Update 4-18-17. Effective January 1, 2017, California Notaries will be able to accept valid consular IDs as satisfactory proof of identity.
Consular IDs are issued to immigrants by the consulates of their home country. To be accepted as proof of identity in California, a consular ID must must be current or issued in the past five years, have a serial or identification number, and contain the signature, photograph and description of the individual. Because Mexican 'matricula consular' cards lack a physical description of the bearer, they are not acceptable under the new CA law.
Accepting consular cards
With the signing of Assembly Bill 2566 by Gov. Jerry Brown, California joins Nevada and Illinois as the only states to specifically allow Notaries to accept consular ID cards. Whether Notaries in other jurisdictions may accept a consular ID depends on how their states define satisfactory proof of identification.
Consular ID cards issued by some countries have been controversial in the past because of concerns that they are susceptible to fraud. Supporters of consular ID cards argue that newer cards are issued more securely and many immigrants need them because they lack other forms of acceptable ID.AB 2566 also allows Notaries to accept any valid foreign passport as proof of identity. Previously, passports had to be stamped by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services.
Accepting tribal identification cards
A second new law, Senate Bill 997, allows California Notaries to accept tribal identification cards issued by federally-recognized tribal governments.
Backers of SB 997 said that elderly or impoverished Native Americans living in rural areas often had difficulty getting documents notarized because they only possessed tribal ID cards rather than a driver’s license or other currently-accepted form of identification.
Like consular IDs, in order to accept a tribal ID it must be current or issued in the past five years, have a serial or identification number, and contain the signature, photograph and description of the individual.
Related Articles:
The challenge of matricula consular cards
CA Driver’s Licenses and Immigrants: What Notaries need to know
The 3 ways Notaries can properly identify signers
Additional Resources:
NNA Webinar: How to ID in a Multi-Cultural World
ID Checking Guide: International Edition