December 2021, the New York Governor signed into law a bill that allows for remote online notarization. This new law will go into effect on January 31, 2023. Remote online notarization is a process by which a notary public can authenticate the identity of a signer and witness their signature through an electronic medium such as the internet. The New York Legislature has been working on this legislation for several years and is excited to offer this new service to its citizens!
The remote ink-signed notarization process will work as follows: the signer and witness will each be required to have a webcam and microphone installed on their computer. The signer will then take the document to be notarized and log into a special website. They will then follow the prompts to enter their name, date of birth, address and other personal information (such as driver's license number). Once this has been completed successfully, they will then be prompted by the website to scan their signature using a scanner or scanner app. Next up is scanning both sides of your ID card with a smartphone. Finally, you will be asked to verify that everything was entered correctly before proceeding with the notarization.
If there are any errors during this process they must first correct those errors before they can proceed further (this includes asking for help from our notary department). Once everything has been corrected successfully and the signer has been authenticated, the witness will then be prompted to input their name, email address and phone number. Finally, both the signer and witness must review and electronically sign the document before it is notarized.
The New York Secretary of State's office plans to have a Remote Online Notarization portal ready by January 2023. In the meantime, please feel free to check out our website for more information about notarization and the services we offer!