All identification documents accepted for notarization in California must be current or issued within the last 5 years to be considered valid. 

Identification for Notarization in California includes:

• driver license or identification card issued by CA DMV

• US Passport issued by Department of State

• inmate identification card issued by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, if the inmate is in custody in California state prison

• any form of inmate identification issued by a local sheriff’s department, if the inmate is in custody in a local detention facility

OR

Identification that contains (1) photograph, (2) description of the person (e.g., height, weight, eye color, ethnicity), (3) signature of the person, and (4) an identifying number, such as:

• valid passport from the person's country of citizenship (i.e., unexpired passport, this can be an internal passport or a travel passport)

• driver’s license issued by another state or by a Canadian or Mexican public agency authorized to issue driver’s licenses

• identification card issued by another state

• US military identification card (caution: current military identification cards might not contain all the required information, see four ID requirements above)

• employee identification card issued by an agency or office of the State of California, or an agency or office of a city, county, or city and county in California (e.g., county identification card, when the four ID requirements above are met)

• identification card issued by a federally recognized tribal government

CA CIV §1185(b)(3) and (4)

If you do not have a valid identification document, for example due to recent expiration of an ID document that was issued over 5 years ago, you can still proceed with the notarization if you bring witnesses, as follows:

Two Witnesses - who personally know the signer and are not personally known by the notary

One Witness - who personally knows the signer and is personally known to the notary public (this is not common, since the witness must personally know both the notary and the signer)

Each witness must:

• provide valid identification (see ID tab) 

• sign the notary public journal

• swear or affirm under penalty of perjury (give an oath) to all of the below: 

 1. the individual appearing before the notary public as the signer of the document is the person named in the document

 2. the witness personally knows the signer

 3. the witness reasonably believes that the circumstances of the signer are such that it would be very difficult or impossible for the signer to obtain another form of identification

 4. the signer does not possess any of the identification documents authorized by law to establish the signer’s identity

 5. the witness does not have a financial interest and is not named in the document signed