Identification Requirements – What to Bring?

• A California driver’s license or nondriver’s ID

• A U.S. passport (or passport card)

• An inmate identification card issued by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation if the inmate is in prison or any form of inmate identification issued by a sheriff’s department if the inmate is in custody in a local detention facility

California also permits the following IDs, provided they include a photograph, signature, description of the person and a serial or ID number:

• A driver’s license or official nondriver’s ID issued by a U.S. state

• A Canadian or Mexican driver’s license issued by an appropriate public agency

• A U.S. military ID

• A valid foreign passport from the applicant’s country of citizenship

• An employee ID issued by an agency or office of a California city, county, or city and county

• An identification card issued by a federally recognized tribal government

• A valid consular identification document issued by a consulate from the applicant’s country of citizenship that meets specific requirements. (Note: Matricula consular cards issued by the government of Mexico do not meet California's statutory requirements.)Social security cards, birth certificates, check cashing cards, credit cards and immigration cards are not suitable for identification.  If a signer does not have a photo ID, then he/she will need two witnesses present who can swear to his/her identity in order to be certified. The oaths of the affirming witnesses are satisfactory evidence for certification.

Note: Any of the identification documents listed above must be current or issued within the past five years in order to be accepted by California Notaries.