Hi,
I am applying for some thing in an outside State (Professional License in Alaska) and the license application requires that I Affix a Recent Passport Photo on the application and have a notary public seal placed on part of the Photo. Basically the Notary Public is swearing that this is a Picture of me and they are swearing on it and placing their notary seal.
However in California they don't apply the notary seal on the picture. They instead place it on a separate sheet of paper and ask you to attach it to your application. State of Alaska requires that the seal is placed on the picture and they are refusing to process my application prior to receiving the passport picture with a notary seal on it.
I got the Notary Seal done at Southern Cali AAA office. Is this rule about notary public on a separate sheet universal through out California or is it unique to certain locations. The other possible solution is that I drive to Nevada or Arizona and get the notary public done there.
Does anybody know what I can do living in OC to get this notary public done on my passport picture without a lot of hassle.
Thanks for your advice.
You will not be able to do this any where in the State of California. What a Notary Public does is, notarize signatures, positively I.D. the individual who comes before us. We cannot simply put our seal on any document without the proper notarial verbiage that is required by the Secretary of State.
Do you have a link to the website that lists the requirements for this from the state of Alaska? I know that often when people come to me with explanations like this, I end up reviewing the paperwork first, or calling the agency directly and explaining the situation. Often times, they will issue an alternative resolution to the problem or we discover that the applicant misunderstood the directions. I've found much of the time the agencies are well aware of California's strict notary rules are prepared for the phone calls or have alternative notes in their instructions.
By the way, there's telling that if you go out of state you won't face the same issues. Notaries generally certify identities and signatures, not copies of things. In California, by law, we are only given the authority to certify copies of two items -- and photographs are not one of them.
