3.1 Acceptable Forms of Identification

The Core Statute: ORS 194.240

An Oregon notary must have satisfactory evidence of identity for every person who appears for a notarial act. ORS 194.240 is the controlling statute, and the Oregon Notary Public Guide builds directly on it. The statute gives the notary three independent paths: (1) certain travel/government photo documents, (2) other government or tribal IDs that carry a photo and signature, or (3) a credible witness (covered in Section 3.2). Paths (1) and (2) are the document-based methods this section covers.

The single most-tested fact is the three-year rule. A passport, driver license, or state ID card is acceptable if it is current or expired not more than three years before the date you perform the act. The clock runs from the printed expiration date to the day of notarization—never from the issue date.

Path 1 — Passports, Licenses, and State ID Cards

These are the everyday documents and the only ones the statute lists by name in its first prong.

Path 2 — Other Government and Tribal IDs

The second statutory prong is broader but adds a strict gate: the document must contain both a photograph and the signature of the individual.

• U.S. military identification card (active, reserve, dependent, retiree).
• Identity card issued by a federally recognized Indian tribe.
• Any other document issued by the federal government or a state, county, or local government — but only if it shows a photo and a signature and is current or expired ≤3 years.

A worked example: a county-issued employee photo ID for a public-works inspector is government-issued, but if it has no signature, it fails the prong-2 test. Conversely, a tribal enrollment card with a photo and signature passes even though it is not a passport or driver license.

The Three-Year Window — Worked Examples

Trap: candidates assume "expired = invalid." In Oregon, an ID expired within three years is fully acceptable. The opposite trap is treating any old ID as fine—four years past expiration disqualifies it.

Documents That Are NEVER Acceptable

Why the Statute Lists Documents This Way

Oregon adopted the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA) in ORS Chapter 194, and ORS 194.240 is its identity provision. The drafters split the document methods into two prongs for a reason. Prong 1 names the high-confidence travel and DMV documents (passports, ORS 807.400 driver licenses and state ID cards) and trusts their built-in security features without separately demanding a visible signature. Prong 2 is the catch-all for any other government or tribal document, so it adds the guardrail that the document must show both a photo and a signature. Knowing which prong a document falls under tells you exactly which test to apply.

A practical decision flow for any document a signer hands you:

1. Is it a passport, driver license, or state ID card? If yes, apply prong 1 — check only that it is current or expired ≤3 years.
2. If not, is it issued by a government or a federally recognized tribe? If no, it is not satisfactory evidence — stop and consider a credible witness (Section 3.2).
3. If yes, does it carry both a photo and a signature and meet the 3-year window? Only then is it acceptable.

Common Scenarios Tested

Exam Focus

• 3-year rule: memorize "current or expired not more than three years" — measured to the date of the act.
• Photo + signature: required for prong-2 government IDs; a missing signature disqualifies.
• Government source: federal, state, county, local, or a federally recognized tribe.
• Foreign passports: acceptable when from an officially recognized country, same 3-year rule.
• Two prongs: passports/licenses/state IDs are prong 1; everything else government-issued is prong 2 and needs photo + signature.
• The Oregon exam is 20 questions; you may miss no more than 4 (16/20) to pass, so ID basics are not items to guess on.