A notary is a citizen who’s been deemed upstanding and trustworthy by the state. Their job is to witness the signing of documents and attest that the signer did it of their own volition.
For many years, this practice had to be done in-person, but in 2012, the Commonwealth of Virginia started to allow its notaries to witness signatures online through webcam technology and stamp documents with their official seal using an encrypted, digital signature.
Since 2012, people in all 50 states and abroad have had documents notarized online.
How Do Online Notaries Work?
Find an online notary company
You can start by looking at our online notary directory.
Online Notary DirectoryScan and upload your ID and document to be notarized
Be sure not to sign the document yet! Any easy way to scan your document is the mobile app Genius Scan - PDF Scanner, available on iTunes and Google Play Store.
Genius Scan - PDF ScannerMeet with a certified notary public through webcam
Using the online notary website's platform, they’ll confirm your identity by looking at your ID and asking you questions using information from the public record.
Sign the document
They’ll witness as you electronically sign the document you uploaded using their web platform.
Notary notarizes the document
They’ll notarize the document using a government-sanctioned encrypted, digital notary signature.
Download your document
You’ll be able to download your notarized document, which you can then email or print out.