Iowa Notary Requirements
ACCEPTABLE IDs FOR AN IOWA NOTARY
Iowa Code § 9B.7
Iowa Code § 9B.7. Identification of individual.
1. A notarial officer has personal knowledge of the identity of an individual appearing
before the notarial officer if the individual is personally known to the officer through dealings
sufficient to provide reasonable certainty that the individual has the identity claimed.
2. A notarial officer has satisfactory evidence of the identity of an individual appearing
before the notarial officer if the notarial officer can identify the individual pursuant to any of
the following:
a. By means of any of the following:
(1) A passport, driver's license, or government-issued nondriver identification card,
which is current or expired not more than three years before performance of the notarial act.
(2) Another form of government identification issued to an individual, which is current
or expired not more than three years before performance of the notarial act, contains the
signature or a photograph of the individual, and is satisfactory to the notarial officer.
b. By a verification on oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally appearing
before the officer and known to the notarial officer or whom the notarial officer can identify
on the basis of a passport, driver's license, or government-issued nondriver identification
card, which is current or expired not more than three years before performance of the
notarial act.
3. A notarial officer may require an individual to provide additional information or
identification credentials necessary to assure the officer of the identity of the individual.
STATE IDs
Iowa requires a state-issued identification bearing a photograph or signature, current or expired no more than 3 years ago.
Documents qualifying under this standard remain subject to your judgment as the notary that the identification presented is satisfactory.
*Acceptable only if the License to Carry/CHL card bears a photograph or signature - verify on the card presented; some states' License to Carry/CHLs do not.
**Iowa does not issue this credential.
***Acceptable only if the Voter ID card bears a photograph or signature - verify on the card presented; some states' Voter IDs do not.
FEDERAL IDs
Iowa requires a federally issued identification bearing a photograph or signature, current or expired no more than 3 years ago.
Documents qualifying under this standard remain subject to your judgment as the notary that the identification presented is satisfactory.
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT IDs
Iowa requires a government-issued identification bearing a photograph or signature, current or expired no more than 3 years ago.
*Acceptable if the card bears a photograph or signature - verify on the card presented.
INMATE IDs
Iowa accepts state, county, and federal inmate identification as listed below.
*Acceptable if the card bears a photograph or signature - verify on the card presented.
FOREIGN IDs
Iowa requires a foreign-government issued identification bearing a photograph or signature, current or expired no more than 3 years ago.
Documents qualifying under this standard remain subject to your judgment as the notary that the identification presented is satisfactory.
CREDIBLE WITNESS(ES)
Iowa (Iowa Code 9B.7(2)(b)) accepts a verification on oath or affirmation of a credible witness (known to the officer or identified by ID); the oath is the act.
PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE
*Personal knowledge through sufficient dealings
OTHER IDs
*Acceptable if the card bears a photograph or signature - verify on the card presented.
Journal Rules
Iowa Code § 9B.19
Iowa Code § 9B.19: Reserved.
- Journal required?
- ✗
- Bound paper journal required?
- ✗
- Wet signature required in journal?
- ✗
- Wet thumbprint required?
- ✗
- Digital journal allowed?
- ✓
- Journal format
- Optional
Notary Fees
Iowa Code ch. 9B
Iowa Code ch. 9B (Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (2018)). § 9B.21 is 'Commission as notary public - qualifications - no immunity or benefit' (appointment/3-year term) - NOT a fee section. The only fee section is § 9B.21B 'Fees - certification', which sets fees the SECRETARY OF STATE COLLECTS for administering the chapter: (1) certified copy $1/page + $5 certificate; (2) uncertified copy $1/page; (3) commission-status certification under seal $5. These are SoS commissioning/certification fees, NOT per-notarial-act fees a notary charges the public.
- Acknowledgment (max)
- —
- Jurat (max)
- —
- Additional signature (max)
- —
- Travel fee capped?
- ✗
- Travel fee disclosure required?
- ✓
Notarial Acts
Certificate Language
Dated: {date}
Bracketed {tokens} are placeholders the app fills in (venue, names, dates) when it generates a certificate.
Source Documents
Full statute and (where published) the commissioning authority’s notary handbook. Download links appear here once the documents table is populated.
📄 Full notary statute (coming soon) 📄 Notary handbook (coming soon)