To work as a remote notary in New Jersey, you need an active New Jersey notary public commission, you need to register separately with the state for remote authorization, and you need to be physically located in New Jersey every time you perform a session. The signer can be anywhere in the world. You cannot be. Remote online notarization was made permanent under P.L. 2021, c.179, the New Jersey Law on Notarial Acts, and electronic signatures produced during a compliant session carry the same legal weight as ink on paper.1New Jersey Legislature. P.L. 2021, c.179 – New Jersey Law on Notarial Acts
Who Qualifies
Remote notarization is an add-on to an existing commission, not a separate license. You first need to meet the baseline qualifications under N.J.S.A. 52:7-12: at least 18 years old, and either a legal New Jersey resident or someone who works or practices in the state.2Justia. New Jersey Code 52:7-12 – Qualifications
Non-attorney applicants have to complete a six-hour course of study approved by the State Treasurer and pass a prescribed examination before an initial commission issues. Licensed New Jersey attorneys are exempt from both. At renewal, non-attorneys who already completed the initial course take a shorter continuing education course instead. The State Treasurer charges a nonrefundable $25 fee for each commission or renewal.3Justia. New Jersey Code 52:7-10.2 – Education
Once your commission is active and in good standing, you can add remote authorization. There is no second commission, no additional exam, and no extra fee for the remote capability itself.
Registering for Remote Authorization
Before your first remote session, you must notify the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. Log into the state’s Notary Public Application portal and select “Remote/Electronic Notarization” under “File an Application.” You will enter your commission number and date of birth, name your chosen technology provider, and confirm that you have the required electronic signature and seal.4New Jersey Department of the Treasury. New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services – New Notary Public Provisions
After you submit, the system generates a confirmation receipt as proof that you filed the notification. This step is administrative, but it is mandatory. Performing a remote notarization before you complete the registration puts your commission at risk.
Technology and Identity Verification
The statute defines “communication technology” as any electronic device or process that lets the notary and the signer communicate simultaneously by sight and sound. The platform must also accommodate signers with vision, hearing, or speech impairments when needed.5Justia. New Jersey Code 52:7-10.10 – Notarial Act Performed by Remotely Located Individual
You must confirm the signer’s identity through one of three paths:
- Personal knowledge of the signer.
- A credible witness, appearing in person or through the same video connection, who vouches for the signer under oath.
- At least two different identity-proofing processes run by a third-party service that checks personal information against public or private data sources.
Most sessions use the third option. In practice the platform runs a credential analysis of the signer’s government-issued ID, checking for tampering or forgery, together with dynamic knowledge-based authentication questions drawn from credit and public-record data. Both checks have to pass before the session can proceed.
You also need a digital certificate from a trusted certificate authority to generate a unique electronic signature and seal. The seal attaches to or logically associates with the document so that any later tampering is detectable. Your platform choice matters here, because the software has to handle every one of these security protocols and produce records that meet the state’s tamper-evident standard.
Running a Session
The one rule that cannot bend: you must be physically within New Jersey during the session. The signer can sit in another state or another country, but your location is fixed.
The verbal ceremony is the same as in-person work. For an acknowledgment, the signer confirms they signed voluntarily. For an oath or affirmation, the signer swears to the truth of the statement. You must see the signer, hear them clearly, and confirm through the platform’s checks that the person on camera matches the person identified in the credential analysis. The video feed has to stay uninterrupted; if the connection drops at a critical moment, you cannot simply resume without re-verifying identity.
You also need to reasonably confirm that the record on screen is the same record the signer executed. Once everything checks out, you apply the electronic seal and signature in real time.
Signers Located Outside the United States
Remote notarization works for signers abroad, with conditions. The document must either relate to a matter before a U.S. court, government entity, or other body subject to U.S. jurisdiction, or involve property located in the United States or a transaction substantially connected to the country. The signing cannot be prohibited by the foreign country where the signer is located.5Justia. New Jersey Code 52:7-10.10 – Notarial Act Performed by Remotely Located Individual Ask about both before you proceed. If neither connection exists, or the foreign jurisdiction bans remote signing, the notarization is invalid.
What You Cannot Notarize Remotely
New Jersey draws a hard line around wills and codicils. Section 52:7-10.10(b) states that the remote notarization provisions do not apply to any record governed by a law concerning the creation and execution of wills or codicils. A self-proving affidavit attached to a will, for example, is outside what the statute allows over video. The signer has to appear in person. Everything else a traditional notary can handle, including acknowledgments, oaths, affirmations, verifications, copy certifications, and signature witnessing, is permitted in a remote session.
Records You Have to Keep
Two separate record-keeping duties apply, and they are easy to confuse.
Every notary must maintain a journal that logs each notarial act. Each entry records the date and time, the type of act, the name and address of each person involved, how identity was verified (personal knowledge, credible witness, or identification credential with its type and expiration date), and an itemized list of fees charged. An electronic journal has to be stored in a permanent, tamper-evident format. The journal must be retained for 10 years after the last act recorded in it, or transmitted to the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services or an approved repository.6Justia. New Jersey Code 52:7-10.18 – Journal
Remote sessions carry an additional requirement: a complete audio-visual recording of the entire session, including identity verification and signing. The recording must be retained for at least 10 years from the date it was made, unless the State Treasurer sets a different period by regulation. Most platform providers offer cloud storage that meets the standard, but the legal responsibility is yours. If the provider shuts down or loses data, you own the problem. Plan for long-term storage before your first session rather than after.
Fees You Can Charge
The State Treasurer sets maximum notarial fees that apply to in-person and remote work alike:
- Standard acts, including oaths, affidavits, acknowledgments, and proofs of a deed: $2.50 per act.
- Real estate transfers: $15.00 per transaction, regardless of how many individual acts are performed within it.
- Mortgage financing: $25.00 per transaction, regardless of the number of individual acts.
You can charge less but not more.7Cornell Law Institute. N.J. Admin. Code 17:50-1.18 – Fees for Notarial Services Platform providers typically charge their own technology fees on top of the statutory amounts, and those are not regulated by the state.
Out-of-State Acceptance
New Jersey authorizes the remote act, but not every receiving state treats remotely notarized documents the same way. Some accept them without question. Others require additional proof or refuse them for certain filings such as real estate recordings. Federal legislation called the SECURE Notarization Act has been introduced in multiple sessions of Congress to require nationwide recognition, most recently in the 119th Congress in 2025, but as of early 2026 it has not been enacted.8Congress.gov. S.1561 – SECURE Notarization Act of 2025 Until it passes, confirm acceptance with the receiving jurisdiction before relying on a remote notarization for an out-of-state filing.