This page is a notary scorecard. It is not a mailbox directory. Form 1583 is the Postal Service form you sign so a mailbox store can receive your mail. It appears here because mailbox signup is a common reason a Texas owner needs a notary this week. The form is the use-case. The mailbox store is someone else’s product.
Legal
This page is not legal advice. An in-state commission is a notary license from Texas. A Texas-commissioned notary may perform remote online notarization if that notary also holds an Online Notary Public commission. A bank, a commercial mailbox (CMRA), or the Postal Service still decides whether this packet may be remote.
Not legal advice.
The Texas grade that is not a company letter
We grade the state rule first. Remote online notarization (RON) is a video session with a notary. A company cannot turn a regular Texas notary into an online notary. It also cannot erase the Online Notary Public commission that Texas already issues.
Texas (the state rule)
State rule · September 2026- In-state RON
- A
- Signer RON access
- A
- Walk-in / mobile backup
- C
Primary sources: Texas SOS, Getting started as an online notary; Online Notary Public educational information. Country context: NASS and NNA. Secondary vendor map: Proof, July 8, 2026, not the country authority.
Two Texas licenses, and why a webcam is not always enough
The Secretary of State is blunt: an electronic notarization is not the same as an online notarization.
- Online notarization is a remote act. The notary must hold the extra Online Notary Public commission, be physically inside Texas at the time of the act, and meet the person by two-way audio and video. The signer may be anywhere. SOS educational page; Tex. Gov’t Code §406.108 and related Subchapter C provisions.
- Regular electronic notarization is still an in-person act. A regular Texas notary may put an electronic signature and seal on an electronic file under the Texas Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (Business and Commerce Code Chapter 322). Both people still have to be in the same room. A webcam does not satisfy that meeting.
The ID check is not a courtesy box. SOS requires a third party to perform identity proofing and credential analysis when the online notary does not personally know the signer. Identity proofing is a live quiz from your credit file. Credential analysis is a third-party check that the government photo ID is real. The notary cannot run those steps themselves. Chapter 406 and TAC Chapter 87 both say so.
If the quiz fails, stop treating “retry overnight” as a plan. The SOS identity-proofing page: a person who fails the first quiz may retake it once within 24 hours. A second failure locks that person out of retrying with the same notary for at least 24 hours. That is when a mobile notary or a walk-in becomes the product that can finish.
The session file is part of the act. SOS record-keeping for online notaries and Tex. Gov’t Code §406.108 require a secure electronic record that includes a recording of the video call used to prove identity. Keep the original and a backup for five years from the date of the notarization. Entries are public information. SOS says a notary should be prepared to provide copies on request and payment of fees.
What actually needs a notary on a Texas LLC / bank stack
Texas LLC formation is filed with the Secretary of State as a Certificate of Formation (Form 205). The official instructions say the organizer must sign and that the signature does not need to be notarized. People still show up asking for a notary because a bank, a processor, a landlord, or a mailbox asked for a sworn statement on a different printed document that sits next to the LLC.
| Document | Typical notary question | Video vs an ink signature |
|---|---|---|
| TX LLC Certificate of Formation (Form 205) | Usually none for the SOS filing itself. Official instructions: the organizer signs; a notary is not required. | Do not buy a video session because a blog said “LLCs need a notary.” Confirm the live form. |
| Bank signup documents (resolutions, signature cards, sworn statements) | The bank’s current checklist. Some desks accept a Texas online notary or an out-of-state video notary. Some want a printed document signed in ink. | Ask the desk before you pay $25. The bank sets its own notary rule. |
| Operating agreement or power of attorney the bank requested | The notarization type printed on the form. | A Texas online notary is often enough if the desk accepts a remote act. If they printed “in person” or “wet ink,” that is a mobile notary or a walk-in. |
| PS Form 1583 (mailbox signup) | Yes, a notary public licensed in a U.S. state, territory, possession, or DC, or the mailbox store employee in person. June 2024 form. | The form’s own note allows a live video call. A Texas online notary or an out-of-state video notary can both fit that sentence. Using a random picture pasted on the PDF is a common reject. See the 1583 page. |
| Vehicle title, motor-vehicle power of attorney, real-estate closing | The county tax assessor-collector, title company, lender, or closing desk, not this site, decides whether a remote act is enough. | We have not read a current TxDMV or title-company rule that we can quote as a statewide video policy. If the desk wants ink, do not buy a video session to argue with them. |
| Will, codicil, or testamentary trust | Texas UETA excludes these instruments. SOS educational page: they cannot be signed electronically or notarized online via videoconference. Texas Estates Code §251.051 requires in-person execution of a will. | This is not a company limit. It is the document class. Use an in-person notary if a notary is even the right officer. |
We do not publish a bank-by-bank or county-by-county “accepts video” list we have not read on that desk’s page this month. If you need the operating address so a bank will open the account, that is a different product. It is not this site’s directory.
Open all night versus booked, in this state
Because in-state RON is live, all-night service is a real option for many Texas documents, if the receiving desk will take a remote act. A Texas online notary or a notary licensed in another video-notary state can both close that session. Company availability letters live on the directory, once.
If the desk wants a regular Texas notarization of a printed document, or the signer cannot pass the ID quiz, you are shopping store hours or a booked house call. That is the C on walk-in / mobile showing up as a calendar. It is not a failure of the state rule.
Texas SOS educational material also prints a legal maximum for what an online notary may charge: up to $25 per online notarization on top of the regular fees in Tex. Gov’t Code §406.024 (their example: $35 for one signer). That is a state fee cap for a Texas-commissioned online notary. It is not a company sticker and not a UPS price. The consumer starting prices we cite on company cards are still the official pages retrieved August 2026.
Related guide: mobile notary services. The fee example on this page prices the notarization. Ask what the trip adds before you book a visit.
Company letters live on the directory
Availability, identity check, and session-record letters for Proof/Notarize, NotaryLive, OneNotary, BlueNotary, mobile, and walk-in are on the directory, once. This page keeps the Texas rule and the document table. Official starting prices we cite: NotaryLive about $25 per session; Proof/Notarize about $25 for the first notarization and $15 for each extra notarization; OneNotary online about $25 and mobile from about $80. BlueNotary does not publish a session price. Independent Texas mobiles are not that OneNotary sticker. Texas publishes a statutory maximum for notarial acts (Tex. Gov’t Code §406.024); counters set their own prices.
Related guide: how a remote online notary works, including the extra Online Notary Public commission this page explains.
Related guide: is an online notary free. Texas prints a legal maximum for an online notarization. That cap is not a free session.
Related guide: how to notarize a document. A first Texas notarization is a video session after the extra commission, a mobile notary, or a walk-in.
Related guide: how to notarize a power of attorney. A Texas durable power of attorney has to be acknowledged, and a medical power of attorney can use two witnesses or a notary.
Related guide: what do you need to get something notarized. A Texas online notarization uses credential analysis and identity proofing, as the Secretary of State defines those checks.
Related guide: what is a jurat. The Secretary of State’s online samples include a jurat that says “Sworn to and subscribed before me,” and an acknowledgment that says the signer executed the document.
Related guide: apostille birth certificate. The Secretary of State is the only Texas office that issues an apostille, and a birth certificate is a recordable document a notary cannot notarize. This page grades notaries, not that apostille desk.
Form 1583 as a Texas use-case, without becoming a mailbox review
USPS will not let a commercial mailbox (CMRA) hand you mail until PS Form 1583 (June 2024) is complete. Form 1583 is the Postal Service form you sign so that store can receive your mail. You sign in person with the store (or an authorized employee) or with a notary public. The form’s note allows a live video call. A Texas signer can use a Texas online notary or an out-of-state remote notary. That is the same idea as Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Other states have their own rules. See California or Georgia if that is your state.
What we will not do here: grade mailbox brands, pick an Austin storefront, or explain store flags. Those are mailbox questions. The notary question is: did the session match the form (U.S.-licensed notary, two IDs, home address matching the address ID), and will the store accept that session? Details live on Form 1583 notarization.
A sequence that usually wastes less money
- Read the receiving desk’s current instruction. If they printed “in person,” “wet ink,” or named a document class Texas will not let you do online, do not buy a video session to argue with them.
- If they accept remote notarization, you may use a Texas online notary or a notary licensed in another video-notary state. Texas SOS is the authority for the in-state commission. NASS and NNA are the country sources. The company’s live notary pool is the day-of fact.
- Budget the extras from the official page, extra notarization, extra signer, witness, before you upload a six-signature packet at the $25 sticker.
- If the ID quiz fails twice, stop retrying overnight. SOS’s own identity-proofing page describes the 24-hour lockout with the same notary. Switch to a mobile notary or a walk-in. NotaryLive’s FAQ describes a Personal Verifier path. That is their product, not a universal escape hatch.
- Keep the session confirmation. The value of RON in a later dispute is the recording Texas already requires online notaries to keep for five years. The value of a walk-in is the ink the desk already said it wanted.
Sources
- Texas Secretary of State, Getting started as an online notary: extra Online Notary Public commission; audio-visual remote session; identity proofing and credential analysis via third party; electronic record including the A/V conference. Subchapter C, Chapter 406, Texas Government Code; TAC Title 1 Chapter 87.
- Texas SOS, Online Notary Public educational information: notary must be physically in Texas; signer may be anywhere; electronic notarization ≠ online notarization (UETA / Business and Commerce Code Chapter 322 still requires physical presence); wills, codicils, and testamentary trusts excluded; five-year record retention; statutory online-notary fee maximum.
- Texas SOS, Identity proofing and credential analysis: third-party KBA and credential analysis required; 80% to pass; second failure locks retry with the same notary for 24 hours.
- Texas SOS, Record-keeping requirements for online notaries: electronic record plus A/V recording; five years; public-information copies.
- Texas SOS, Form 205 Certificate of Formation — LLC instructions (PDF): organizer must sign; notarization is not required for the SOS filing.
- NASS, Remote Electronic Notarization: country-level enacted-law count.
- NNA, What is a Remote Online Notary?: notary-side status, including states that have not authorized RON.
- Proof RON map (July 8, 2026), labeled secondary vendor map. Proof is also a listed vendor on this site.
- Notarize consumer pricing: $25 / $15 / $15 / $10.
- NotaryLive pricing: $25/session; extras; 10-year storage.
- OneNotary individuals pricing: $25 online; mobile from $80.
- PS Form 1583, June 2024.