Vermont video notary vs mobile: online notarization is legal since July 2022, but only for notaries with a separate $30 special endorsement

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 is here because mailbox signup is a common reason a Vermont owner needs a notary. The form is the use-case. The mailbox store is someone else’s product.

The Vermont grade is the state rule

We grade the state rule first. Remote online notarization (RON) is a video session with a notary. These letters are not a review of one notary’s call. We did not sit in a Vermont video session for this page. A company cannot turn a plain commission into a special endorsement. The 2022 path is legal. The second license, the missing platform list, and the 10-year versus seven-year recording split keep the in-state grade at a B.

Two fees, and one day every commission ends

A plain Vermont commission is $30. You must be 18 or older. You must be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident. You must live in Vermont, or work in Vermont. You pass an exam. OPR calls that exam a jurisprudence exam. That is a test on the notary rules. You also file a notarized oath of office. § 5341(b)–(c), § 5324(a), Rule 4-2, and the OPR FAQ are the sources.

That commission is a room job. It covers a printed document for people in the same room. Video needs more. Any electronic record needs more. Both need a special endorsement from OPR. You must already hold the commission. You attest that you chose technology that can show later changes, record the video, and check identity. The endorsement fee is another $30. § 5341(d)–(e), § 5324(b), and Rules 6-1 and 6-2 say that. The OPR fee schedule lists $30, and $30 for the specialty when it applies.

Check the lookup before you book. Every Vermont commission and special endorsement ends on January 31 of an odd year. This term ends January 31, 2027. If it is not renewed by midnight that day, both expire.

The term runs from February 1 to January 31. It is one statewide cycle, not a private anniversary. § 5304(3), the OPR FAQ, and Rule 4-7 are the sources. The endorsement expires with the commission (Rule 4-7). An endorsement can lapse on the same day the commission does. Look the notary up on OPR’s online lookup before you pay. The FAQ also points to a public roster you can download and sort by town.

Each cycle, the commission needs one hour of continuing education. The endorsement needs one more hour on electronic and remote work. The statute caps that education at two hours. Rule 9-1 and § 5343(b) say that.

Video can still use a printed document

Most people will use a full online platform and an electronic record. Vermont also allows a slower path for a printed document. § 5379(d) is that path.

You sign the printed document on the recorded video call. You also sign a short declaration under penalty of perjury. You send both to the notary no later than three days after the act. The notary then completes the certificate. The act is effective on the date you signed the declaration (§ 5379(e)). This is not a same-minute electronic checkout. The notary still needs the special endorsement, and the notary still has to be in Vermont.

The certificate for a video act must say the act used communication technology. That means the live video connection. § 5379(i)–(j) and Rule 8-2(d) say that.

A certified copy is a narrow job

A Vermont notary may certify only that a printed copy of an electronic record is accurate. The notary may not certify copies of other records. Rule 5-1(a)(v) and Rule 5-1(b) say that. A Vermont notary cannot certify a copy of a passport or a driver’s license. That is the limit we read. We do not add documents the rule does not name.

Where you sit, and where the notary sits

The notary’s chair is the narrow one. Rule 4-4 says a Vermont notary must be physically in Vermont for every act. § 5379(b) says the notary is located in this State. A plain commission, with no special endorsement, is still a room job.

Your chair is wider. You may be anywhere in the United States (Rule 8-4(a)). Outside the United States, two conditions both have to be true. The act is not banned where you are. The record is tied to a U.S. court or agency, to property in the United States, or to a deal connected to the United States (§ 5379(b)(5); Rule 8-4(b)). The office that receives the document still decides what it will accept.

Identity on a video act can be personal knowledge, a credible witness, or two ID-proofing methods (§ 5379(b)(2); Rule 8-2(b)). ID-proofing means the system checks the ID card, and you take a knowledge quiz. Rule 8-6 sets that quiz at five questions. Each question has five choices. You need 80 percent right. You have two minutes. You get one retake within 24 hours. After that, that notary is locked out with you for 24 hours.

The session has to be recorded. The legal note above leaves two clocks side by side. We do not resolve them. § 5379(k) says keep the audio-video recording at least 10 years unless the rules say otherwise. Rule 8-2(f) says at least seven years. The rules took effect February 26, 2025. Ask the platform how long it keeps your recording.

An older section still uses the 2019 wording. § 5344(2) still talks about whether a notary has notified the Office about electronic acts. Since 2022 the law requires an endorsement, not a notice. That sentence is an observation. This page does not decide which line a clerk will read first.

Vermont does not keep a list of approved platforms. § 5323(b) says the rules may not require a specific technology. The notary picks the technology and attests to it (Rule 6-2). Nobody can force a technology the notary did not select (§ 5371(a); Rule 7-3(a)). § 5379(l) says a provider must be registered with the Secretary of State to do business in Vermont, and that operating is an agreement to comply. We did not check that registration for any company. A checkout screen is not a Vermont approval. Proof and NotaryLive are not names on a state list, because the state keeps no list. Ask the notary whether they hold the special endorsement, and which system they attested to.

The seal is optional in Vermont. A notary does not have to use one at all. Without a seal, the notary must clearly type or write their name, commission number, and expiration date on the certificate (§ 5367(b)(1); Rule 5-3; the OPR seals and certificates page). If a seal is used, it may be ink or an embosser. It shows the name, the word Vermont, the words Notary Public, and the commission number. It may not include the Vermont State Seal (§ 5369).

Chapter 103 does not name a fee cap. The 2025 rules do not name one either. There is no travel cap in those sources. Ask the price before you book a mobile notary. Chapter 103 does not require a bond. A bond is a promise of money if the notary fails the duties of the office. This page does not say you have no other remedy. § 5373(a) and (e) say a missed duty does not by itself invalidate the act. A person can still challenge the document under other law.

What the desk is asking you to notarize

People show up because a bank, a processor, a landlord, or a mailbox asked for a sworn statement. We did not read a current Vermont business filing form for a fee or a notary line. We will not invent either number.

We do not publish a bank-by-bank list we have not read on that desk’s page this month. If you need an operating address so a bank will open an account, that is a different product. It is not this site’s directory.

A company price is not a Vermont cap

A same-session video act can be a Vermont notary who holds the special endorsement and is physically in Vermont. It can also be an out-of-state video notary, if the receiving desk will take that act. Company availability letters live on the directory, once. A missing fee cap does not keep a counter open after it closes.

If the desk wants you and a Vermont notary in the same room, the identity check fails, or the notary has no endorsement, you are shopping store hours or a booked house call. That is the B on walk-in / mobile. It is not a failure of the 2022 law. The three-day printed-document path is slower than either of those. It is not an all-night checkout.

The consumer starting prices we cite on company cards are company prices from the official pages retrieved August 2026. They are not a Vermont legal maximum. Chapter 103 names no dollar limit. Ask the price first.

Availability, identity check, and session-record letters for Proof, NotaryLive, OneNotary, BlueNotary, mobile, and walk-in are on the directory, once. This page keeps the Vermont rule and the document table. Official starting prices we cite: NotaryLive about $25 per session; Proof about $25 for the first notarization and $15 for each extra notarization; OneNotary online about $25 and mobile from about $80. We do not print a session price for BlueNotary. Those stickers are company prices. They are not a statement that the notary on your screen holds a Vermont special endorsement. The state approves no platforms and keeps no list. We do not claim those companies are registered to do business in Vermont. Independent Vermont mobiles are not that OneNotary sticker. Counters set their own prices. Chapter 103 still names no dollar limit.

Form 1583 is the use-case, not 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 with a notary public. The form’s note allows a live video call. The notary must be licensed in a U.S. state, territory, possession, or the District of Columbia. The form does not require a Vermont license. A Vermont notary on that video call still needs the special endorsement, and still has to be in Vermont. The store still decides whether to accept the session. Nearby pages: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York.

What we will not do here: grade mailbox brands, pick a Burlington, Montpelier, or Rutland storefront, or explain store flags. Those are mailbox questions. The notary question is whether the session matched the form. That means a U.S.-licensed notary, two IDs, and a home address that matches the address ID. Details live on Form 1583 notarization.

A short order that wastes less money

1. Read the receiving desk’s current instruction. If they need you in the room, do not buy a video session to argue with them.
2. If they accept a remote act, confirm you are getting a Vermont notary with the special endorsement, physically in Vermont. A plain commission is the room job. The signer may be anywhere in the United States. Abroad has extra conditions in § 5379(b)(5) and Rule 8-4. NASS is the country count. The NNA bill summary is secondary. A Proof map is secondary. Vermont approves no platforms.
3. Look the notary up on the OPR lookup before you pay. Every commission and endorsement ends on January 31 of an odd year. This term ends January 31, 2027.
4. Ask the price before you upload a long packet at a $25 company sticker. Chapter 103 names no dollar limit. A company price is not a Vermont cap.
5. If the identity check fails, stop and switch. Use a mobile notary or a walk-in. The quiz allows one retake within 24 hours, then a 24-hour lockout with that notary (Rule 8-6).
6. Keep the session confirmation. Ask the platform how long it keeps the recording. The statute says 10 years unless the rules say otherwise. The 2025 rules say seven. On a printed-document video act, you still have three days to send the signed document and the declaration (§ 5379(d)).