How to Become a Remote Online Notary in Arizona

To become a remote online notary in Arizona, you add RON authority to an existing notary commission by contracting with a compliant technology vendor and filing a short application with the Secretary of State. There is currently no extra filing fee and no additional surety bond beyond what you already carry as a traditional notary.¹ Once approved, you can notarize over live audio and video for signers across Arizona, elsewhere in the United States, and in limited cases abroad.

Hold an Active Arizona Notary Commission First

RON is an add-on, not a standalone credential. You must already hold a current, active Arizona notary public commission before you apply for remote authority, and if your underlying commission lapses, is suspended, or is revoked, your RON authorization terminates with it.²

If you are not yet commissioned, start there. Arizona’s baseline requirements are that you be at least 18, a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident, an Arizona resident for income tax purposes, and able to read, write, and understand English. The standard commission runs four years, requires a $5,000 surety bond, and carries a $43 filing fee.³ Processing takes roughly four weeks, so build that into your timeline.

Arizona does not require a separate course or exam for RON authority. The Secretary of State does expect you to read the applicable administrative rules and the state’s Notary Manual before applying.¹ Read them carefully. The identity verification, recording, and journal rules are detailed, and a slip can invalidate a notarization.

Choose a Compliant Technology Vendor

Before filing, you need a RON platform under contract. Arizona requires you to name the specific vendor and describe the technology on the application itself, and you can list more than one if you plan to use different platforms for different clients.⁴

The platform must deliver synchronous audio and video with enough resolution for you and the signer to clearly see and hear each other. It must let you confirm that the electronic record you are viewing is the same record the signer is executing. And it must include security measures that prevent unauthorized access to the live feed, the identity verification process, and the record being signed.² Most commercial RON platforms are built around these requirements, but the certification on your application puts compliance on you.

If you later switch vendors or add one during your term, file an amendment identifying the new vendor before you use that platform.⁴

File the Remote Online Notary Application

The application is available through the Arizona Secretary of State’s website. It must include:

Your full legal name, and the name under which you are commissioned if different.
Your email address.
A description of the technologies you intend to use.
The name, address, and website URL of each vendor supplying those technologies.
A certification that the technologies comply with Arizona’s administrative rules.
Disclosure of any professional license or commission revocation or other disciplinary action against you in any state.

These requirements come from the current administrative code governing RON registration.⁴

Under current Secretary of State guidance there is no additional filing fee and no additional surety bond for RON authority.¹ Your existing $5,000 traditional-notary bond is the only bond in play. Earlier drafts of the rules contemplated a separate $25,000 RON bond, but the Secretary of State has not imposed it. Check the RON page before you apply, since this could change.

Once the application is received, the office has up to 45 days to approve or reject it. A rejection must state the reasons so you can correct and resubmit.⁴ On approval, you receive written authorization and can begin performing remote online notarizations.

What You Take On Once You’re Authorized

Approval starts the clock on obligations you did not have as a traditional notary. Know these before you apply, because the storage and verification duties shape the cost and workflow of each session.

Identity Verification

Unless you personally know the signer, Arizona requires a two-step process: credential analysis followed by knowledge-based authentication. The signer presents a government-issued ID through the video feed, and automated software checks its security features, cross-references the details against the issuing authority’s records, and lets you compare the photo to the live person on screen. Then the signer answers a quiz of at least five questions drawn from public and private data about their history, with at least five choices each, 80 percent correct required, two-minute time limit, one retake allowed within 24 hours if 40 percent of the questions are swapped, and a 24-hour lockout after a second failure.⁵ Your platform runs the quiz; you do not see the questions.

Recording and Journal

Every session must be recorded in audio and video, clear enough to see both of you and hear the conversation, and retained for at least five years.² You must also keep an electronic journal in chronological order, in a permanent, tamper-evident format. Paper journals are not allowed for remote acts. Each entry must show the date and time, a description of the document and type of notarial act, the full name and address of each signer, how you verified identity (including a brief description of the credential and its issuance and expiration dates, but not its serial number), and any fee charged. The journal is kept for at least five years as well.⁶ Budget for secure cloud storage before you take your first session.

Where You and the Signer Can Be

You must be physically located in Arizona during every remote notarization. The signer can be in Arizona, elsewhere in the United States, or outside the country under limited conditions: the document must either be filed with or relate to a matter before a U.S. court or government entity, or involve property located in or a transaction substantially connected to the United States. You cannot proceed if you have actual knowledge that the signing would violate the laws of the country where the signer is located.⁶

Session Checks and Certificate Language

Before each session, take reasonable steps to confirm that the record on your screen is the same one the signer is executing and that the technology is secure from unauthorized interception. Every notarial certificate must indicate that the act was performed using communication technology; a statement such as “this remote online notarization involved the use of communication technology” satisfies the rule.⁷ Most platforms generate compliant certificates automatically. If yours lets you edit the wording, check it.

1
Arizona Secretary of State. Remote and eNotary
2
Arizona Secretary of State. Arizona Administrative Code Title 2 Chapter 12 – Remote Online Notarization
3
Arizona Secretary of State. Notary
4
Arizona Secretary of State. Arizona Administrative Code Title 2 Chapter 12
5
Cornell Law Institute. Arizona Administrative Code R2-12-1305 – Standards for Identity Verification
6
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Laws Chapter 56 – Remote Online Notarization
7
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 41-376 – Remote Online Notarization Procedures