Electronic notarization is available to residents of every state. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia have passed permanent laws allowing remote online notarization (RON), and the remaining handful of states still give their residents access through out-of-state remote notaries under longstanding interstate recognition rules and the federal E-SIGN Act. So the practical answer to what states allow electronic notarization is all of them, though the path differs depending on where you live.
The 45 States With Permanent RON Laws
As of early 2025, 45 states plus D.C. have permanent RON statutes. The count grew quickly after the COVID-19 pandemic, when many states converted temporary emergency authorizations into permanent law. Virginia, Texas, and Florida were early adopters, and a wave of states followed between 2020 and 2024.
The five states without permanent RON legislation shift as new bills move through legislatures each session. Some holdouts have passed temporary or limited provisions. Georgia, for example, authorized RON on a temporary basis during the pandemic. If your state is among the remaining few, you still have options, which the later sections cover.
A notary can’t start performing RON the day a law passes. Most states require a separately commissioned notary to register specifically for remote authority, choose an approved technology vendor from a state-maintained list, and obtain an X.509 digital signing certificate. Those extra steps keep the platform’s identity verification and session recording up to the state’s security standards.
Two Kinds of Electronic Notarization
Electronic notarization comes in two forms, and state laws treat them differently.
In-person electronic notarization (IPEN) works like traditional notarization except the paper is replaced by a screen. You sit with the notary in person, but you sign electronically on a tablet or computer, and the notary attaches a digital seal and signature. Because the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) has been adopted in 49 states, IPEN is broadly available even where no IPEN-specific statute exists. UETA’s core rule is simple: an electronic signature carries the same legal weight as an ink signature.
Remote online notarization (RON) removes the in-person requirement entirely. You and the notary connect over a live, recorded video call from different locations. The notary verifies your identity through a multi-step process, watches you sign electronically, and then applies their own electronic signature and seal. RON requires specific state legislation because it changes something fundamental about notarization: the signer is no longer physically present.
Both methods produce a digitally sealed document protected by an X.509 cryptographic certificate. The certificate embeds the notary’s identity into the file itself, so any later tampering is detectable.
If Your State Doesn’t Allow RON Yet
You can still get a document remotely notarized even if your state hasn’t authorized its own notaries to perform RON. The principle is interstate recognition: a notarial act performed under the laws of the notary’s commissioning state is generally accepted everywhere else. A notary commissioned in Virginia who follows Virginia’s RON rules produces a valid notarization regardless of where the signer is sitting.
Federal law reinforces this. The E-SIGN Act provides that a signature or record cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is in electronic form.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 7001 – General Rule of Validity That federal baseline means no state can categorically refuse to honor an electronically signed and notarized document just because it is digital.
There is a practical caveat. The notarization itself is valid, but some county recorders and certain lenders have been slower to accept RON documents for specific transaction types. Fannie Mae formally accepts delivery of loans with remotely notarized documents, provided the notarization complied with the laws of the state where it was performed. Even so, individual title companies, underwriters, or recording offices occasionally push back, particularly on complex commercial transactions or trust-related property transfers. For a real estate closing, confirm with your title company or lender ahead of time that they will accept RON.
The SECURE Notarization Act
Congress has been working to standardize RON at the federal level. The SECURE Notarization Act of 2025 was introduced in both chambers and would set national minimum standards for remote notarization in real estate transactions while requiring all states to recognize out-of-state RON.2Congress.gov. S.1561 – SECURE Notarization Act of 2025 As of mid-2025, the bill had been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee and had not been signed into law. If it passes, it would effectively make RON available nationwide by closing the remaining state-by-state gaps.
Documents That May Not Qualify
Not every document can go through electronic notarization. The most common exclusion across states is wills and other testamentary instruments. Many states that adopted UETA or passed their own electronic transaction laws explicitly carved out wills, codicils, and testamentary trusts from electronic execution. The formality requirements for wills, including witnesses and specific signing ceremonies, don’t translate cleanly to a remote video session.
Beyond wills, some states exclude self-proved affidavits related to estate proceedings, certain family law documents, or court filings that require wet-ink originals. A few states have also carved out real estate documents from their RON laws, though this is uncommon and increasingly rare as acceptance grows.
If you are not sure whether your specific document qualifies, check with the RON platform before your session. Most platforms screen for excluded document types during the upload step and will flag potential issues.
What Electronic Notarization Costs
A remote online notarization session generally runs between $25 and $50, which covers both the notary’s fee and the platform’s technology charge. That is more than the statutory fee for a traditional in-person notarization in most states, which is often only a few dollars, but you are paying for the convenience of not having to find a notary, drive to their office, and coordinate schedules.
Some platforms charge per signature or per document rather than per session, so compare pricing structures if you need several documents notarized at once. A few platforms charge extra for expedited sessions or after-hours availability. For real estate closings handled through RON, the notarization fee is typically bundled into closing costs and may not appear as a separate line item.
How to Find a Remote Notary
If your state allows RON, you can use any state-approved platform. If your state does not, pick a platform whose notaries are commissioned in a state that does; the notarization will still be valid where you live under interstate recognition and the E-SIGN Act. Before you book, confirm two things: that your document type is eligible under the commissioning state’s rules, and that whichever third party will ultimately rely on the document (lender, recorder, court clerk) accepts remotely notarized records for that purpose.