25 September 2023

Remote notarisation versus e-notarisation

Remote notarisation and e-notarisation can be useful ways to certify your documents. Our useful guide explains what they are, and how they work.

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

If you want a convenient, hassle-free way to get your documents notarised, then remote notarisation and e-notarisation can be useful. It should be noted that not all documents can be e-notarised yet.

However, both are done through the use of a computer, or other device. Because of this, you may be wondering what the difference is.

E-notarisation

E-notarisation is where you sit down with your notary and your documents are notarised on a computer. You both sit together for your appointment, but your documents are dealt with digitally.

Essentially, it is not much different from a normal notarisation appointment. The key difference is that electronic signatures are used instead of a physical one.

E-notarisation allows for faster processing times and reduced costs. This is because documents do not need to be physically sent anywhere, nor are there any paper costs involved.

Which documents cannot be e-notarised?

As previously mentioned, some documents cannot be e-notarised. These include:

Certificates from the General Register Office (GRO). For example, Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates, Civil Partnership Certificates, Death Certificates, and Adoption Certificates
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Certificates
ACRO Police Certificates

Remote notarisation

Meanwhile, remote notarisation is where you and your notary talk online, using a video call platform. This means you can have your notary authenticate your documents from anywhere; no one has to travel. Remote notarisation can even be done for people who are in other countries.

However, there are some elements of e-notarisation in remote notarisation. These include using e-signatures and the benefit of reduced costs and processing times.

It should be noted that we do not yet offer this service, but this may change in the future.

Remote notarisation best practice

There are some best-practice recommendations for remote notarisation due to how different it is. There are some that apply to clients, and some that apply to the notary.

Those that might be useful for clients to know include:

The client should send a legible copy electronically
If the notary has not received adequate proof of identity, the client should email them proof
The notary should hold a video call with the client to make sure the client understands the purpose of the appointment
If they meet over video, the notary should state that they spoke with the client through a video call
Notaries must ensure they follow the laws of the country where the individual is located, as well as the laws of England and Wales
Notaries should also ensure that the remote notarisation procedure they use will make the notarised document acceptable

Our services

As a registered Notary Public, we can notarise a range of documents for you.

Once your documents have been notarised, we can then assist you with getting an apostille for them, so that they can be used abroad. We do this by working closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.