West Virginia Notary Requirements
ACCEPTABLE IDs FOR A WEST VIRGINIA NOTARY
W. Va. Code § 39-4-7
W. Va. Code § 39-4-7 (Identification of individual). (a) A notarial officer has personal knowledge of the identity of an individual appearing before the officer if the individual is personally known to the 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 officer if the officer can identify the individual: (1) By means of: (A) 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; or (B) 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 officer; or (2) By a verification on oath or affirmation of a credible witness personally appearing before the 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 years before performance of the notarial act.
STATE IDs
West Virginia 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.
**West Virginia 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
West Virginia 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
West Virginia 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
West Virginia 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
West Virginia 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)
West Virginia (W. Va. Code 39-4-7(b)(2), Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts) 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
No traditional journal statute
NO TRADITIONAL JOURNAL MANDATE.
- Journal required?
- ✗
- Bound paper journal required?
- ✗
- Wet signature required in journal?
- ✗
- Wet thumbprint required?
- ✗
- Digital journal allowed?
- ✓
- Journal format
- Optional
Notary Fees
W. Va. Code § 39-4-30
W. Va. Code § 39-4-30 (Maximum fees): (a) maximum fee for notarization of each signature and proper recordation in the journal of notarial acts is $10.00 for each signature notarized; (b) maximum $10.00 for certification of a facsimile, per 8.5x11 page retained; (c) maximum $10.00 for any other notarial act performed.
- Acknowledgment (max)
- $10.00
- Jurat (max)
- $10.00
- Additional signature (max)
- $10.00
- 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)