When a mobile notary is the right choice
Start with the office that will receive the document. Ask whether you and the notary have to be in the same place. If the answer is yes, this visit is the right product.
Use it when you cannot travel. Home, a hospital, or an office are common stops. Use it when a video ID check cannot be finished. The visit is booked ahead. It is not a lobby that stays open all night.
California is a clear case. The California Secretary of State says the rest of the online-notarization law waits until the technology project is done, or until January 1, 2030, whichever is earlier. A California-commissioned notary still has to be physically with you. If the desk wants a California notary, book this visit or a walk-in.
Georgia is the same kind of choice. The National Notary Association reports that Georgia has not passed a law authorizing its notaries to perform remote online notarization. If the desk wants a Georgia notary, you meet in person.
The three ways to finish a first notarization are on how to notarize a document. This page is only the visit where the notary comes to you.
How mobile notary services work
You book a time and a place. The notary holds an in-state commission for the state where you meet. You show a current government photo ID. You sign while the notary watches. Everyone who must sign has to be there. The notary completes the certificate.
Do not sign the document and leave it for someone to finish later. The notary has to see the signing. Keep the confirmation the notary gives you.
Company grades for hours, the ID check, and the saved file live on the directory, once. Methodology explains the three letters. Those letters are not a price and not a list of notaries who will drive to you.
How much does a mobile notary cost?
The bill has two parts. One part is the notarization. Some states set the most a notary may charge for that act. The other part is travel. Ask for both numbers, and the total, before you book.
A state maximum is a ceiling. The notary may charge less for the act. The ceiling is not the travel quote, except where the travel rule below prints one. We do not fill in a travel fee a state page does not print.
| State | What the notarization may cost | What the state says about travel |
|---|---|---|
| California | Up to $15 for each signature on an acknowledgment. Up to $15 for an oath or affirmation and the jurat. | Government Code § 8211 does not set a travel amount. Ask for it. |
| Georgia | $2 for each notarial act. The notary must tell you the fee before the act. Another $2 is allowed only for a clerk’s certificate that the commission is in effect. | The GSCCCA notary law page does not set a travel amount. Ask for it. |
| Ohio | Up to $5 for an act that is not an online notarization. The fees are not per signature. | § 147.08 allows a reasonable travel fee if you agree before the act. |
| Montana | Up to $10 for each listed act, including an acknowledgment. | § 1-5-626 keeps travel at or under IRS standard mileage. The notary explains the extra fee. You agree first. The section does not print a cents figure. |
| Maryland | Up to $8 for an original notarial act. | The Secretary of State allows the prevailing IRS business mileage rate plus a travel fee of no more than $5. Retrieved October 2026, that page still prints 70 cents per mile as the 2025 rate. It does not print a 2026 cents figure. |
| Nevada | An acknowledgment is $15 for the first signature and $7.50 for each added signature. A jurat is $15 for each signature. | NRS 240.100: if you ask the notary to travel, you agree on the hourly rate first. The cap is $15 an hour from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and $30 an hour from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. The notary may charge two hours even if the trip is shorter, then a portion of the hourly rate after that. |
| Pennsylvania | An acknowledgment is $5 for the first name and $2 for each added name on the same certificate. | The Department of State says a clerical fee for travel is not set by the Department. It must be customary and reasonable for your area. You are told before the notarization. The receipt itemizes it. |
| Texas | The Secretary of State’s example of the regular fee is $10 for one signer, and $1 more when a second signer is on the same certificate. | That education page does not add a travel amount. Ask for it. The $25 online add-on in the same example is a video act, not this visit. |
Nevada also caps travel for an electronic notary. NRS 240.197 sets $10 an hour from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and $25 an hour from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., with the same two-hour minimum. That is a different schedule from the regular act above. The Nevada page walks through the electronic one.
How much is a mobile notary?
That question is the price you are quoted. It is not the state ceiling. The ceiling limits the notarization. The quote can be lower. It can also add travel, a second signer, or a hard-to-reach stop.
OneNotary lists mobile notarizations starting at $80. We read that page in October 2026. The same page lists an extra $10 to $50 when the trip is hard to reach. That sticker is one company. A notary you find locally sets a different travel fee. We do not invent that fee.
Before you agree, ask for the total in writing or in the booking message. Ask what is included. Ask what happens if you cancel after the notary has started the drive. Ohio requires the travel agreement before the act. Pennsylvania wants the clerical fee disclosed before the notarization and itemized on the receipt.
How to book, and what to have ready
Tell the notary where you will be and who must sign. Ask which state is on the commission. The signing happens in that state.
- Ask for the total before you agree. Include the notarization and the travel.
- Have the document ready, and do not sign it until the notary can see you sign.
- Have a current government photo ID.
- Have every required signer in the room for the visit.
- Keep the confirmation.
If the notary’s commission is from a different state than the place where you will meet, stop and ask. This visit needs an in-state commission for the state where the signing happens.
How to check the notary is real
Ask for the notary’s name and the state on the commission before the visit. Then look that name up with the office that issued the commission. The state pages linked above name that office.
The Georgia clerks’ authority says it is unlawful to hold yourself out as a notary, or to use a notary’s powers, without an effective commission. A business card is not that commission.
The California Secretary of State says a person must appear personally before a California notary. A video image is not that appearance. If you booked a California notary, the notary is in the room with you.
When a video notary or a bank is the better path
Use a video session when the receiving office will accept it and you can join a live call. That session is how a remote online notary works. Whether the session is free is a different question: is online notary free.
Proof, also called Notarize, lists $25 for a notarization on the Notarize Network. We read the Notarize price page in October 2026. That $25 is a video session. It is not a trip to your door. NotaryLive is the other video session on this site. Its price is on that page. It is not a mobile visit.
A walk-in is the other in-person choice. You go to a bank lobby or a UPS Store during open hours. Call first and ask whether a notary is there that day. We do not invent a bank price or a store price.
If the desk wants a California or Georgia notary, do not buy a video session to argue with that desk. Book the visit, or walk in while a notary with that commission is on duty.
Ready to get an online notary? Try these services.
Sources
- California Secretary of State, Customer alerts (posted October 24, 2023, and July 19, 2016): the rest of the online-notarization law is operative when the technology project is complete, or by January 1, 2030, whichever is earlier. A person must appear personally before a California notary. A video image is not personal appearance.
- California Government Code § 8211, amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 133 (AB 2217), effective January 1, 2017: up to $15 for each signature on an acknowledgment, and up to $15 for an oath or affirmation and the jurat. The section does not set a travel amount. The 2026 California Notary Public Handbook prints the same maximums.
- GSCCCA, Georgia Notary Law: authorized fee $2 for each notarial act, disclosed before the act, plus $2 for a clerk’s certificate that the commission is in effect. It is unlawful to act as a notary without an effective commission. The page does not set a travel amount.
- NNA, What is a Remote Online Notary?: Georgia has not passed a law authorizing its notaries to perform remote online notarization. California notaries cannot perform that session until the Secretary of State certifies the technology project, no later than January 1, 2030.
- Ohio Revised Code § 147.08, effective April 3, 2025: up to $5 for an act that is not an online notarization. A reasonable travel fee if agreed before the act. Fees are not calculated per signature.
- Montana Code Annotated § 1-5-626: up to $10 for each listed notarial act. A travel fee at or under IRS standard mileage rates, explained as extra, and agreed in advance. The section does not print a cents figure.
- Maryland Secretary of State, Notary Division, retrieved October 2026: an original act may be up to $8. Travel may be the prevailing IRS business mileage rate plus a fee not to exceed $5. The page prints 70 cents per mile as the 2025 IRS rate.
- NRS 240.100: acknowledgment $15 for the first signature and $7.50 for each additional signature. Jurat $15 per signature. Travel, if requested and agreed by the hour in advance, up to $15 an hour from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and $30 an hour from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., with a two-hour minimum, then a charge for the rest of the time by the portion of an hour.
- NRS 240.197: electronic acknowledgment or jurat $25 per signature. Electronic travel, if requested, up to $10 an hour from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and $25 an hour from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., with a two-hour minimum.
- Pennsylvania Department of State, Notary public fees: acknowledgment $5 for the first name and $2 for each additional name. A clerical or administrative fee for travel is not set by the Department. It must be customary and reasonable, disclosed before the notarization, and itemized.
- Texas Secretary of State, Online Notary Public educational information: example of the regular fee authorized by Tex. Gov’t Code § 406.024 is $10 for one signer and $1 for a second signer on the same certificate. The page’s $25 add-on is for an online notarization. The example does not add travel.
- Company prices read in October 2026: OneNotary mobile notarizations starting at $80, plus $10 to $50 for travel to a hard-to-reach area. Notarize consumer pricing: $25 for a notarization on the Notarize Network. That is a video session. Proof is that company. NotaryLive is the other video session. Its price is on that page.
- The UPS Store, Find a store: store locator. We do not cite a notarization price from this page.