule allows the in-person look and nothing else, and none of the usual workarounds fits it. A video call where the guest holds an ID up to the camera isn't a physical look in person, so on Airbnb's wording it doesn't count as the allowed check. An ID-upload or selfie link asks for ID documents and biometric data, which the new rule bars, and a guest's consent isn't one of the exceptions.

Your keypad itself is fine. A keypad or lockbox code involves no app, and a keyless-entry app that makes guests register is allowed as long as you offer another way in on request.

A US host with three homes raised it in an October 30 post on Airbnb's Community Center: "The new policy allows only an in-person ID check at arrival, but most homes use self check-in, and staffing a person at each individual home isn't practical."

Without anyone at the door, you still have these steps on a keypad listing:

• Read the guest's verification: Every booking guest is identity verified before the reservation is confirmed, and tapping the guest's profile card shows the month and year they first verified. Our breakdown of Airbnb's own checks explains what that badge tells you.
• Turn on Instant Book's track-record requirement: You can require a good track record, meaning a completed reservation without incident or bad reviews. The old setting that required a government ID is gone.
• Write a pre-reservation message: You can set one with your own questions, but unless an exception applies they can't ask for ID or contact details, because the rule bars asking for them at any point outside a look at check-in.
• Set Maximum overnight guests as a house rule: A guest who breaks a house rule during the stay, or says before check-in that they will, gives you a reason to cancel without fees.
• Meet guests yourself, if you'd rather check: Disclose the in-person check in your requests section and be there when the guest arrives.

What happens if a guest refuses an Airbnb ID check?

Guests are only encouraged to follow a host's requests, and on bookings made on or after November 20, 2026, the one ID check Airbnb allows without a law, HOA rule, or contract behind it is a request. Saying no to it isn't one of the reasons Airbnb lists for cancelling without fees, so contact Airbnb before you cancel.

The list names proof that a guest intends to break a house rule, and it isn't exhaustive, which leaves whether a refusal qualifies as Airbnb's call. A refusal at the door also lands within 24 hours of check-in, when the option to cancel online is gone, so any cancellation goes through Airbnb anyway. Cancel without its answer and you risk the fees in the Host Cancellation Policy, which also bars you from encouraging the guest to cancel.

In Spain the answer differs: Airbnb tells hosts there they can deny access to guests who don't identify themselves with all the required data.

Is an Airbnb host asking for ID normal or a scam?

Airbnb lets a host request your ID only if the listing disclosed it before booking and cited a law or a documented HOA or building rule; on bookings made on or after November 20, 2026, a look at your ID at check-in counts too, and an allowed contract may. Paying outside Airbnb without prior notice is a red flag.

Start by opening the listing from your Trips tab and rereading its description and its house rules and requests, because a legitimate request was written in before you booked, and on older bookings the reason sits in the description. If you made the booking, Airbnb has already verified you, and its identity verification page says it doesn't share your government ID with the host, which is why a host who wants to see it has to ask you.

If you booked before November 20, a request for a photo of your ID in Airbnb messages is within the rules only when the description already gave a legal or compliance reason, such as a local law or an HOA rule. On a newer booking, expect at most a look at your ID at the door, with no copy kept, unless the requests section names a reason Airbnb allows. A host's insurance policy isn't such a reason. A link to a keyless-entry app is fine, as long as the host gives you another way in when you ask.

A request the listing never mentioned, such as an ID photo or a selfie the host first raises after you booked, breaks Airbnb's rules, although that alone doesn't make it a scam. Decline it in Airbnb messages, and if the host keeps pushing, report it from the host's profile, the message, or the listing. A refusal isn't on Airbnb's list of reasons a host can cancel without fees, though the host can still raise it with Airbnb.

Other requests look more like a scam: being asked to pay outside Airbnb without prior notice, which Airbnb says may be fraudulent, a request for your SSN, or an ID-upload site or app you weren't told about before booking. Report any of them from the host's profile, the message, or the listing.

Frequently asked questions

Can an Airbnb host ask for ID from every guest?

Airbnb hasn't said whether a host can check the ID of every adult in the party. Its policy for bookings made from November 20, 2026 lets a host who discloses it in the requests section check "a guest's ID" in person at check-in, without saying whether that extends to everyone else. Where a guest-registration law such as Italy's or Spain's applies, the host may collect what that law calls for and no more, once the listing has disclosed it.

Do I have to give my passport to a host in Italy or Spain?

Italy and Spain require hosts to register guests. Airbnb's Italy guide gives hosts 24 hours from check-in, or six hours for a one-night stay, to report guests through the Alloggiati Web police portal, and its Spain FAQ says Royal Decree 933/2021 makes registration mandatory. In a limited pilot for stays starting in September 2026, some guests may see an option to send the details through Airbnb, and the host still confirms them at check-in.

Can I use Airbnb without a government ID?

Airbnb can sometimes verify a booking guest with no ID document at all, by checking details such as legal name, address, and phone number against trusted third-party sources, with nothing extra needed from you. It may ask for a government ID photo when that fails or the method isn't available where you live, and it doesn't accept school, gym, or military IDs for the step.

What happens if I don't verify my identity on Airbnb?

Airbnb won't confirm your reservation until you verify. You get 12 hours from booking, or one hour if check-in starts within 12 hours, and the dates stay held for you meanwhile; miss the deadline and the reservation isn't confirmed. Airbnb may also ask you to verify again later, for example after you change your legal name, and you can't make a new booking until that's done.

Every Airbnb ID check needs a line in your listing

Before the first bookings under the new rule arrive, go through your house rules and requests and match each check you ask Airbnb guests for to the text that backs it. A check that lives only in your description, or nowhere, has nothing to stand on for those bookings.

Any check your listing can't support belongs on the bookings you take yourself. A direct booking comes with neither Airbnb's verification nor its rules on ID, so the ID step there is yours to set, within local privacy and biometric laws. Authenticate's Medallion™ is a hosted verification flow for those direct bookings, and our guide to guest screening for direct bookings compares the tools.

Related resources

• What Airbnb guest screening covers and what you can add
• Verifying international guests
• How chargebacks reach Airbnb hosts