Notary Approvals

Required permission: approvals.write (Compliance group)

All notaries must complete a 3-stage approval process before they can conduct sessions on the platform. This page covers how to process each stage.

The Three Stages

Stage 1 — Document Review
  ↓ (approve)
Stage 2 — NPN Verification
  ↓ (approve)
Stage 3 — Final Sign-off
  ↓ (approve)
APPROVED — notary is active

At any stage you can:

• Approve — move to the next stage (or to Approved at Stage 3)
• Request Changes — send the notary back with notes; they can resubmit
• Reject — permanently decline the application

Stage 1 — Document Review

Check that the notary has submitted all required documents:

• [ ] Valid government-issued ID
• [ ] Call-to-bar certificate (verify date — must be at least 7 years ago per the Notary Public Act 2023)
• [ ] NPN registration details (name, SCN)
• [ ] Profile photo
• [ ] Completed profile (specialisations, fee, availability)
• [ ] Insurance declaration (optional but note if absent)

Stage 2 — NPN Verification

Cross-reference the notary's declared Supreme Court Number (SCN) against the NPN registry.

NPN registry: Check [reference_websites.md] for the current NPN API/lookup URL.

Verify:

• SCN matches the applicant's name in the NPN registry
• Notary status is Active (not suspended, lapsed, or removed)
• No adverse entry in the registry

If the NPN API is unavailable, manual verification can be done by contacting NPN directly. Document that you did so in the approval notes.

Stage 3 — Final Sign-off

Final administrative check before the account goes live:

• [ ] NPN verification confirmed (Stage 2 passed)
• [ ] KYC acknowledgement confirmed (notary has acknowledged the KYC requirement)
• [ ] No outstanding flags on the profile
• [ ] Seal not yet assigned (seal is issued separately after approval — see Digital Seals)

Approving Stage 3 sets the notary's status to Approved and makes their profile discoverable to clients.

Requesting Changes

When requesting changes, always include clear notes explaining exactly what is missing or incorrect. The notary sees these notes in their portal and can resubmit.

Rejection

Rejection is permanent — the notary cannot reapply with the same account. Use this for:

• Fraudulent documents
• Notary found to be suspended or struck off by NPN
• Duplicate application

ENR Suspension (External Suspension)

If the NPN registry later shows a notary as suspended (detected by the nightly ENR sync job), their status is automatically set to SUSPENDED_EXTERNAL. This is different from a manual admin suspension — it is driven by the registry and can be reversed automatically if the registry shows reinstatement. No manual action is normally needed.