Rhode Island Notary Requirements

ACCEPTABLE IDs FOR A RHODE ISLAND NOTARY

R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-30.1-6 (Identification of individual). (a) 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 notarial officer through dealings sufficient to provide reasonable certainty that the individual has the identity claimed. (b) 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: (1) By means of: (i) A passport, driver's license, or government-issued, non-driver identification card, that is current or expired not more than three (3) years before performance of the notarial act; or (ii) Another form of government identification issued to an individual that is current or expired not more than three (3) years before performance of the notarial act, contains the signature or a photograph of the individual, and is satisfactory to the notarial officer; or (2) By a verification on oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally appearing before the notarial officer and known to the officer or whom the 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 (3) years before performance of the notarial act. (c) A notarial officer may require an individual to provide additional information or identification credentials necessary to assure the notarial officer of the identity of the individual.

State & Local IDs

Rhode Island 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.

Driver's License
Out of State Driver's License
State Issued ID
Out of State State Issued ID
License to Carry/CHL
Out of State License to Carry/CHL1
Voter ID Card2
Out of State Voter ID Card3
Out of State Voter Registration Certificate

1Acceptable 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.

2Rhode Island does not issue this credential.

3Acceptable only if the Voter ID card bears a photograph or signature - verify on the card presented; some states' Voter IDs do not.

Federal IDs

Rhode Island 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.

U.S. Passport Book
U.S. Passport Card
Permanent Resident Card
Employment Authorization Card
Social Security Card
Certificate of Citizenship
Certificate of Naturalization

Military & Veteran

U.S. Military ID
U.S. Military Dependent ID
Veteran ID Card
VA Health ID Card

Government Employment

Rhode Island requires a government-issued identification bearing a photograph or signature, current or expired no more than 3 years ago.

State Government Employee ID1
County Government Employee ID1
Municipal Government Employee ID1
Federal Government Employee ID1

1Acceptable if the card bears a photograph or signature - verify on the card presented.

Tribal

Tribal ID1

1Acceptable if the card bears a photograph or signature - verify on the card presented.

Foreign IDs

Rhode Island 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.

Foreign Passport
Consular/Matricula ID
Foreign Driver's License
Foreign National ID Card

Inmate & Corrections

Rhode Island accepts state, county, and federal inmate identification as listed below.

State Inmate ID
County Inmate ID1
Federal Inmate ID

1Acceptable if the card bears a photograph or signature - verify on the card presented.

CREDIBLE WITNESS(ES)

Rhode Island (R.I. Gen. Laws 42-30.1-6(b)(2), Uniform Law on Notarial Acts) provides satisfactory evidence of identity by a verification on oath or affirmation of a credible witness; the oath is the act. Chapter enacted by P.L. 2018, ch. 104 and ch. 109; CW path cross-referenced at 42-30.1-12.1.

One Credible Witness
Personally known to the notary

PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE

Personally Known1

*Personal knowledge permitted.

Last verified: September 2026

Journal Rules

NO TRADITIONAL JOURNAL MANDATE.

Journal required?
✗
Bound paper journal required?
✗
Wet signature required in journal?
✗
Wet thumbprint required?
✗
Digital journal allowed?
✓
Journal format
Optional
Last verified: September 2026

Notary Fees

R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-30.1-20.1 (FEES TO PERFORM NOTARIAL ACTS): (a) A notary public may charge a fee not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per document or notarization. All fees must be disclosed to any person utilizing the services of the notary public prior to performance of the notarial act.

Acknowledgment (max)
$25.00
Jurat (max)
$25.00
Additional signature (max)
$25.00
Travel fee capped?
✗
Travel fee disclosure required?
✓
Last verified: September 2026

Notarial Acts

Acknowledgment
Jurat
Oath / affirmation
Certified copy
Signature witnessing
Protest
Last verified: September 2026

Certificate Language

R.I. Gen. Laws 34-12-1
Acknowledgment · Individual · safe-harbor wording
On {date}, before me personally appeared {signer_name}, known to me, and known by me to be the party executing the foregoing instrument, and acknowledged the instrument to be his/her/their free act and deed.
Acknowledgment · Representative · safe-harbor wording
On {date}, before me personally appeared {signer_name}, known to me, and known by me to be the party executing the foregoing instrument as {representative_title} of {represented_party}, and acknowledged the instrument to be the free act and deed of {represented_party}.
Certified Copy · General · safe-harbor wording
On {date}, I certify that the attached document is a true, exact, complete, and unaltered copy made by me of {document}, presented to me by {signer_name}, and to the best of my knowledge the copied document is neither a vital record nor a publicly recordable document that may be available as a certified copy from an official source other than a notary public.
Jurat · Individual · safe-harbor wording
Subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me on {date} by {signer_name}, who proved to me through satisfactory evidence of identification, to be the person who appeared before me.
Signature Witnessing · Individual · safe-harbor wording
On {date}, before me, the undersigned notary public, personally appeared {signer_name} and proved through satisfactory evidence of identification to be the person whose name is signed on the attached document in my presence.

Bracketed {tokens} are placeholders the app fills in (venue, names, dates) when it generates a certificate.

Last verified: September 2026

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)