How do I collect guest ID and registration details before arrival?
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Short answer
Make it an explicit, dated task rather than a line buried in your welcome message: tell the guest what you need, by when, and let them confirm they have sent it. Ask weeks ahead, separately from your check-in instructions, so a missing passport scan is not discovered the night before arrival.
Several countries require hosts to collect and report guest identity details, and the rules differ by country and region — check what applies where your property is. Whatever your duty, you do not need to keep the document inside your rental software: Stayem tracks the ask, the guest's confirmation and your receipt, while the file itself stays wherever the guest sent it.
Why the usual approach fails
Most owners put the request in the same long message as the door code and the wifi password. Guests read the arrival details and miss the ask, so the owner sends the same message again two days before arrival, and often ends up copying passport photos off WhatsApp on the morning of check-in.
The fix is structural, not a firmer tone: separate the ask from the arrival information, give it a deadline, and make the guest's response visible to you.
Two kinds of ask, and why the difference matters
It is worth knowing which of these you are doing, because they settle differently:
- Something the guest sends you — passport photos, a signed form. Their tap on "I've sent this" is their claim; only your confirmation records that it actually arrived.
- Something the guest accepts here — house rules, a rental contract. The timestamped tap is the record, and there is nothing for you to confirm afterwards.
A set-up that works
In Stayem, guest registration is its own pre-arrival item rather than part of your check-in instructions, so it can go out weeks ahead while arrival details stay held back until check-in is close. Mark the item as an action, set the deadline in days before check-in, and the guest sees it with a button to confirm.
From there it runs itself: guests are reminded on your deadline day and again two days before arrival; you are notified when a guest says they have sent something, and once more on your alert day if it still is not confirmed. Each booking shows every requirement's standing, with controls to mark it received or not, and you can reopen a confirmation at any time.
Who gets to see it
Identity documents are not your cleaner's business. Each requirement is either yours alone or shared with your on-site manager, so you can let a manager see that arrival paperwork is done without exposing the details. When a guest forwards their stay to travelling companions, companions see the ask but do not answer for the whole party, and never see the lead guest's personal information.
Stayem never stores the document itself: the photo stays where the guest sent it, and Stayem keeps only the record of where things stand. Your own obligations for holding and reporting guest data still apply — this page is not legal advice.
Common questions
Is it legal to ask guests for their passport?
Hosts in several countries are required to collect guest identity details and report them, and the specifics — who must be registered, what is collected, how soon, and how long it is kept — vary by country and region. Check the rules that apply where your property is, and collect no more than they require.
Where should the document itself be stored?
Somewhere you control and can delete from, for only as long as your local rules require. Stayem deliberately does not store it: keeping identity documents is a responsibility, so the less software that holds a copy, the better.
How far ahead should I ask?
Far enough that a missing document is not an arrival-day problem — a few weeks is common. Because the ask is separate from your check-in instructions, asking early does not mean revealing door codes early.
What if the guest never responds?
The requirement keeps showing as outstanding, guests get a reminder two days before arrival, and you get one alert if it is still unconfirmed, so you can chase it once, personally, instead of watching for it.
Ask once, then stop chasing
Pre-arrival tasks with deadlines, reminders and a clear record. Free to start, no credit card.
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