Short answer: usually not the way you are imagining. The New York DMV has its own form for this situation, and a general affidavit of residence downloaded from anywhere, including from us, is often not what they will take.
We would rather tell you that before you pay for a notarization than after you have queued at the DMV.
Download our free template, then notarize it in minutes over secure video from any state, or in person anywhere in the five boroughs. Get the template →
What the DMV actually asks for
For a REAL ID or an Enhanced document, New York requires two proofs of New York State residency. The usual suspects qualify: a recent bank statement, a recent pay stub, a utility bill, and various government issued documents, each showing your name and your current New York address.
Documents also have to be current. As a rule, anything issued more than a year before your visit will not be accepted.
The definitive list is the DMV’s own document guide, and it is worth reading the current version rather than relying on any summary, including this page.
The form for people with nothing in their name
New York publishes a Certification of Residence, form MV-44NYR, for exactly this situation. It is completed by the person you live with, certifying that you reside at their address, and signed by both of you.
The critical detail, and the one that catches people out: the certification must be accompanied by one additional proof of residence in the applicant’s own name. It does not replace all your proof. It replaces one of the two.
So if you have absolutely nothing with your name and that address on it, the certification alone will not get you there. Getting one document in your own name is the task, and it is usually easier than it sounds. See documents you may already have.
There is also a separate form, MV-45, used where a parent or guardian is certifying identity or residence for a young applicant. Different form, different situation.
Does MV-44NYR need a notary?
Follow the instructions printed on the current version of the form itself, and follow what the DMV office tells you, rather than assuming.
The pattern that matters more than the notarization question is this: the DMV wants its own form, filled in correctly, with the supporting document alongside. A beautifully notarized generic affidavit submitted instead of the DMV’s form is the wrong document, notarized.
If you would rather have the certification notarized for your own comfort, we are happy to do it. Just do not let notarization substitute for using the right form.
Where a general affidavit does help
Not everything at the DMV is a REAL ID application, and not every agency is the DMV.
Schools, benefits programs, courts and many private institutions accept a sworn affidavit of residence readily, and in New York schools are required to accept a notably wide range of proof. See what an affidavit of residence is.
So the document is useful. It is simply not the DMV’s preferred instrument, and knowing which is which saves you a trip.
Before you go to the DMV
Check the DMV’s current document guide and make your own list. Confirm every document is within the last year and shows your name and current address. Bring more than the minimum, because there is no cost to carrying an extra document and there is a real cost to being one short.
Make an appointment where the office offers them. Bring originals rather than photocopies unless the guide says otherwise. And if your name appears differently across documents, sort that out first, usually with a same person affidavit, rather than hoping nobody notices.
Why we are telling you not to buy something from us
Because a notarized document that gets rejected is worse than useless. It cost you money and a morning, and you still need the right form.
A New York notary is prohibited from giving legal advice or telling you which document your situation requires, so we cannot decide this for you. What we can do is point you at the agency’s own instructions and notarize whatever they tell you to bring.
Confirm with the DMV. Then, if an affidavit is genuinely part of what you need, our free affidavit of residence template is there, and we can notarize it online in a few minutes or in person across the five boroughs.
Getting one document into your own name
Since the certification route needs one proof in your name, this is the actual task. It is usually a two week job rather than a two month one.
Ask your employer to reissue a pay stub or write an employment letter showing your current address. Update your address with your bank and wait for the next statement, or request an interim one. Put a phone, internet or streaming account in your own name. Register to vote at the address if you are eligible. Update your address with your health insurer. Add yourself to the lease as an occupant if the leaseholder is willing.
Any single one of these, dated within the last year, changes your situation from stuck to solved.
Common reasons a DMV visit fails
Nearly all of them are avoidable and none of them are about the affidavit.
A document older than a year. A document showing a previous address because the update never went through. A name that does not match across documents, usually a maiden name or a missing middle initial. A photocopy where an original was required. Two proofs that turn out to count as the same category. And arriving with the DMV’s own form only partly completed, or completed by the wrong person.
Lay everything on a table the night before and check each item against the current document guide rather than against memory.
If you have a different DMV situation
Not every DMV errand is a REAL ID. Vehicle transactions, title questions and out of state matters have their own paperwork, and some of them do involve notarized documents, including certain vehicle power of attorney forms.
The principle holds throughout: ask the agency what form it wants, use that form, and bring it to a notary only if the form calls for one.
A word on the forms themselves
Download DMV forms from the DMV rather than from a third party site, including ours. Form numbers stay the same while the contents change, and an outdated version is refused at the counter even when everything on it is accurate.
Check that the version you are holding matches what the DMV currently publishes, and complete it in ink, in full, with no blank fields. Where a field genuinely does not apply, write N and A rather than leaving space.
If two people sign a form, both should sign it in the same session with identification present, rather than one person carrying it away to be signed later.
Related reading
- What is an affidavit of residence?
- Proof of address when you live with someone else
- Affidavit of residence for NYC school enrollment
- Who signs an affidavit of residence?
- Affidavit of domicile vs affidavit of residence
- Free affidavit of residence template
This is general information, not legal advice, and NotarEaseNYC is not a law firm. A notary public cannot tell you which document your situation requires, draft one for you, or confirm that anything stated in it is true. Requirements vary by the school, agency, lender or institution receiving the document, so confirm with them before you file.