November 25, 2025

ID Scanning with Arabic Support: the World’s First Browser-Based Recognition of Emirates ID, Qatar ID, and Saudi National ID

Arabic is one of the six official UN languages, spoken by 400+ million people worldwide. As it is the state language in more than 20 countries across the MENA region, including the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, and more, a large number of documents are issued in Arabic. Among these documents are widely used Emirates IDs, Qatar IDs, and Saudi National IDs, which are not just proof of identity – they unlock various services in corresponding countries. For instance, you cannot obtain residency in the UAE, pass control through eGates in some UAE airports, and open a bank account in the UAE without Emirates ID.

Despite the tremendous importance of such documents, not so many OCR technologies are able to handle the Arabic writing system, which remains one of the hardest for OCR models to read. The writing and punctuation run right-to-left, letters are connected and change shape based on their positions. Some characters look extremely similar and vary only by one or two dots (ـصـ , صـ , ـضـ , ضـ – these are four different symbols). Common character recognition systems struggle with Arabic symbols segmentation, and to operate correctly they have to be profoundly more precise.

Currently, the few that are accurate enough do so at the cost of heavy computations, which makes them impractical to embed directly into banking, healthcare, or government websites. OCR Studio is the first in the world to solve this constraint – our OCR ID-scan reliably recognizes Emirates ID, Qatar ID, Saudi National ID, and many other ID documents right in the browser, while all computations run entirely on the end-user’s device. Below, we explain how this became possible and what else the technology is capable of.

What Benefits Can Businesses Gain from Arabic-Enabled ID Scanning Embedded on a Web Page?

When ID verification runs not only in a desktop app but also in any browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.) on a mobile phone, service accessibility increases sharply. Arabic-enabled OCR ID-scan embedded on a web page removes the need for users to download any programmes – customers simply open the site and scan their IDs with a front or rear camera.

The OCR Studio team made this possible with the WebAssembly (Wasm) technology. OCR ID-scan runs at near-native speed, requiring just a few seconds for document recognition, and stays device-independent. Wasm guarantees the same user experience across various phone models, tablets, and desktops.

Another benefit businesses gain from Arabic-enabled ID scanning lies in its core technical feature – all computations are performed on the end-user’s device. No clouds, external servers, Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) systems, or even GPUs are involved, as our own optimised ultra-lightweight neural architecture underpins the actual technology. Also, the system is energy-efficient so it doesn’t drain the phone's battery. Companies, in turn, can reduce costs on outer calculations and excessive third-party providers.

This feature ensures complete regulatory compliance – the UAE federal laws, Qatar’s Data Privacy Protection Law, Saudi Arabia’s Personal Data Protection Law, and others – as none of the user’s sensitive information is stored or egressed. This may protect companies from data breaches and subsequent multi-million fines with officers’ personal liability.

What If Customers’ ID Photos Are Low Resolution?

OCR ID-scan is designed to stay robust to real-world conditions, including low image resolution, challenging angles, insufficient or excessive lighting, and blur. In case of major reflections, users can record a brief video of the document – the algorithm automatically analyzes multiple frames from different viewpoints and extracts the data from every field needed within a couple of seconds.

Arabic-Enabled ID Scanning by OCR Studio

OCR Studio develops powerful, secure ID and passport scanning solutions that work with documents in 100+ languages from more than 250 countries. Our advanced OCR technologies instantly recognize text in any document, work fully offline, and operate completely on-premise.

Browser-based OCR ID-scan with Arabic language support allows businesses to expand to the MENA region without any risks in personal data processing. Find out more about the technology here.