Saudi Iqama and national ID: the 10-digit number

The 10-digit number

Saudi identity numbers have 10 digits. The first digit tells you the holder type:

1xxxxxxxxx  Saudi citizen (national ID)
2xxxxxxxxx  resident (Iqama)

Hijri dates

Saudi documents often print dates in the Hijri (Umm al-Qura) calendar, e.g. 1447/03/11, sometimes alongside a Gregorian date. Keep the value as printed and convert in your own system with a proper Umm al-Qura table — a simple arithmetic conversion can be a day or two off.

How Mahad OCR reads it

Iqama and Saudi ID cards are read by the universal national-ID reader: name, ID number, nationality, dates and — where printed — employer and occupation come back as fields, with each field marked ✓ confirmed or ⚠ check it. Do not assume a date has been converted between calendars: check which calendar a returned date is in.

Card layouts vary, so validate on your own documents before relying on it. The number is not checked against any government register.