{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-json\/47.1-2.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-text\/47.1-2.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-xml\/47.1-2.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-html\/47.1-2.html"}],"law_id":63282,"edition_id":1,"section_id":63282,"structure_id":15416,"section_number":"47.1-2","catch_line":"Definitions","history":"1980, c. 580; 2007, cc. 269, 590; 2011, cc. 731, 834; 2012, c. 566; 2016, c. 185; 2020, c. 902; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 78; 2024, c. 832.","full_text":"As used in this title, unless the context demands a different meaning:\n\t\t“Acknowledgment” means a notarial act in which an individual at a single time and place (i) appears in person before the notary and presents a document; (ii) is personally known to the notary or identified by the notary through satisfactory evidence of identity; and (iii) indicates to the notary that the signature on the document was voluntarily affixed by the individual for the purposes stated within the document and, if applicable, that the individual had due authority to sign in a particular representative capacity.\n\t\t“Affirmation” means a notarial act, or part thereof, that is legally equivalent to an oath and in which an individual at a single time and place (i) appears in person before the notary and presents a document; (ii) is personally known to the notary or identified by the notary through satisfactory evidence of identity; and (iii) makes a vow of truthfulness or fidelity on penalty of perjury.\n\t\t“Commissioned notary public” means that the applicant has completed and submitted the registration forms along with the appropriate fee to the Secretary of the Commonwealth and the Secretary of the Commonwealth has determined that the applicant meets the qualifications to be a notary public and issues a notary commission and forwards same to the clerk of the circuit court, pursuant to this chapter.\n\t\t“Copy certification” means a notarial act in which a notary (i) is presented with a document that is not a public record; (ii) copies or supervises the copying of the document using a photographic or electronic copying process; (iii) compares the document to the copy; and (iv) determines that the copy is accurate and complete.\n\t\t“Credential analysis” means a process or service that independently affirms the veracity of a government-issued identity credential by reviewing public or proprietary data sources and meets the standards of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.\n\t\t“Credible witness” means an honest, reliable, and impartial person who personally knows an individual appearing before a notary and takes an oath or affirmation from the notary to confirm that individual’s identity.\n\t\t“Document” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form, including a record as defined in the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (\u00a7 59.1-479 et seq.).\n\t\t“Electronic” means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.\n\t\t“Electronic document” means information that is created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means.\n\t\t“Electronic notarial act” or “electronic notarization” means an official act by a notary under \u00a7 47.1-12 or as otherwise authorized by law that involves electronic documents.\n\t\t“Electronic notarial certificate” means the portion of a notarized electronic document that is completed by the notary public, bears the notary public’s signature, title, commission expiration date, and other required information concerning the date and place of the electronic notarization, and states the facts attested to or certified by the notary public in a particular notarization. The “electronic notarial certificate” shall indicate whether the notarization was done in person or by remote online notarization.\n\t\t“Electronic notary public” or “electronic notary” means a notary public who has been commissioned by the Secretary of the Commonwealth with the capability of performing electronic notarial acts under \u00a7 47.1-7.\n\t\t“Electronic notary seal” or “electronic seal” means information within a notarized electronic document that confirms the notary’s name, jurisdiction, and commission expiration date and generally corresponds to data in notary seals used on paper documents.\n\t\t“Electronic signature” means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the document.\n\t\t“Identity proofing” means a process or service that independently verifies an individual’s identity in accordance with \u00a7 2.2-436.\n\t\t“Knowledge-based authentication assessment” means an identity assessment formulated from public or private data sources for which the principal has not provided a prior answer that meets the following requirements:\n\n1\n\nThe principal shall answer a quiz composed of at least five questions related to the principal’s personal history or identity;2\n\nAt least five possible answer choices shall be available for each question;3\n\nThe principal shall pass the quiz if he achieves a score of 80 percent or higher;4\n\nThe principal shall have two minutes to answer the questions on the quiz;5\n\nIf the principal fails to achieve a score of at least 80 percent, the principal may attempt up to two additional quizzes within 48 hours following the first failed quiz; and6\n\nNo more than 60 percent of the questions from the initial quiz can be reused on additional quizzes.\n\t\t\t“Notarial act” or “notarization” means any official act performed by a notary under § 47.1-12 or 47.1-13 or as otherwise authorized by law.\n\t\t\t“Notarial certificate” or “certificate” means the part of, or attachment to, a notarized document that is completed by the notary public, bears the notary public’s signature, title, commission expiration date, notary registration number, and other required information concerning the date and place of the notarization and states the facts attested to or certified by the notary public in a particular notarization.\n\t\t\t“Notary public” or “notary” means any person commissioned to perform official acts under the title, and includes an electronic notary except where expressly provided otherwise.\n\t\t\t“Oath” shall include “affirmation.”\n\t\t\t“Official misconduct” means any violation of this title by a notary, whether committed knowingly, willfully, recklessly or negligently.\n\t\t\t“Personal knowledge of identity” or “personally knows” means familiarity with an individual resulting from interactions with that individual over a period of time sufficient to dispel any reasonable uncertainty that the individual has the identity claimed.\n\t\t\t“Principal” means (i) a person whose signature is notarized or (ii) a person, other than a credible witness, taking an oath or affirmation from the notary.\n\t\t\t“Record of notarial acts” means a device for creating and preserving a chronological record of notarizations performed by a notary.\n\t\t\t“Remote online notarization” means an electronic notarization under this chapter where the signer is not in the physical presence of the notary.\n\t\t\t“Satisfactory evidence of identity” means identification of an individual based on (i) examination of one or more of the following unexpired documents bearing a photographic image of the individual’s face and signature: a United States Passport Book, a United States Passport Card, a certificate of United States citizenship, a certificate of naturalization, a foreign passport, an alien registration card with photograph, a state issued driver’s license or a state issued identification card or a United States military card or (ii) the oath or affirmation of one credible witness unaffected by the document or transaction who is personally known to the notary and who personally knows the individual or of two credible witnesses unaffected by the document or transaction who each personally knows the individual and shows to the notary documentary identification as described in clause (i). In the case of an individual who resides in an assisted living facility, as defined in § 63.2-100, or a nursing home, licensed by the State Department of Health pursuant to Article 1 (§ 32.1-123 et seq.) of Chapter 5 of Title 32.1 or exempt from licensure pursuant to § 32.1-124, an expired United States Passport Book, expired United States Passport Card, expired foreign passport, or expired state issued driver’s license or state issued identification card may also be used for identification of such individual, provided that the expiration of such document occurred within five years of the date of use for identification purposes pursuant to this title. In the case of an electronic notarization, “satisfactory evidence of identity” may be based on video and audio conference technology, in accordance with the standards for electronic video and audio communications set out in subdivisions B 1, 2, and 3 of § 19.2-3.1, that permits the notary to communicate with and identify the principal at the time of the notarial act, provided that such identification is confirmed by (a) personal knowledge, (b) an oath or affirmation of a credible witness who personally knows the principal and is either personally known to the notary or is identified pursuant to clause (c), or (c) is identified by at least two of the following: (1) credential analysis of an unexpired government-issued identification bearing a photograph of the principal’s face and signature; (2) identity proofing by an antecedent in-person identity proofing process in accordance with the specifications of the Federal Bridge Certification Authority, including any supplements thereto or revisions thereof; (3) another identity proofing method authorized in guidance documents, regulations, or standards adopted pursuant to § 2.2-436; (4) a valid digital certificate accessed by biometric data or by use of an interoperable Personal Identity Verification card that is designed, issued, and managed in accordance with the specifications published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 201-1, “Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors,” and supplements thereto or revisions thereof, including the specifications published by the Federal Chief Information Officers Council in “Personal Identity Verification Interoperability for Non-Federal Issuers”; or (5) a knowledge-based authentication assessment.\n\t\t\t“Seal” means a device for affixing on a paper document an image containing the notary’s name and other information related to the notary’s commission.\n\t\t\t“Secretary” means the Secretary of the Commonwealth.\n\t\t\t“State” includes any state, territory, or possession of the United States.\n\t\t\t“Verification of fact” means a notarial act in which a notary reviews public or vital records to (i) ascertain or confirm facts regarding a person’s identity, identifying attributes, or authorization to access a building, database, document, network, or physical site or (ii) validate an identity credential on which satisfactory evidence of identity may be based.","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":230623,"text":"As used in this title, unless the context demands a different meaning:\n\t\t“Acknowledgment” means a notarial act in which an individual at a single time and place (i) appears in person before the notary and presents a document; (ii) is personally known to the notary or identified by the notary through satisfactory evidence of identity; and (iii) indicates to the notary that the signature on the document was voluntarily affixed by the individual for the purposes stated within the document and, if applicable, that the individual had due authority to sign in a particular representative capacity.\n\t\t“Affirmation” means a notarial act, or part thereof, that is legally equivalent to an oath and in which an individual at a single time and place (i) appears in person before the notary and presents a document; (ii) is personally known to the notary or identified by the notary through satisfactory evidence of identity; and (iii) makes a vow of truthfulness or fidelity on penalty of perjury.\n\t\t“Commissioned notary public” means that the applicant has completed and submitted the registration forms along with the appropriate fee to the Secretary of the Commonwealth and the Secretary of the Commonwealth has determined that the applicant meets the qualifications to be a notary public and issues a notary commission and forwards same to the clerk of the circuit court, pursuant to this chapter.\n\t\t“Copy certification” means a notarial act in which a notary (i) is presented with a document that is not a public record; (ii) copies or supervises the copying of the document using a photographic or electronic copying process; (iii) compares the document to the copy; and (iv) determines that the copy is accurate and complete.\n\t\t“Credential analysis” means a process or service that independently affirms the veracity of a government-issued identity credential by reviewing public or proprietary data sources and meets the standards of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.\n\t\t“Credible witness” means an honest, reliable, and impartial person who personally knows an individual appearing before a notary and takes an oath or affirmation from the notary to confirm that individual’s identity.\n\t\t“Document” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form, including a record as defined in the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (\u00a7 59.1-479 et seq.).\n\t\t“Electronic” means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.\n\t\t“Electronic document” means information that is created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means.\n\t\t“Electronic notarial act” or “electronic notarization” means an official act by a notary under \u00a7 47.1-12 or as otherwise authorized by law that involves electronic documents.\n\t\t“Electronic notarial certificate” means the portion of a notarized electronic document that is completed by the notary public, bears the notary public’s signature, title, commission expiration date, and other required information concerning the date and place of the electronic notarization, and states the facts attested to or certified by the notary public in a particular notarization. The “electronic notarial certificate” shall indicate whether the notarization was done in person or by remote online notarization.\n\t\t“Electronic notary public” or “electronic notary” means a notary public who has been commissioned by the Secretary of the Commonwealth with the capability of performing electronic notarial acts under \u00a7 47.1-7.\n\t\t“Electronic notary seal” or “electronic seal” means information within a notarized electronic document that confirms the notary’s name, jurisdiction, and commission expiration date and generally corresponds to data in notary seals used on paper documents.\n\t\t“Electronic signature” means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the document.\n\t\t“Identity proofing” means a process or service that independently verifies an individual’s identity in accordance with \u00a7 2.2-436.\n\t\t“Knowledge-based authentication assessment” means an identity assessment formulated from public or private data sources for which the principal has not provided a prior answer that meets the following requirements:","type":"section","prefixes":[""],"prefix":"","entire_prefix":"","prefix_anchor":"","level":1,"next_prefix":"1"},"1":{"id":230624,"text":"The principal shall answer a quiz composed of at least five questions related to the principal’s personal history or identity;","type":"section","prefixes":["1"],"prefix":"1","entire_prefix":"1","prefix_anchor":"1","level":1,"prior_prefix":"","next_prefix":"2"},"2":{"id":230625,"text":"At least five possible answer choices shall be available for each question;","type":"section","prefixes":["2"],"prefix":"2","entire_prefix":"2","prefix_anchor":"2","level":1,"prior_prefix":"1","next_prefix":"3"},"3":{"id":230626,"text":"The principal shall pass the quiz if he achieves a score of 80 percent or higher;","type":"section","prefixes":["3"],"prefix":"3","entire_prefix":"3","prefix_anchor":"3","level":1,"prior_prefix":"2","next_prefix":"4"},"4":{"id":230627,"text":"The principal shall have two minutes to answer the questions on the quiz;","type":"section","prefixes":["4"],"prefix":"4","entire_prefix":"4","prefix_anchor":"4","level":1,"prior_prefix":"3","next_prefix":"5"},"5":{"id":230628,"text":"If the principal fails to achieve a score of at least 80 percent, the principal may attempt up to two additional quizzes within 48 hours following the first failed quiz; and","type":"section","prefixes":["5"],"prefix":"5","entire_prefix":"5","prefix_anchor":"5","level":1,"prior_prefix":"4","next_prefix":"6"},"6":{"id":230629,"text":"No more than 60 percent of the questions from the initial quiz can be reused on additional quizzes.\n\t\t\t“Notarial act” or “notarization” means any official act performed by a notary under § 47.1-12 or 47.1-13 or as otherwise authorized by law.\n\t\t\t“Notarial certificate” or “certificate” means the part of, or attachment to, a notarized document that is completed by the notary public, bears the notary public’s signature, title, commission expiration date, notary registration number, and other required information concerning the date and place of the notarization and states the facts attested to or certified by the notary public in a particular notarization.\n\t\t\t“Notary public” or “notary” means any person commissioned to perform official acts under the title, and includes an electronic notary except where expressly provided otherwise.\n\t\t\t“Oath” shall include “affirmation.”\n\t\t\t“Official misconduct” means any violation of this title by a notary, whether committed knowingly, willfully, recklessly or negligently.\n\t\t\t“Personal knowledge of identity” or “personally knows” means familiarity with an individual resulting from interactions with that individual over a period of time sufficient to dispel any reasonable uncertainty that the individual has the identity claimed.\n\t\t\t“Principal” means (i) a person whose signature is notarized or (ii) a person, other than a credible witness, taking an oath or affirmation from the notary.\n\t\t\t“Record of notarial acts” means a device for creating and preserving a chronological record of notarizations performed by a notary.\n\t\t\t“Remote online notarization” means an electronic notarization under this chapter where the signer is not in the physical presence of the notary.\n\t\t\t“Satisfactory evidence of identity” means identification of an individual based on (i) examination of one or more of the following unexpired documents bearing a photographic image of the individual’s face and signature: a United States Passport Book, a United States Passport Card, a certificate of United States citizenship, a certificate of naturalization, a foreign passport, an alien registration card with photograph, a state issued driver’s license or a state issued identification card or a United States military card or (ii) the oath or affirmation of one credible witness unaffected by the document or transaction who is personally known to the notary and who personally knows the individual or of two credible witnesses unaffected by the document or transaction who each personally knows the individual and shows to the notary documentary identification as described in clause (i). In the case of an individual who resides in an assisted living facility, as defined in § 63.2-100, or a nursing home, licensed by the State Department of Health pursuant to Article 1 (§ 32.1-123 et seq.) of Chapter 5 of Title 32.1 or exempt from licensure pursuant to § 32.1-124, an expired United States Passport Book, expired United States Passport Card, expired foreign passport, or expired state issued driver’s license or state issued identification card may also be used for identification of such individual, provided that the expiration of such document occurred within five years of the date of use for identification purposes pursuant to this title. In the case of an electronic notarization, “satisfactory evidence of identity” may be based on video and audio conference technology, in accordance with the standards for electronic video and audio communications set out in subdivisions B 1, 2, and 3 of § 19.2-3.1, that permits the notary to communicate with and identify the principal at the time of the notarial act, provided that such identification is confirmed by (a) personal knowledge, (b) an oath or affirmation of a credible witness who personally knows the principal and is either personally known to the notary or is identified pursuant to clause (c), or (c) is identified by at least two of the following: (1) credential analysis of an unexpired government-issued identification bearing a photograph of the principal’s face and signature; (2) identity proofing by an antecedent in-person identity proofing process in accordance with the specifications of the Federal Bridge Certification Authority, including any supplements thereto or revisions thereof; (3) another identity proofing method authorized in guidance documents, regulations, or standards adopted pursuant to § 2.2-436; (4) a valid digital certificate accessed by biometric data or by use of an interoperable Personal Identity Verification card that is designed, issued, and managed in accordance with the specifications published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 201-1, “Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors,” and supplements thereto or revisions thereof, including the specifications published by the Federal Chief Information Officers Council in “Personal Identity Verification Interoperability for Non-Federal Issuers”; or (5) a knowledge-based authentication assessment.\n\t\t\t“Seal” means a device for affixing on a paper document an image containing the notary’s name and other information related to the notary’s commission.\n\t\t\t“Secretary” means the Secretary of the Commonwealth.\n\t\t\t“State” includes any state, territory, or possession of the United States.\n\t\t\t“Verification of fact” means a notarial act in which a notary reviews public or vital records to (i) ascertain or confirm facts regarding a person’s identity, identifying attributes, or authorization to access a building, database, document, network, or physical site or (ii) validate an identity credential on which satisfactory evidence of identity may be based.","type":"section","prefixes":["6"],"prefix":"6","entire_prefix":"6","prefix_anchor":"6","level":1,"prior_prefix":"5"}},"ancestry":[{"id":15416,"edition_id":1,"name":"General Provisions","identifier":"1","label":"chapter","depth":2,"order_by":1,"parent_id":13724,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:54:44","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:54:44","permalink":{"id":232927,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":15416,"identifier":"1","token":"47.1\/1","url":"\/47.1\/1\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":13724,"edition_id":1,"name":"Notaries and Out-Of-State Commissioners","identifier":"47.1","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":1,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:45:41","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:45:41","permalink":{"id":232925,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":13724,"identifier":"47.1","token":"47.1","url":"\/47.1\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":58694,"structure_id":15416,"section_number":"47.1-1","catch_line":"Short title","url":"\/47.1-1\/","token":"47.1\/1\/47.1-1","metadata":false},{"id":63282,"structure_id":15416,"section_number":"47.1-2","catch_line":"Definitions","url":"\/47.1-2\/","token":"47.1\/1\/47.1-2","metadata":false}],"previous_section":{"id":58694,"structure_id":15416,"section_number":"47.1-1","catch_line":"Short title","url":"\/47.1-1\/","token":"47.1\/1\/47.1-1","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/47.1-2\/","history_text":"

This law was first created in 1980. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 580 of that year\u2019s edition of \u201cActs of Assembly,\u201d the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1980 \u201cActs\u201d aren\u2019t available online. It has been modified 6 times. Those modifications are cataloged by \u201cThe Acts of Assembly,\u201d a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly\u2019s website will be linked accordingly. Those modifications are as follows: in 2007, chapters 269<\/a> and 590<\/a>; in 2011, chapters 731<\/a> and 834<\/a>; in 2012, chapter 566<\/a>; in 2016, chapter 185<\/a>; in 2020, chapter 902<\/a>; in 2024, chapter 832<\/a>.<\/p>","references":[{"id":65623,"section_number":"47.1-14","catch_line":"Duty of care","order_by":null,"url":"\/47.1-14\/"},{"id":54718,"section_number":"47.1-15","catch_line":"Prohibitions","order_by":null,"url":"\/47.1-15\/"},{"id":63757,"section_number":"47.1-9","catch_line":"Oath of notary; duties of clerks","order_by":null,"url":"\/47.1-9\/"},{"id":69095,"section_number":"55.1-1202","catch_line":"Notice","order_by":null,"url":"\/55.1-1202\/"}],"refers_to":[{"id":84637,"section_number":"19.2-3.1","catch_line":"Personal appearance by two-way electronic video and audio communication; standards","order_by":null,"url":"\/19.2-3.1\/"},{"id":80231,"section_number":"2.2-436","catch_line":"Approval of electronic identity standards","order_by":null,"url":"\/2.2-436\/"},{"id":80727,"section_number":"32.1-123","catch_line":"(Effective January 1, 2026) Definitions","order_by":null,"url":"\/32.1-123\/"},{"id":75042,"section_number":"32.1-124","catch_line":"Exemptions","order_by":null,"url":"\/32.1-124\/"},{"id":83722,"section_number":"47.1-12","catch_line":"Powers","order_by":null,"url":"\/47.1-12\/"},{"id":56456,"section_number":"47.1-13","catch_line":"Jurisdiction; Virginia notarial powers outside the Commonwealth","order_by":null,"url":"\/47.1-13\/"},{"id":86908,"section_number":"47.1-7","catch_line":"Additional requirements for performing electronic notarial acts","order_by":null,"url":"\/47.1-7\/"},{"id":60668,"section_number":"59.1-479","catch_line":"Title","order_by":null,"url":"\/59.1-479\/"},{"id":72379,"section_number":"63.2-100","catch_line":"Definitions","order_by":null,"url":"\/63.2-100\/"}],"permalink":{"id":232933,"object_type":"law","relational_id":63282,"identifier":"47.1-2","token":"47.1\/1\/47.1-2","url":"\/47.1-2\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/47.1-2\/","token":"47.1\/1\/47.1-2","dublin_core":{"Title":"Definitions","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 47.1-2","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

As used in this title, unless the context demands a different meaning:\n\t\t“Acknowledgment<\/span>” means a notarial act in which an individual at a single time and place (i) appears in person before the notary and presents a document; (ii) is personally known to the notary or identified by the notary through satisfactory evidence of identity<\/span>; and (iii) indicates to the notary that the signature on the document was voluntarily affixed by the individual for the purposes stated within the document and, if applicable, that the individual had due authority to sign in a particular representative capacity.\n\t\t“Affirmation<\/span>” means a notarial act, or part thereof, that is legally equivalent to an oath<\/span> and in which an individual at a single time and place (i) appears in person before the notary and presents a document; (ii) is personally known to the notary or identified by the notary through satisfactory evidence of identity<\/span>; and (iii) makes a vow of truthfulness or fidelity on penalty<\/span> of perjury<\/span>.\n\t\t“Commissioned notary public<\/span>” means that the applicant has completed and submitted the registration forms along with the appropriate fee to the Secretary<\/span> of the Commonwealth and the Secretary<\/span> of the Commonwealth has determined that the applicant meets the qualifications to be a notary public and issues<\/span> a notary commission and forwards same to the clerk of the circuit<\/span> court<\/span>, pursuant to this chapter.\n\t\t“Copy certification<\/span>” means a notarial act in which a notary (i) is presented with a document that is not a public record; (ii) copies or supervises the copying of the document using a photographic or electronic copying process; (iii) compares the document to the copy; and (iv) determines that the copy is accurate and complete.\n\t\t“Credential analysis<\/span>” means a process or service that independently affirms<\/span> the veracity of a government-issued identity credential by reviewing public or proprietary data sources and meets the standards of the Secretary<\/span> of the Commonwealth.\n\t\t“Credible witness<\/span>” means an honest, reliable, and impartial person who personally knows<\/span> an individual appearing before a notary and takes an oath<\/span> or affirmation<\/span> from the notary to confirm that individual’s identity.\n\t\t“Document” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form, including a record as defined in the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (\u00a7 59.1-479<\/a> et seq.).\n\t\t“Electronic” means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.\n\t\t“Electronic document<\/span>” means information that is created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means.\n\t\t“Electronic notarial act<\/span>” or “electronic notarization<\/span>” means an official act by a notary under \u00a7 47.1-12<\/a> or as otherwise authorized by law<\/span> that involves electronic documents<\/span>.\n\t\t“Electronic notarial certificate<\/span>” means the portion of a notarized electronic document<\/span> that is completed by the notary public, bears the notary public’s signature, title, commission expiration date, and other required information concerning the date and place of the electronic notarization<\/span>, and states<\/span> the facts<\/span> attested to or certified by the notary public in a particular notarization. The “electronic notarial certificate<\/span>” shall indicate whether the notarization was done in person or by remote online notarization<\/span>.\n\t\t“Electronic notary public<\/span>” or “electronic notary” means a notary public who has been commissioned by the Secretary<\/span> of the Commonwealth with the capability of performing electronic notarial acts<\/span> under \u00a7 47.1-7<\/a>.\n\t\t“Electronic notary seal<\/span>” or “electronic seal<\/span>” means information within a notarized electronic document<\/span> that confirms the notary’s name, jurisdiction<\/span>, and commission expiration date and generally corresponds to data in notary seals<\/span> used on paper documents.\n\t\t“Electronic signature<\/span>” means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic document<\/span> and executed or adopted by a person with the intent<\/span> to sign the document.\n\t\t“Identity proofing<\/span>” means a process or service that independently verifies an individual’s identity in accordance with \u00a7 2.2-436<\/a>.\n\t\t“Knowledge-based authentication assessment<\/span>” means an identity assessment formulated from public or private data sources for which the principal<\/span> has not provided a prior answer that meets the following requirements:<\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

1.<\/span> The principal<\/span> shall answer a quiz composed of at least five questions related to the principal<\/span>’s personal history or identity; <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

2.<\/span> At least five possible answer choices shall be available for each question; <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

3.<\/span> The principal<\/span> shall pass the quiz if he achieves a score of 80 percent or higher; <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

4.<\/span> The principal<\/span> shall have two minutes to answer the questions on the quiz; <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

5.<\/span> If the principal<\/span> fails to achieve a score of at least 80 percent, the principal<\/span> may attempt up to two additional quizzes within 48 hours following the first failed quiz; and <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

6.<\/span> No more than 60 percent of the questions from the initial quiz can be reused on additional quizzes.\n\t\t\t“Notarial act” or “notarization” means any official act performed by a notary under § 47.1-12<\/a> or 47.1-13<\/a> or as otherwise authorized by law<\/span>.\n\t\t\t“Notarial certificate” or “certificate” means the part of, or attachment<\/span> to, a notarized document that is completed by the notary public, bears the notary public’s signature, title, commission expiration date, notary registration number, and other required information concerning the date and place of the notarization and states<\/span> the facts<\/span> attested to or certified by the notary public in a particular notarization.\n\t\t\t“Notary public” or “notary” means any person commissioned to perform official acts under the title, and includes an electronic notary except where expressly provided otherwise.\n\t\t\t“Oath<\/span>” shall include “affirmation<\/span>.”\n\t\t\t“Official misconduct<\/span>” means any violation of this title by a notary, whether committed knowingly, willfully, recklessly or negligently.\n\t\t\t“Personal knowledge of identity<\/span>” or “personally knows<\/span>” means familiarity with an individual resulting from interactions with that individual over a period of time sufficient to dispel any reasonable uncertainty that the individual has the identity claimed.\n\t\t\t“Principal<\/span>” means (i) a person whose signature is notarized or (ii) a person, other than a credible witness<\/span>, taking an oath<\/span> or affirmation<\/span> from the notary.\n\t\t\t“Record of notarial acts<\/span>” means a device for creating and preserving a chronological record of notarizations<\/span> performed by a notary.\n\t\t\t“Remote online notarization<\/span>” means an electronic notarization<\/span> under this chapter where the signer is not in the physical presence of the notary.\n\t\t\t“Satisfactory evidence of identity<\/span>” means identification of an individual based on (i) examination of one or more of the following unexpired documents bearing a photographic image of the individual’s face and signature: a United States<\/span> Passport Book, a United States<\/span> Passport Card, a certificate of United States<\/span> citizenship, a certificate of naturalization, a foreign passport, an alien registration card with photograph, a state<\/span> issued driver’s license or a state<\/span> issued identification card or a United States<\/span> military card or (ii) the oath<\/span> or affirmation<\/span> of one credible witness<\/span> unaffected by the document or transaction who is personally known to the notary and who personally knows<\/span> the individual or of two credible witnesses unaffected by the document or transaction who each personally knows<\/span> the individual and shows to the notary documentary identification as described in clause (i). In the case of an individual who resides in an assisted living facility, as defined in § 63.2-100<\/a>, or a nursing home, licensed by the State<\/span> Department of Health pursuant to Article 1 (§ 32.1-123<\/a> et seq.) of Chapter 5 of Title 32.1 or exempt from licensure pursuant to § 32.1-124<\/a>, an expired United States<\/span> Passport Book, expired United States<\/span> Passport Card, expired foreign passport, or expired state<\/span> issued driver’s license or state<\/span> issued identification card may also be used for identification of such individual, provided that the expiration of such document occurred within five years of the date of use for identification purposes pursuant to this title. In the case of an electronic notarization<\/span>, “satisfactory evidence of identity<\/span>” may be based on video and audio conference technology, in accordance with the standards for electronic video and audio communications set out in subdivisions B 1, 2, and 3 of § 19.2-3.1<\/a>, that permits the notary to communicate with and identify the principal<\/span> at the time of the notarial act, provided that such identification is confirmed by (a) personal knowledge, (b) an oath<\/span> or affirmation<\/span> of a credible witness<\/span> who personally knows<\/span> the principal<\/span> and is either personally known to the notary or is identified pursuant to clause (c), or (c) is identified by at least two of the following: (1) credential analysis<\/span> of an unexpired government-issued identification bearing a photograph of the principal<\/span>’s face and signature; (2) identity proofing<\/span> by an antecedent in-person identity proofing<\/span> process in accordance with the specifications of the Federal Bridge Certification Authority, including any supplements thereto or revisions thereof; (3) another identity proofing<\/span> method authorized in guidance documents, regulations, or standards adopted pursuant to § 2.2-436<\/a>; (4) a valid digital certificate accessed by biometric data or by use of an interoperable Personal Identity Verification card that is designed, issued, and managed in accordance with the specifications published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 201-1, “Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors,” and supplements thereto or revisions thereof, including the specifications published by the Federal Chief Information Officers Council in “Personal Identity Verification Interoperability for Non-Federal Issuers<\/span>”; or (5) a knowledge-based authentication assessment<\/span>.\n\t\t\t“Seal” means a device for affixing on a paper document an image containing the notary’s name and other information related to the notary’s commission.\n\t\t\t“Secretary<\/span>” means the Secretary<\/span> of the Commonwealth.\n\t\t\t“State<\/span>” includes any state<\/span>, territory, or possession<\/span> of the United States<\/span>.\n\t\t\t“Verification of fact<\/span>” means a notarial act in which a notary reviews public or vital records to (i) ascertain or confirm facts<\/span> regarding a person’s identity, identifying attributes, or authorization to access a building, database, document, network, or physical site or (ii) validate an identity credential on which satisfactory evidence of identity<\/span> may be based. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nDEFINITIONS (\u00a7 47.1-2)\n\nAs used in this title, unless the context demands a different meaning:\n\t\t“Acknowledgment” means a notarial act in which an individual at a\nsingle time and place (i) appears in person before the notary and presents a\ndocument; (ii) is personally known to the notary or identified by the notary\nthrough satisfactory evidence of identity; and (iii) indicates to the notary\nthat the signature on the document was voluntarily affixed by the individual for\nthe purposes stated within the document and, if applicable, that the individual\nhad due authority to sign in a particular representative capacity.\n\t\t“Affirmation” means a notarial act, or part thereof, that is\nlegally equivalent to an oath and in which an individual at a single time and\nplace (i) appears in person before the notary and presents a document; (ii) is\npersonally known to the notary or identified by the notary through satisfactory\nevidence of identity; and (iii) makes a vow of truthfulness or fidelity on\npenalty of perjury.\n\t\t“Commissioned notary public” means that the applicant has\ncompleted and submitted the registration forms along with the appropriate fee to\nthe Secretary of the Commonwealth and the Secretary of the Commonwealth has\ndetermined that the applicant meets the qualifications to be a notary public and\nissues a notary commission and forwards same to the clerk of the circuit court,\npursuant to this chapter.\n\t\t“Copy certification” means a notarial act in which a notary (i) is\npresented with a document that is not a public record; (ii) copies or supervises\nthe copying of the document using a photographic or electronic copying process;\n(iii) compares the document to the copy; and (iv) determines that the copy is\naccurate and complete.\n\t\t“Credential analysis” means a process or service that\nindependently affirms the veracity of a government-issued identity credential by\nreviewing public or proprietary data sources and meets the standards of the\nSecretary of the Commonwealth.\n\t\t“Credible witness” means an honest, reliable, and impartial person\nwho personally knows an individual appearing before a notary and takes an oath\nor affirmation from the notary to confirm that individual’s identity.\n\t\t“Document” means information that is inscribed on a tangible\nmedium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in\nperceivable form, including a record as defined in the Uniform Electronic\nTransactions Act (\u00a7 59.1-479 et seq.).\n\t\t“Electronic” means relating to technology having electrical,\ndigital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.\n\t\t“Electronic document” means information that is created,\ngenerated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means.\n\t\t“Electronic notarial act” or “electronic notarization”\nmeans an official act by a notary under \u00a7 47.1-12 or as otherwise authorized by\nlaw that involves electronic documents.\n\t\t“Electronic notarial certificate” means the portion of a notarized\nelectronic document that is completed by the notary public, bears the notary\npublic’s signature, title, commission expiration date, and other required\ninformation concerning the date and place of the electronic notarization, and\nstates the facts attested to or certified by the notary public in a particular\nnotarization. The “electronic notarial certificate” shall indicate\nwhether the notarization was done in person or by remote online notarization.\n\t\t“Electronic notary public” or “electronic notary”\nmeans a notary public who has been commissioned by the Secretary of the\nCommonwealth with the capability of performing electronic notarial acts under \u00a7\n47.1-7.\n\t\t“Electronic notary seal” or “electronic seal” means\ninformation within a notarized electronic document that confirms the\nnotary’s name, jurisdiction, and commission expiration date and generally\ncorresponds to data in notary seals used on paper documents.\n\t\t“Electronic signature” means an electronic sound, symbol, or\nprocess attached to or logically associated with an electronic document and\nexecuted or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the document.\n\t\t“Identity proofing” means a process or service that independently\nverifies an individual’s identity in accordance with \u00a7 2.2-436.\n\t\t“Knowledge-based authentication assessment” means an identity\nassessment formulated from public or private data sources for which the\nprincipal has not provided a prior answer that meets the following requirements:\n\n1. The principal shall answer a quiz composed of at least five questions related\nto the principal’s personal history or identity;\n\n2. At least five possible answer choices shall be available for each question;\n\n3. The principal shall pass the quiz if he achieves a score of 80 percent or\nhigher;\n\n4. The principal shall have two minutes to answer the questions on the quiz;\n\n5. If the principal fails to achieve a score of at least 80 percent, the\nprincipal may attempt up to two additional quizzes within 48 hours following the\nfirst failed quiz; and\n\n6. No more than 60 percent of the questions from the initial quiz can be reused\non additional quizzes.\n\t\t\t“Notarial act” or “notarization” means any official\nact performed by a notary under § 47.1-12 or 47.1-13 or as otherwise\nauthorized by law.\n\t\t\t“Notarial certificate” or “certificate” means the\npart of, or attachment to, a notarized document that is completed by the notary\npublic, bears the notary public’s signature, title, commission expiration\ndate, notary registration number, and other required information concerning the\ndate and place of the notarization and states the facts attested to or certified\nby the notary public in a particular notarization.\n\t\t\t“Notary public” or “notary” means any person\ncommissioned to perform official acts under the title, and includes an\nelectronic notary except where expressly provided otherwise.\n\t\t\t“Oath” shall include “affirmation.”\n\t\t\t“Official misconduct” means any violation of this title by a\nnotary, whether committed knowingly, willfully, recklessly or negligently.\n\t\t\t“Personal knowledge of identity” or “personally\nknows” means familiarity with an individual resulting from interactions\nwith that individual over a period of time sufficient to dispel any reasonable\nuncertainty that the individual has the identity claimed.\n\t\t\t“Principal” means (i) a person whose signature is notarized or\n(ii) a person, other than a credible witness, taking an oath or affirmation from\nthe notary.\n\t\t\t“Record of notarial acts” means a device for creating and\npreserving a chronological record of notarizations performed by a notary.\n\t\t\t“Remote online notarization” means an electronic notarization\nunder this chapter where the signer is not in the physical presence of the\nnotary.\n\t\t\t“Satisfactory evidence of identity” means identification of an\nindividual based on (i) examination of one or more of the following unexpired\ndocuments bearing a photographic image of the individual’s face and\nsignature: a United States Passport Book, a United States Passport Card, a\ncertificate of United States citizenship, a certificate of naturalization, a\nforeign passport, an alien registration card with photograph, a state issued\ndriver’s license or a state issued identification card or a United States\nmilitary card or (ii) the oath or affirmation of one credible witness unaffected\nby the document or transaction who is personally known to the notary and who\npersonally knows the individual or of two credible witnesses unaffected by the\ndocument or transaction who each personally knows the individual and shows to\nthe notary documentary identification as described in clause (i). In the case of\nan individual who resides in an assisted living facility, as defined in §\n63.2-100, or a nursing home, licensed by the State Department of Health pursuant\nto Article 1 (§ 32.1-123 et seq.) of Chapter 5 of Title 32.1 or exempt from\nlicensure pursuant to § 32.1-124, an expired United States Passport Book,\nexpired United States Passport Card, expired foreign passport, or expired state\nissued driver’s license or state issued identification card may also be\nused for identification of such individual, provided that the expiration of such\ndocument occurred within five years of the date of use for identification\npurposes pursuant to this title. In the case of an electronic notarization,\n“satisfactory evidence of identity” may be based on video and audio\nconference technology, in accordance with the standards for electronic video and\naudio communications set out in subdivisions B 1, 2, and 3 of § 19.2-3.1,\nthat permits the notary to communicate with and identify the principal at the\ntime of the notarial act, provided that such identification is confirmed by (a)\npersonal knowledge, (b) an oath or affirmation of a credible witness who\npersonally knows the principal and is either personally known to the notary or\nis identified pursuant to clause (c), or (c) is identified by at least two of\nthe following: (1) credential analysis of an unexpired government-issued\nidentification bearing a photograph of the principal’s face and signature;\n(2) identity proofing by an antecedent in-person identity proofing process in\naccordance with the specifications of the Federal Bridge Certification\nAuthority, including any supplements thereto or revisions thereof; (3) another\nidentity proofing method authorized in guidance documents, regulations, or\nstandards adopted pursuant to § 2.2-436; (4) a valid digital certificate\naccessed by biometric data or by use of an interoperable Personal Identity\nVerification card that is designed, issued, and managed in accordance with the\nspecifications published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology\nin Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 201-1, “Personal\nIdentity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors,” and\nsupplements thereto or revisions thereof, including the specifications published\nby the Federal Chief Information Officers Council in “Personal Identity\nVerification Interoperability for Non-Federal Issuers”; or (5) a\nknowledge-based authentication assessment.\n\t\t\t“Seal” means a device for affixing on a paper document an image\ncontaining the notary’s name and other information related to the\nnotary’s commission.\n\t\t\t“Secretary” means the Secretary of the Commonwealth.\n\t\t\t“State” includes any state, territory, or possession of the\nUnited States.\n\t\t\t“Verification of fact” means a notarial act in which a notary\nreviews public or vital records to (i) ascertain or confirm facts regarding a\nperson’s identity, identifying attributes, or authorization to access a\nbuilding, database, document, network, or physical site or (ii) validate an\nidentity credential on which satisfactory evidence of identity may be based.\n\nHISTORY: 1980, c. 580; 2007, cc. 269, 590; 2011, cc. 731, 834; 2012, c. 566;\n2016, c. 185; 2020, c. 902; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 78; 2024, c. 832.","edition":{"id":1,"name":"2025","slug":"2025","date_created":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","date_modified":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","current":1,"order_by":1,"last_import":null}}