UPDATE:  On August 5, 2020, Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order No. 202.55 which extended remote notarization to September 4, 2020.

On March 19, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued Executive Order 202.7, which temporarily suspends the rule requiring physical appearance before a notary.

Until April 18, 2020, any notarial act that is required under New York State law is authorized to be performed utilizing audio-video technology provided that the following conditions are met: (Executive Order 202.14, issued on April 7th, further extends remote notarization until April 29th, 2020.)

• The person seeking the Notary's services, if not personally known to the Notary, must present valid photo ID to the Notary during the video conference, not merely transmit it prior to or after; 
• The video conference must allow for direct interaction between the person and the Notary (e.g. no pre-recorded videos of the person signing);
• The person must affirmatively represent that he or she is physically situated in the State of New York; 
• The person must transmit by fax or electronic means a legible copy of the signed document directly to the Notary on the same date it was signed; 
• The notary should print the document to be notarized;
• The Notary may notarize the transmitted copy of the document, scan and email or transmit the same back to the person by fax or mail; and 
• The Notary may repeat the notarization of the original signed document as of the date of execution provided the Notary receives such original signed document together with the electronically notarized copy within thirty days after the date of execution.

Guidance for Notaries:

• Notaries using audio-video technology must continue to follow existing requirements for notarizations that were unaltered by the Executive Order. This includes, but is not limited to, placing the notary’s expiration date and county where the notary is commissioned upon the document.
• If the notary and signatory are in different counties, the notary should indicate on the document the county where each person is located.
• An electronically transmitted document sent to the notary can be sent in any electronic format (e.g., PDF, JPEG, TIFF), provided it is a legible copy.
• Following remote notarization, if the notary receives the original document within 30 days, the notary may notarize the document again (i.e., physically affixing a notary stamp and hand signing the document) using the original remote notary date.
• Additionally, when performing remote notarization pursuant to the Executive Order, the Department of State recommends the following best practices (however, not following these two recommendations will not invalidate the act or be cause for discipline):

1. Keep a notary log of each remote notarization;
2. Indicate on the document that the notarization was made pursuant to Executive Order 202.7.

Readers are encouraged to contact our firm if you have any further questions.