Before You Can Buy Property: Setting Up Your Saudi Digital Identity

Once you arrive in Saudi Arabia on a tourist visa, your passport and visa let you obtain a local mobile number and register a Saudi Visitor Digital ID. Before you can seriously progress towards buying property, you need to become digitally enabled in the Kingdom. This guide walks through the five steps in the exact order to do them.

Step A: Buy a Saudi SIM card

Visit a branch or kiosk of Mobily, STC or Zain (all present at the airports and throughout Makkah and Madinah). You will need to show your passport and valid tourist visa. Your Saudi mobile number is used for SMS verification throughout the Digital ID and banking registration processes, so this comes first.

Step B: Retrieve your Border Number

Your Border Number is a unique visitor reference issued when you enter Saudi Arabia, and it is required for Digital ID registration. Retrieve it using the official Absher public enquiry service:

absher.sa: Border Number enquiry

1. Select your ID type (most international visitors choose Non-GCC Citizen; pilgrims on Hajj or Umrah visas select Pilgrim), then continue.
2. Verify your visa details: enter your visa number and visa issue date.
3. Complete the CAPTCHA check.
4. Your Border Number appears on the next screen. Note it down before you exit.

Step C: Issue and activate your Visitor Digital ID (Absher)

With your Border Number and Saudi mobile number ready, download the official Absher app, published by the Saudi Ministry of Interior, from the official Absher site, the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Important: do not log in. From the app home screen, go straight to:

Public Services → Manage Digital Identity → Issue Digital Identity

Complete the registration form with:

• Border Number (mandatory)
• Saudi mobile number (mandatory)
• Email address, username and password

After registering, return to Manage Digital Identity → Activate Digital Identity. Activation is done in person at an Absher self-service kiosk or a government-authorised office (kiosks are available in Makkah, Madinah and the airports). Take your passport, your Saudi mobile phone and your Border Number. Depending on current requirements this may involve authentication at the kiosk or another approved identity verification method.

Once activated, restart the app and log in: your Visitor Digital ID card appears inside Absher.

Step D: Register on Nafath

Nafath is the Kingdom’s secure single sign-on platform. It verifies your identity for government services such as the Saudi Properties portal and for private-sector apps such as banking, using biometric authentication instead of passwords. Verification uses three elements: a random two-digit number, your PIN, and photo recognition.

Download the official Nafath app and follow the registration process using your newly activated Digital ID.

Step E: Open a Saudi bank account

With your Digital ID activated and Nafath registered, eligible visitors can apply for a visitor bank account with participating Saudi banks, subject to each bank’s onboarding and compliance requirements. You will need:

• Activated Visitor Digital ID
• Valid passport
• Active Saudi mobile number
• Nafath registration

Participating banks currently include Riyad Bank, Saudi National Bank (SNB), Al Rajhi Bank and Arab National Bank. Download each bank’s official app from its website, the App Store or Google Play.

Stage 1 outcomes

• ✓Entered Saudi Arabia on a tourist visa
• ✓Saudi mobile number active
• ✓Visitor Digital ID issued and activated on Absher
• ✓Nafath registered
• ✓Saudi bank account opened (subject to approval)
• ✓Ready to search for eligible property on the Saudi Properties portal

Screens and requirements are those of the official services at the time of writing and may change. This guide is general information based on official Saudi government publications and our practical experience of the systems, not legal advice.