By CheckeSIMRates · Published 20 October 2026 · Plans checked 20 October 2026, 04:39 UTC
From what providers state, most data-only travel eSIMs do not ask for ID, but some plans do, and the price does not tell you which. In our check on 20 October 2026, three of the 31 providers we track state an ID requirement in a form we can read, Airalo, Airhub and Global YO, and 96 of their 4,544 plans (2.1%) need identity verification: 93 of Airalo’s 1,390 plans, 3 of Airhub’s 1,324 and none of Global YO’s 1,830. In Airalo’s data the check follows the type of plan: 64 of Airalo’s 93 plans with calls or SMS need ID (69%), against 29 of its 1,297 data-only plans (2.2%). Other providers set their own rules: Orange Travel wants a passport or ID copy within 30 days for each of its eSIM offers, Saily asks only for its phone-number plans, and Ubigi’s terms say ID may be required under applicable law. If you will be asked, do it before you fly: verification can take days.
This covers what providers state and what their catalogues flag, not what happens at every checkout. We did not test purchases, rules change, and for most providers we rely on their own pages, so use it to know what to check, not as a guarantee.
Key findings
- 2.1% of plans need ID. 96 of 4,544 plans from the three providers that publish an ID flag (20 October 2026): Airalo 93 of 1,390 (6.7%), Airhub 3 of 1,324, Global YO 0 of 1,830.
- Calls and SMS are the pattern. 69% of Airalo’s plans with calls or SMS need ID against 2.2% of its data-only plans, about 31 times as often.
- It depends on the country. Airalo flags plans in 12 of 193 destinations; in 9 of them (Sri Lanka, Colombia, the Bahamas, Georgia, Panama, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Mexico and the Maldives) every Airalo plan needs ID.
- Orange Travel needs ID for each of its offers. Its support page says registration is required by French law, data-only offers included, and must be done within 30 days or the line is suspended.
- Saily asks only for phone numbers. Its data-only plans typically do not need ID, but it cannot verify documents issued by nine countries.
- Our ID flag covers 3 of 31 providers. For the others we read no flag, so we rely on what each provider’s own pages say, and those can change.
Do travel eSIMs ask for ID or a passport?
It depends on the plan and the provider, and three patterns show up. Plans that include a phone number, or that run on one local operator, are the ones most often verified. Some providers register every line, as Orange Travel does for each offer on its registration page, data-only included. And plain data-only eSIMs from global providers usually need nothing: Holafly’s guides say you do not scan a passport or register an identity document, and Global YO’s plan pages say “ID required: No”. The sections below give the numbers and each provider’s own wording.
What does our plan data show?
We record an ID flag for a plan only where the provider’s catalogue states one. Three providers do: Airalo marks the plans that need verification, Airhub carries a verification flag on each plan, and Global YO prints an “ID required” line on each country page.
| Provider | Plans checked | Plans that need ID | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airalo | 1,390 | 93 | 6.7% |
| Airhub | 1,324 | 3 | 0.2% |
| Global YO | 1,830 | 0 | 0% |
| The three together | 4,544 | 96 | 2.1% |
Within Airalo the pattern is clear. A plan with calls or SMS needs ID 31 times as often as a data-only plan, which fits what other providers say: Saily asks for ID for its phone numbers, not its data plans, and our guide to eSIMs with a phone number shows how few plans include one.
Where does Airalo ask for ID?
Airalo flags plans in 12 of its 193 single-country destinations. In nine of them every plan needs ID, including data-only plans in Colombia, the Bahamas, Georgia, Panama, Jamaica, Costa Rica and the Maldives. In Austria, Belgium and South Africa only the plans with calls or SMS are flagged.
| Destination | Plans that need ID | Which plans | Cheapest | Network named | All plans in our data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sri Lanka | 15 of 15 | Plans with calls or SMS | $5.50 | Hutch | 479 plans, 29 providers |
| Colombia | 13 of 13 | Data-only and calls/SMS plans | $4.50 | – | 373 plans, 26 providers |
| Bahamas | 12 of 12 | Data-only and calls/SMS plans | $7.00 | BTC | 228 plans, 24 providers |
| Georgia | 12 of 12 | Data-only and calls/SMS plans | $4.50 | Cellfie | 427 plans, 29 providers |
| Panama | 6 of 6 | Data-only and calls/SMS plans | $30.00 | +Movil – C&W PAN | 355 plans, 26 providers |
| Jamaica | 6 of 6 | Data-only and calls/SMS plans | $30.00 | Flow | 221 plans, 24 providers |
| Costa Rica | 6 of 6 | Data-only and calls/SMS plans | $26.50 | Liberty | 402 plans, 26 providers |
| Mexico | 6 of 6 | Plans with calls or SMS | $5.50 | Movistar | 429 plans, 28 providers |
| Maldives | 2 of 2 | Data-only and calls/SMS plans | $40.00 | Dhiraagu | 159 plans, 18 providers |
| Austria | 6 of 12 | Plans with calls or SMS | $5.50 | – | 477 plans, 28 providers |
| South Africa | 6 of 13 | Plans with calls or SMS | $4.50 | RSA CellC | 379 plans, 25 providers |
| Belgium | 3 of 10 | Plans with calls or SMS | $12.50 | Telenet | 495 plans, 28 providers |
| Philippines | Airhub: 3 of 8 | Data-only plans (10 GB and 33 GB) | $20.50 | – | 458 plans, 29 providers |
Every destination above has many plans from other providers (the last column), so a flagged plan is a choice, not a dead end. We do not read an ID flag for most of those providers, so check each provider’s rules in the next section. Airhub’s FAQ names the UK, Europe and the Maldives for its ID checks and not the Philippines, so treat our Airhub count as a minimum.
What do providers say about ID?
| Provider | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Airalo | Some countries’ eSIMs need an electronic identity check under local regulations. You upload a passport photo, sometimes an address, to a third-party checker. The buy button reads “Verify your identity”, and an eSIM’s Additional Information in the app shows whether it needs the check. | Help page, eKYC guide |
| Airhub | Documents are needed only for some plans for the UK, Europe and the Maldives; the QR code follows once the check is done. | FAQ |
| Orange Travel | Registration is required by French law. You can use the eSIM at once and must register within 30 days with a copy of a valid ID card or passport, for data-only offers too. Verification takes up to about 10 days, and the line is suspended if documents are not sent in time. | Support page |
| Saily | Identity verification applies to phone numbers for calls and SMS; standard data-only plans typically do not need it. Accepted: national ID, passport photo page or driver’s licence, with passport only for some countries. | Help center |
| Ubigi | Terms of September 2024: under applicable law you may have to send a copy of your ID or passport before first use or within 15 days, or the service can be suspended. | Terms |
| Holafly | Its Kenya guide says buying a Holafly eSIM needs no passport scan, identity registration or store visit, unlike a local SIM. | Guide |
| Global YO | Plan pages carry an “ID required” line, and it reads No on all 1,830 plans we checked. | Plan pages |
These are the providers’ own statements, read on 20 October 2026. Several are marketing or help pages that change, and we have not tested each checkout. For providers not listed, assume nothing and check the plan page.
Why do some eSIMs need ID?
According to the providers, because ID rules attach to the number or network behind a plan. Airalo says certain countries require the check under their own regulations. Orange Travel ties its registration to French law, and Saily says its phone-number check follows telecommunications and anti-money-laundering rules. A local SIM is stricter still: dtac asks tourists to register a Thai SIM with their passport, and the Philippines’ SIM Registration Act has foreign tourists give their name, nationality, passport number and an address in the country and show a passport, proof of address and a return ticket. A global data-only eSIM with no local number is a different product, and the providers above say they ask for nothing on it, while a plan on a local operator may be treated differently; we have not confirmed each country’s rules.
What will you be asked to do?
- Upload a document. Airalo asks for a passport photo; Orange Travel for a copy of a valid ID card or passport; Saily for a physical national ID, passport or driver’s licence, not a screenshot, photocopy or a photo of a screen.
- Allow time. Airalo’s guide says verification can take a few days and that a poor image means resubmitting; Orange says up to about 10 days. Do it before departure, as with installing the eSIM (see when to activate a travel eSIM).
- Check your document’s country. Saily accepts only a passport from Brazil, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Romania and South Africa, and both a passport and a national ID from China and Morocco. It cannot verify documents from Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, Syria or Venezuela, wherever you travel.
- Know the deadline. Orange suspends a line if documents are not submitted within 30 days of activation.
If you would rather not upload ID
- Choose a data-only plan, which in our data is far less likely to be flagged: 2.2% of Airalo’s data-only plans need ID against 69% of its plans with calls or SMS.
- Look for the flag before you pay: Airalo’s “Verify your identity” button, the Additional Information in its app, and the plan page of any other provider.
- Pick a provider that says it asks for nothing on data-only plans, and read its terms: Saily and Holafly say so for data-only plans and Global YO shows “ID required: No”, while Orange Travel and Ubigi’s terms do ask for ID in some form.
- Remember that no ID check is not anonymity. You still give payment details and an email address, and the rules for a local SIM bought in the country, such as in Thailand or the Philippines, still apply.
How we collected the data
- Plans come from the daily check of 31 providers’ own websites on 20 October 2026, 04:39 UTC: 63,884 plans, excluding plans for part of a country.
- The ID flag is read from the provider’s catalogue for three providers: Airalo and Airhub flag the plans that need verification, and Global YO prints “ID required” on each country page. That covers 4,544 plans. “Needs ID” means the catalogue marks the plan; we did not test any checkout.
- For the other 28 providers (59,340 plans) we read no ID flag, so they are not counted. Statements about Orange Travel, Saily, Ubigi, Holafly and Airhub’s FAQ come from those providers’ own pages, read on 20 October 2026, and can change.
- Airhub’s FAQ names the UK, Europe and the Maldives, which our flag does not show, so its count here is a minimum.
- Destination counts use single-country plans. Airalo’s call and SMS plans are the plans it lists with minutes or SMS.
- Philippine and Thai rules are from the Act’s text and dtac’s page; check the regulator or your operator for the current rules.
Questions about eSIMs and ID
Do travel eSIMs require a passport?
Most data-only travel eSIMs do not, but some do. Among the 4,544 plans from the three providers whose catalogues state it, 96 (2.1%) need identity verification, 93 of them Airalo’s. Orange Travel asks for an ID card or passport copy within 30 days for each of its eSIM offers, and Saily asks for ID only when you add a phone number.
Which eSIM providers ask for ID?
Airalo for some countries’ eSIMs (12 of 193 destinations in our check), Orange Travel for each of its offers, Saily for phone-number plans, and Airhub for some plans in the UK, Europe and the Maldives according to its FAQ. Ubigi’s terms say you may have to send a copy of your ID under applicable law. Providers’ rules change, so check the plan page before you pay.
Is there an eSIM with no KYC?
Data-only plans from providers that state no ID check, such as Global YO, which says “ID required: No” on its plan pages, and Holafly, whose guides say no passport scan is needed. “No KYC” is not the same as anonymous: you still pay, give an email address and use a phone, and local rules apply to local SIMs.
Why does Airalo ask for my passport?
Airalo says some countries require an electronic identity check (eKYC) for eSIMs sold there under their regulatory and security rules. You upload a photo of your passport, sometimes with an address, and a third-party provider checks it. On a plan that needs it, the buy button reads “Verify your identity”.
How long does eSIM identity verification take?
Airalo’s eKYC guide says it can take a few days, so start before you leave. Orange Travel says its form takes about 5 minutes and verification up to 10 days, and you can use the eSIM meanwhile: if documents are not submitted within 30 days the line is suspended.
What if my passport is from a country the provider cannot verify?
Saily says it cannot verify documents issued by Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, Syria or Venezuela, wherever you travel, and tells those customers to contact support about refund options. This applies to its phone-number plans, which are the ones that need verification.
Do I need ID for a local SIM in Thailand or the Philippines?
Yes. dtac’s page says tourist SIMs must be registered with your passport at a dtac service centre, an authorised retailer or an airport shop. The Philippines’ SIM Registration Act has tourists register their name, nationality, passport number and address, and show a passport, proof of address and a return ticket.
The practical takeaway
For a normal trip, pick a data-only plan: ID checks are rare there, 2.2% of Airalo’s data-only plans against 69% of its plans with calls or SMS. If a plan needs ID, or the provider is Orange Travel, finish the check before you fly, with the passport you will travel on, and keep your home line for bank codes. To see every plan for a destination, use its page, for example Sri Lanka, Colombia or Georgia, and compare providers on our providers page.