Online notary FAQ

Most US states authorize remote online notarization by statute, and a notarial act performed by a notary commissioned in one state is generally recognized in other states. Recipients such as county recorders, courts and banks can still have their own requirements, so check with the recipient when a document is going somewhere specific.

Generally, the law of the state where the notary is commissioned and located during the session. That law sets the identity requirements, the certificate wording, the journal and the retention period.

Acknowledgments, jurats and copy certifications cover most business documents: deeds, closing packages, powers of attorney, affidavits, corporate resolutions and employment declarations. Some documents, such as wills in many states and certain vital records, follow separate rules that vary by state. The document check on the homepage tells you what to confirm first.

Many recorders accept electronic documents through e-recording, and many states require recorders to accept a paper copy of an electronic record certified by the notary. Practices differ by county, so confirm with the recorder before the closing. See notary & title services.

Each signer scans a government-issued photo ID, answers knowledge-based questions and takes a liveness selfie. If a signer fails a step, the session does not start. State rules limit the number of retries, and the signer can try again later within those limits.

A current, government-issued photo ID such as a driver's license, a state ID card or a passport. Signers outside the US usually use a passport.

Knowledge-based questions draw on US records, so some signers, for example those who recently moved to the US, may not be able to answer them. Where the commissioning state allows it, a credible witness known to the notary can identify the signer instead.

A session is one notarization meeting with up to 4 signers and up to 10 documents. Your allowance refreshes every billing period. When you need more sessions every month, you move to a higher plan.

No. Your allowance refreshes at the start of each billing period and unused sessions do not carry over.

Yes. Business, Scale and Enterprise plans include own-notary seats. Sessions run by your own notaries use the same session room, identity checks and audit trail, and they do not use your allowance. See bring your own notary.

Enterprise plans can be paid by invoice with net 30 terms. Starter, Business and Scale are paid by card, monthly or yearly. Compare plans on the online notary cost page.

Yes, at any time. Your plan stays active until the end of the period you paid for and does not renew after that.

No. Signers join from a secure link in a current browser on a phone or computer with a camera and microphone.

Many states allow a notary to notarize for a signer located outside the US, with conditions set by the notary's commissioning state. For use abroad, a document may need an apostille issued by that state. Read online notary and apostille.

Yes. A witness joins the same video session and signs where the document asks for a witness signature.

Records and recordings are kept for the retention period required by the notary's commissioning state. Enterprise plans can set a longer custom retention.

Timestamps for every step (upload, invite, identity checks, join, consent, signatures and seal), SHA-256 fingerprints of each document, and IP and device data for each participant. See the notarization audit trail.

The sealed PDF carries the notary's digital certificate. Any standard PDF reader shows whether the document changed after sealing, and the fingerprint in the audit trail can be compared with the file.