A witness to a remote online notarization may be in the presence of the Online Notary Public, in the same room as the Principal, or in a different location. The witness must be a resident of the United States or territory and must be physically located within the United States or a territory at the time of signing.

The witness must go through the same identity verification as the Principal; either the Online Notary Public must personally know him/her or the RON Service Provider must verify their identity through questions and verification of a government-issued ID. Again, the Online Notary Public should visually inspect the photo on the ID to see if it matches the witness.

At the beginning of the audio-visual session, the Online Notary Public must ensure the witness is visible in the video session and ask the witness to state their name and address for the record. This applies to all witnesses, regardless of if they are physically in the presence of the Online Notary Public or connected through AV technology. If the witness is remote, they must also state that they are physically located in the United States or a territory during the act of witnessing.