As a notary, we are appointed by the state of California to serve the public by witnessing the signing of important documents and/or administer oaths. An important part of notarizing documents is for us to properly identify the signer’s identification to protect all parties involved. To do so, signer(s) may provide us with some form of paper identification documents; this should be current or has been issued within the last five years. An acceptable form of paper identification document will contain the bearer’s photograph, physical descriptions, signature, and serial or unique identifying number.
Acceptable California Identification Include:
- California Driver’s License
- California Identification Card
- Mexico Driver’s License issued by an authorized Mexican public agency
- Canada Driver’s License issued by an authorized Canadian agency
- United State Passport
- United State Military Identification Card (containing photo, expiration, physical description, signature & ID # with issue date)
- Inmate Identification Card (issued by CA and if inmate is in custody)
- Other State Driver’s License
- Other State Identification Card
- Current valid consular Foreign Passport from applicant's country of citizenship
A birth certificate is not considered as a valid form of identification. In the absence of the proper identification, you may use “two credible witnesses” who knows you personally and will execute a sworn affidavit to that fact. These two credible witnesses CAN be related to the person but CAN NOT be financially involved, or named in the documents. In addition we will also need to document their valid identifications, signatures, and thumbprints in our journal.
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| Example of Acceptable California Identification |
