How is a Saudi national ID checked?

The 10-digit number uses a Luhn (modulus-10) check. Working from the leftmost digit, every other digit is doubled and reduced to a single digit, the rest are added as-is, and a valid number's total is divisible by 10.

What does the first digit mean?

The leading digit classifies the holder: 1 indicates a Saudi citizen national ID (Hawiya), and 2 indicates a resident's Iqama number. Other leading digits are not standard national identity numbers.

Does a valid check digit mean the ID is real?

No. A valid Luhn result confirms the number is internally consistent, not that it is issued to a real, active person. Identity must be confirmed through Absher or the Ministry of Interior, not a checksum.

How many digits is a Saudi ID?

Both the citizen national ID and the resident Iqama are exactly 10 digits. This tool ignores spaces, so you can paste it grouped and it still validates correctly.

Is my ID number sent anywhere?

No. The Luhn check is computed entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored, so it is safe to validate sensitive identity numbers.

Saudi National ID Validator

The Saudi national identity number is a 10-digit identifier issued by the Ministry of Interior. Saudi citizens hold a national ID (Hawiya) that begins with 1, while residents hold an Iqama number that begins with 2. Both are used across Absher, banking KYC, HR onboarding and government services. This free validator runs the official check-digit algorithm so you can catch a mistyped number before it reaches a system that will reject it.

How it works

The Saudi national ID uses a Luhn (modulus-10) check digit, the same family of algorithm used by payment cards. Working over all 10 digits:

Starting from the leftmost digit, take every other digit (positions 1, 3, 5, 7, 9) and double it. If doubling produces a two-digit number, add those two digits together (equivalently, subtract 9).
Add the remaining digits (positions 2, 4, 6, 8, 10) unchanged.
Sum everything. The number is valid when the total is divisible by 10.

The tool also classifies the leading digit: 1 for a citizen national ID and 2 for a resident Iqama. The validator shows you the Luhn sum and the sum mod 10 remainder so you can see precisely why a number passed or failed.

Example

For a 10-digit number starting with 1, the tool doubles the first, third, fifth, seventh and ninth digits, reduces any two-digit results to a single digit, adds the even-position digits as-is, and checks whether the grand total ends in zero. If the total is, say, 60, the remainder is 0 and the ID passes; if it is 63, the remainder is 3 and the ID fails.

Tips and notes

A failed check almost always means a digit was typed wrong or transposed. Re-check all 10 digits against the source document.
The leading-digit rule is informational: a Luhn-valid number that starts with neither 1 nor 2 is flagged because it is not a standard national identity number.
A valid checksum is necessary but not sufficient. Confirm identity through Absher or the issuing authority. Everything runs locally, so the number never leaves your device.