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Identity Verification (KYC)
KYC — Know Your Customer — is the process of confirming a person's identity before they can participate in a regulated service. On NotariseIt, KYC ensures that the person signing a document is who they claim to be, which is a legal requirement under the Notaries Public Act 2023 (Nigeria). NotariseIt uses Dojah for secure, real-time identity checks.
Your identity details form part of the legal record
The identity information you submit during verification is recorded in the session audit trail and referenced in the notarial certificate. These are legal documents that may be relied upon in court proceedings, regulatory inquiries, or third-party verification of a notarised document. Submit only accurate, current information that genuinely belongs to you. Providing false identity information is a criminal offence under Nigerian law.
Is KYC required?
Yes. Identity verification is a requirement for participating in a notarisation session as a client or witness. It is a legal obligation under the Notaries Public Act 2023 — a notary public must be satisfied as to the identity of the person before them before performing any notarial act. Complete your verification well before the session to avoid delays on the day.
Your notary can see your verification status at any time. In exceptional circumstances — such as a verified outage with the identity provider — a notary may exercise their professional discretion to admit you without a completed digital KYC check and verify your identity manually on camera instead. This is the notary's decision alone; it cannot be requested or assumed. If they do so, their reason is recorded in the session audit trail and becomes part of the notarisation record.
Verification methods
You choose how you want to verify your identity. All methods use Dojah to check your details against the relevant government database in real time — results typically come back within seconds.
Which methods you can choose depends on whether you are verifying as a client or as a witness.
As a client
Three methods, and they are the same three wherever you start from — your profile before booking, or the prompt on an upcoming appointment:
| Method | What you need |
|---|---|
| NIN | Your 11-digit National Identification Number |
| International Passport | Your passport number and surname as printed on the data page |
| Driver's Licence | Your FRSC licence number |
As a witness
The witness portal offers the three above plus two more:
| Method | What you need |
|---|---|
| BVN | Your 11-digit Bank Verification Number |
| Voter's Card | Your INEC Voter Identification Number (VIN), printed on your permanent voter's card |
BVN and Voter's Card are witness-only
If you are the client on the booking you will not see these two. They are offered in the witness portal only. Use NIN, passport or driver's licence.
Fallback
| Method | What you need |
|---|---|
| Document upload | A clear PDF or photo scan of a government-issued ID — passport, National ID card, driver's licence, voter's card or NIN slip |
Document upload is not verified instantly. Your notary will review the uploaded document manually during the session. It is only recommended when live verification is unavailable (e.g. an extended Dojah outage).
How to verify your identity
As a client (before booking)
- Click your name in the top-right corner, choose Profile Settings, then open the Identity Verification card.
- Select a verification method.
- Enter your ID number (and surname if using a passport).
- Submit — results return within seconds for instant methods.
As a witness (via magic link)
Witnesses are invited by the client or notary and receive a personalised email with a secure portal link. You do not need a NotariseIt account.
- Click the link in your invitation email.
- Choose your preferred verification method.
- Enter your ID number — the portal confirms your name from the government database.
Your portal link stays valid until your session has finished — it is tied to the appointment, not to a countdown from when it was sent, so it will still work however far ahead the booking was made. Once the session is over the link stops working; if you still need one at that point, the notary can issue a fresh one.
Verification statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Not started | You haven't submitted a verification yet |
| Pending | You started a check that hasn't come back yet — see below |
| Not completed | A check you started ran out of time and was closed |
| Verified | Identity confirmed — notary sees a verified badge |
| Failed | Verification could not be confirmed — try another method or contact support |
| Document uploaded | You uploaded a scan — notary will review manually |
| Waived | The notary waived your KYC requirement (recorded in the audit trail) |
What if my verification fails?
Common reasons for failure:
- The number entered doesn't match the government record (typo, or the record may be on a different database)
- Your NIN has not been synced to the national database yet
- A temporary Dojah outage
What to do:
- Double-check the number and try again.
- Try a different method — if NIN fails, use your international passport or driver's licence. (BVN and Voter's Card are witness-only and will not appear on your screen.)
- If all instant methods fail, use the document upload fallback and inform your notary.
- If you believe the result is incorrect, click Report an Issue at the bottom of the sidebar and choose Verification Issue, or email [email protected]. The team responds within 48 hours.
During an extended KYC provider outage your notary may still admit you and verify your identity manually on camera, in accordance with s.6(3) of the Notaries Public Act 2023.
Does it stop you booking?
Yes. Identity verification is required before you can book a session or pay for one, for every notary on NotariseIt.
The reason is what a notarisation is. A notary's job in the session is to satisfy themselves who you are and record that they did, under s.6(3)(c) of the Notaries Public Act 2023 — so booking that act before your identity has been established puts the two the wrong way round. Doing it up front also means nobody discovers a problem in the session itself, with a notary's time already reserved.
You can browse notaries, compare them and look at their available times without verifying. The Book button is where it is needed.
You only do it once a year. Once verified, you can book any notary on the platform without doing it again.
If your check does not pass
You can try again. If you believe the result is wrong — the details are right and it still fails — report it from your dashboard and a person will look at it. Verification failing is sometimes a data problem at the provider rather than anything about you.
If you start a check and don't finish it
An unfinished check stays open for 72 hours. Instant methods return in seconds, so this only comes up if you close the page part-way through, or if something goes wrong that we never hear the end of.
While it is open you cannot book — a check that was started is not a check that passed. After 72 hours we close it, email you to say so, and delete the little we were holding for it. Nothing counts against you: start again and it takes the same couple of minutes.
If a result from the provider does arrive late, it is still applied — you may find you are verified without doing anything.
If the identity service is unavailable
Occasionally the provider we use is down. That is not your fault, so we do not hold up your booking: it goes through, and we email you as soon as the service is working again. Because we do not store your ID number, you will need to enter it once more. Your session cannot start until the check is complete, so do it when the email arrives.
Verification expires after twelve months
A lapsed check counts as unverified: you will not be able to book or pay for a new session until you renew it. We remind you by email sixty, thirty and seven days beforehand, and on the day, so it should not come as a surprise. Renewing takes the same few minutes as the first time.
A session you have already booked and paid for is not cancelled if your check lapses afterwards — but it cannot start until you renew, so do it before the day.
Privacy and data retention
- ID numbers are stored as one-way hashes (SHA-256) — the raw number is never retained.
What happens to identity documents you upload
Uploaded identity documents have a two-part lifecycle, and the Documents → Verification IDs tab in your dashboard shows you where each one is.
Once your session completes, your copy is removed — the document disappears from your Verification IDs tab and you can no longer download it. A secured copy is retained with the session record itself, because the notary's obligation to evidence how they satisfied themselves as to your identity outlives the session.
This is deliberate: you keep no loose copies of your identity documents on the platform, while the notarial record stays complete.