Getting Started (Notary)

Requirements

Before registering, ensure you have:

• A valid commission as a Notary Public issued by the Nigerian Supreme Court
• Your Supreme Court Number (SCN) — format: SCN followed by 6 or more digits (e.g. SCN000001)
• Your commission state, and the date you were called to the Nigerian Bar (your commission number is optional)
• A device with a working camera and microphone for video sessions

1. Create your account

1. Go to www.notariseit.com and click Sign Up.
2. Select I am a Notary Public when prompted for your account type.
3. Enter your name, email, and a password. It must be at least 12 characters and include an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter, a number and a special character. The form checks each requirement as you type.
4. Verify your email via the 6-digit code sent to your inbox.

2. Complete your registration

After verifying your email, you will be prompted to complete the Notary Registration Wizard. This collects your credentials and submits them for NPN registry verification.

See Registration & Approval for the full step-by-step process.

3. Two things before your first session

After approval, the seal and identity verification unlock sessions. A payout account is not required. Until both are done the Start Session button stays inactive, and an amber pill at the top of your dashboard names how many steps are outstanding.

3a. Set up your digital seal

Required by the Notaries Public Act 2023 for all digital notarisations. Generate one on the platform or upload your own — see Digital Seal Setup.

3b. Verify your identity

One government-issued ID: your NIN, international passport or driver's licence. Approval confirms your commission is real; this confirms you are the person it belongs to. It is renewed once a year, with reminders well beforehand — see Identity Verification.

Once both are done the pill disappears and Start Session becomes active.

And one thing that can wait

Add the Nigerian bank account where your earnings will be paid, under Billing → Bank Account. This is not a requirement to work: you can take sessions today, and NotariseIt holds what you earn and releases it as soon as an account exists. See Earnings & Payouts.

4. Configure your profile

1. Upload a professional profile photo.
2. Write a short bio describing your specialisations.
3. Set your practice name, logo and description (Pro and above — see Your practice description below).

Keep your profile accurate and current

Your practice name, Supreme Court Number (SCN), and commission details are embedded in every notarial certificate you issue. Notarial certificates are legal instruments — they may be presented in court proceedings, land registry transactions, regulatory inquiries, and international document verification. Any discrepancy between your profile and your NPN registry record may affect the legal standing of certificates you issue. Review your profile details regularly and update them promptly if anything changes, particularly your practice name and contact information.

Your practice description

On Pro and above you can add up to 200 characters describing your practice. It appears on your card in client search results, directly under your name — which is the line a client reads while deciding who to book.

Write about what you do. Your areas of practice, the languages you work in, when you are available, the kind of client you serve.

Commercial and property documents for Lagos businesses. Yoruba and Igbo spoken. Evening appointments available.

Rule 39 applies to you

You are a legal practitioner, so Rule 39 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007 governs what you may publish about yourself.

A directory listing like this one is expressly permitted under Rule 39(4). What Rule 39(2) does not permit is:

• statements about the quality of your work — "best", "leading", "expert";
• statements about the size or success of your practice, including counts of work completed — "over 500 notarisations";
• claims about your success rate, or any guarantee of outcome;
• comparisons with other lawyers — "faster than", "unlike other notaries";
• promotional offers, which Rule 39(3) treats as soliciting work.

The platform warns you if your wording looks like one of these, but the warning is advisory — you decide, and an administrator reviews.

Descriptions are reviewed before they appear. When you submit one:

• it goes to a review queue, usually cleared within a business day;
• whatever is already published stays on your card until the new one is approved — editing never leaves you with a blank listing;
• if it is not approved you are told why, and your previous description remains in place. Nothing is removed.

Clearing your description takes effect immediately and needs no review — taking your own words off a public page should never wait on anyone else.

If your subscription lapses to Access, your description stops being displayed but is not deleted. It reappears if you resubscribe.

5. Share your public profile link

Once approved, your profile is accessible via a short public URL:

https://www.notariseit.com/n/your-name-scn

This link goes directly to your public profile page where clients can view your credentials, specialisations, availability, and fees, and book a session with you directly.

To find and copy your link:

1. Go to Dashboard → Profile.
2. Your short URL is displayed near the top of the page with a Copy button.

The link is permanent — it will not change unless your name changes.

Where to use it:

• Email signature — clients who email you can book without searching for you on the platform.
• Business cards — print your profile link (or a QR code of it) on your card so prospective clients can go straight to your booking page.
• Professional documents & letterheads — include it on engagement letters or fee notes so recipients can verify your credentials and re-engage you easily.
• LinkedIn and social media — add it to your bio or professional summary.
• Website — link to it from your firm or chambers page as your direct booking entry point.

Your short link is essentially your professional landing page on NotariseIt. Treat it the way you would your SCN — something to put wherever clients or counterparties might need to find or verify you.

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6. Set up your authenticator app (mandatory)

2FA is mandatory for all notaries — you cannot access the dashboard without it

Unlike client accounts where 2FA is optional, notary accounts are required to use two-factor authentication. On your very first login after email verification, you will be redirected to a mandatory TOTP enrollment screen before you can reach any part of the dashboard. You cannot skip or defer this step.

Why it is required: Your notary account controls access to client identity documents, signed legal instruments, and your payout bank details. The Notaries Public Act 2023 imposes strict security obligations on digital notarisation platforms — mandatory 2FA is part of that compliance requirement.

How to complete enrollment on first login:

1. After verifying your email, your first login sends a 6-digit code to your email — enter that first. You then land on the Authenticator Setup screen automatically.
2. Download an authenticator app if you do not have one — Google Authenticator, Authy, or Microsoft Authenticator all work.
3. In the app, tap Add account and scan the QR code shown on screen.
4. Enter the 6-digit code your app shows to confirm the pairing.
5. Save your backup codes — the screen shows 10 one-time backup codes, with a button to download them and a tick box to confirm you have saved them. Store them in a password manager or print them. Each code can be used once if you lose your phone.
6. Click Enable 2FA, then Done. You will be asked for a code from your authenticator app once more before you reach the dashboard — that is the first of the logins that will now always need it.

From this point forward, every login will require your password plus the current code from your authenticator app.

Set up on a second device

Register your authenticator on a second device (a tablet or backup phone) at the same time by scanning the same QR code. If your primary phone is lost, you can still log in from the second device without going through the account recovery process.

If you lose access to your authenticator: See Account Recovery for the backup code and identity-verification recovery options.

7. Set your availability and fees

Two different screens, and it is worth knowing which is which.

Availability holds your weekly schedule, session duration, how bookings are held, and reassignment — see Availability.

Document Settings is where your fees live: 88 document types across 13 categories, each with its own fee. The platform enforces a ₦5,000 minimum per document, the lowest rate in the Second Schedule to the Notaries Public Act 2023, s.10 — see Document Types.

8. You are live

Once your profile is published, clients can find and book you through the notary search. You will receive email and in-app notifications for new booking requests.

Appearance & display

You can personalise how your dashboard looks — the setting is saved to your account and follows you on any device.

Light or dark mode — use the sun/moon button in the top navigation bar to switch themes at any time.

Corner style — open Account → Profile and use the Appearance card to choose Rounded (default, soft corners), Subtle (lightly rounded), or Sharp (crisp, near-square). The change applies instantly across the interface and is purely visual — it doesn't affect your seal, certificates, or sessions.