In order to perform an online notarization, the Online Notary Public must physically be in the state in which their authorization was granted. The Principal does not have to be in the state at the time of the notarization. If there are multiple Principals, they may all be remote, or there can be a combination of both being remote and being in the physical presence of the Online Notary Public.

All Principals must appear before the Online Notary Public, either physically or via audio-visual technology, in the same session. An Online Notary Public is prohibited from performing a notarization if the Principals do not appear by one of these 2 methods. The identity of each Principal must be confirmed. This may be done by personal knowledge of the Online Notary Public, or by the RON Service Provider. The RON Service Provider asks the Principal a series of questions and verifies the government-issued ID is authentic. The Online Notary Public should always verify that the photo in the ID matches the person. If a person’s identity is not confirmed by these methods, the Online Notary Public may not perform the online notarization.

The recording of the notarization session must start as soon as the session begins. The Online Notary Public must ask the Principal to confirm their identity, describe the document that they are signing, and to say that they are signing the document of their own free will.

Then, the Online Notary Public must witness the Principal signing the document via the AV technology. Once the Principal has signed the document, the Online Notary Public will attach his/her electronic signature and seal to the electronic notarial certificate. The technology used for attaching the signature and seal must indicate if any change has been made to the certificate after it was recorded. The certificate must indicate that the Principal appeared before the Online Notary Public remotely via audio-visual technology.

A fee of up to $25 may be charged for an online notarization.