More ID Madness

[kevin_standlee]

I had cause to get my signature on a Nevada state document notarized. I could find nothing that required that it be witnessed by a Nevada state notary, so rather than wait until this weekend, I stopped by the UPS Store near my office where they always have a notary on duty.

"Could I see your driver's license, please?" the notary asked.

I said, "You don't need it," as I produced my passport.

He started to insist that he had to see a driver's license, "Because I need to verify your address."

I pointed out that my address [in Nevada, but it's perfectly valid; technically right now, it's my second home as I'm still a California resident] is on the document he's witnessing and that I'm signing under penalty of perjury. Grudgingly, he agreed to notarize it, and indeed, his notary book has "passport" as one of the check-boxes for methods of verifying ID.

I assume that people are so used to one and only one way of checking ID that any of the other valid methods make their brains start to melt.

Addendum, 11 PM: Several of the people in the comments are talking about what's a proof of residency. Y'all are missing the point in this story. Despite what the notary said, he didn't need to verify residency. He has to write down an address in his notary book, but he doesn't have to independently verify any of the information on the form I was signing, just the fact that the person who appeared to match the ID (my passport, in this case) signed the form.

Had I needed to prove my residency in California, I think I would have produced my voter registration card to go with my passport. Had I needed to prove an address in Nevada, I would have produced the bill of sale for Fernley House. I'm aware of the distinctions here, thank you.

Comments

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

I do this sort of thing for a living.

Proof of identity is not proof of residency. A passport does not prove you are a resident of Nevada. As you are discovering, residency is a complex subject and has a lot to do with intent.

A government-issued photo ID is a government-issued photo ID. A community college ID is issued by a special district and is as valid as one from the DMV for proof of identity. However, many organizations have to follow special regulations and/or rules, such as firearms dealers, where the auditors are exact and the penalties are massive.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know that. But there was nothing on here that said that the notary's job was to verify my residency. All he has to do is attest that I am the person who signed the form. I'm the one who is signing under penalty of perjury about the particular form. (And in this case, the form didn't have to be completed by a Nevada resident, since you're allowed to own a business in Nevada without being a resident of that state.)

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

The notary's job is to verify identity. A lot of other people are interested in verifying residency.

I was going to post the government-issued proof of residency that any US citizen can get online for $20, but you probably already know which one I'm talking about.

Everyone else can get an Alaska non-resident small game hunting license. https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=license.fgstore