Florida is one of the few states that permits their Notary Publics to perform online notarizations for individuals physically located anywhere in the world, including non-U.S. Citizens. However non-U.S. Citizens DO require additional qualifications to be eligible for an online notarization conducted by a Florida Notary Public.
With that said, many individuals seek a Florida Notary Public to do online notarizations for convenience. The question is, can these individuals utilize these documents in their home state or country? The answer is “maybe”. We strongly encourage every signer to confirm with the recipient that the document executed online will be accepted as legal and valid for the purposes they are seeking. We recommend this because it is our understanding that some states and countries DO NOT accept an electronic signature as an original. Every Florida Notary Public will affix an electronic signature and stamp when performing a remote notarization. Therefore, if the recipient of the document does not accept electronic signatures, then this may not be an acceptable form of execution even though it is legal in the State of Florida and many other states in the United States.
We have seen success in other countries accepting an electronic signature as an original if the documents have been apostilled for the country of origin once executed by a Florida Notary Public online.
In conclusion, a Florida Notary Public can conduct a remote notarization for individuals physically anywhere and these individuals are responsible for confirming that the notarization being conducted is acceptable for their submission once executed.
Written by: Genna Rubolino, FRP, General Manager
Florida Notary Public and Florida Online Notary
Guardian Ad Litem: 15th Judicial Circuit
Please note that I, as the author of this article, am not a licensed attorney and as such cannot offer legal advice. No content of this article/blog post is intended as, nor should it be construed as legal advice.