Creating Your Account and Verification

You need a verified account before you can book — it protects you, the host, and the car. Verification usually takes just a few minutes.

1. Sign up

Create your account with an email address (or your Google/Apple sign-in) and a password. You'll add your name, phone number, and date of birth, since Carvia has minimum age requirements for renting.

2. Age requirements

21 and older: you can book with any protection plan.
18-20 years old: you can still book, but you're required to choose Premium protection and complete an extended verification step. This is Carvia's approach to younger drivers — we build it into your protection pricing rather than tacking on a separate punitive young-driver fee. See Choosing a Protection Plan (Guest).
Under 18: not eligible to book on Carvia.

3. Verify your driver's license and identity

Before you can book, we verify that you are who you say you are and that you're licensed to drive. This runs through Stripe Identity, our identity verification vendor:

1. Upload your driver's license. It needs to be a valid, government-issued license — a non-temporary license, or a Carvia-accepted temporary license.

2. Take a selfie. We match your selfie against your license photo to confirm it's really you.

3. License history check. We run a driving-history screen: your license needs to have been held for at least 1 year, with no more than 1 at-fault accident or major violation in the past 3 years. We re-check this periodically, not just at signup.

If you're 18-20, this step includes the extended verification mentioned above before you're cleared to book.

Most guests are verified within a few minutes. Occasionally it takes longer if our vendor needs a clearer photo or a manual review.

4. If verification fails or is delayed

Blurry or mismatched photo: we'll tell you exactly what didn't match and let you retry — usually a clearer photo of your license or a better-lit selfie clears it.
License doesn't meet requirements: if your license is expired, has been held less than a year, or your driving history doesn't meet our standard, you won't be able to complete verification. We'll explain the specific reason rather than a generic rejection.
Manual review needed: some cases need a closer look from our team. You'll see a status update in-app, and we'll follow up by email once it's resolved.
Stuck or think we made a mistake? Reach out through in-app support and we'll take another look.