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 Washington owner needs a notary this week. The form is the use-case. The mailbox store is someone else’s product.
This page is not legal advice. An in-state commission is a notary license from Washington. A Washington-commissioned notary may perform remote online notarization if that notary holds both a Department of Licensing electronic-records endorsement and a remote notary endorsement. Electronic records notarization is a different Washington product: an electronic seal while the signer is still physically present. A regular Washington notary without those endorsements still has to be in the room. A bank, a commercial mailbox (CMRA), or the Postal Service still decides whether this packet may be remote.
The Washington 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 Washington notary into a remote notary. It also cannot erase the remote path the Department of Licensing has run since RCW 42.45.280 made that path permanent.
Washington (the state rule)
State rule · September 2026- In-state RON
- A
- Signer RON access
- A
- Walk-in / mobile backup
- C
Primary sources: Washington Department of Licensing, Resources and publications: Notaries public; Get your license: Notaries public; RCW 42.45.280. Country context: NASS and NNA. Secondary vendor map: Proof, July 8, 2026, not the country authority.
Two extra labels, and why a webcam is not enough
The Department of Licensing is blunt: electronic-records notarization and remote notarization are not the same job. Mixing them into one “is video legal in Washington?” question is how papers get sent back.
- Remote notarization is a notarial act for a remotely located individual using communication technology. RCW 42.45.280: the electronic-records notary is located in this state. The signer may be in Washington, another state, or, with extra limits, outside the United States. The session is live sight and sound. Before the first remote act, the notary notifies the director and names the technologies. The DOL license page: if you already hold the electronic-records endorsement, email notaries@dol.wa.gov (or write the Notary Public Program) with the name of your remote software, then wait for approval. Temporary remote licenses expired on August 31, 2021. The statute that created the permanent remote path is 2019 c 154. The published RCW 42.45.280 we retrieved still prints that act’s October 1, 2020 effective date. We cite the live DOL endorsement path.
- Electronic records notarization is an electronic seal and electronic signature on an electronic file. The DOL resources page: this happens in the physical presence of the notary and the signer, for example a digital signature pad. That is in-person electronic notarization. It is not a $25 video checkout. The DOL license page: name the electronic software within 30 days of the endorsement. You cannot notarize electronic records until the Department has that name.
You need both extra labels for the video job. The DOL resources page: a licensed notary with an electronic-records endorsement is eligible to add the remote endorsement. Apply for the remote endorsement separately. Hold both before practicing remote notarial acts. WAC 308-30-030 also lets a person apply for the commission, the electronic-records endorsement, and the remote endorsement at the same time. Do not assume every Washington notary on a checkout screen already holds the remote card.
The ID check is not a courtesy box. For a remote signer who is not personally known and who has no credible witness, RCW 42.45.280 and WAC 308-30-300 require two different types of identity proofing: credential analysis plus a dynamic knowledge-based quiz. Approved software includes those steps. If the customer does not pass them, the remote notary may refuse the act. That is when a mobile notary or a walk-in becomes the product that can finish.
The session file is part of the act. RCW 42.45.280: create an audiovisual recording of the notarial act and keep it at least 10 years. The certificate must say the act used communication technology. The notary still keeps a tangible journal. RCW 42.45.180 and the DOL license page: a permanent bound book, locked, kept 10 years after the last entry. WAC 308-30-200: mark the remote acts in that book. An electronic journal is allowed only as a second book. It does not replace the paper journal. That printed floor matches Pennsylvania and Florida. We leave those numbers next to each other, not blended.
Paper remote is not live tonight. House Bill 2158 / 2026 c 21, signed March 11, 2026, adds a later path for a tangible paper record over video, including a signed declaration sent to the notary within three days. The session-law text we retrieved takes effect January 1, 2027. Until that date, do not buy a “Washington paper remote” session that pretends the 2027 rule is already open.
The Secretary of State does not issue the notary license. The DOL resources page: apostilles and certificates of authority come from the Secretary of State. The commission, the two endorsements, and the remote software approval come from the Department of Licensing.
What actually needs a notary on a Washington LLC / bank stack
A Washington LLC is formed by filing a Certificate of Formation with the Office of the Secretary of State. The live LLC resource page we retrieved, governed by RCW 25.15, prices that filing at $180. The same page asks for an authorized person and a registered agent. It does not ask for a notary. 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 piece of paper that sits next to the LLC.
| Document | Typical notary question | Video vs ink on paper |
|---|---|---|
| WA LLC Certificate of Formation (RCW 25.15 / 23.95) | Usually none for the Secretary of State filing itself. Live SOS LLC page: Certificate of Formation plus a $180 fee. We did not read a notarization requirement on that page. | Do not buy a video session because a blog said “LLCs need a notary.” Confirm the live form. |
| Bank signup papers (resolutions, signature cards, sworn statements) | The bank’s current checklist. Some desks accept a Washington remote notary or an out-of-state video notary. Some want ink on paper. | Ask the desk before you pay $25. We will not invent a bank’s notary rule. |
| Operating agreement or power of attorney the bank requested | The stamp type printed on the form. | A Washington remote 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. An electronic-records seal still needs the signer in the room. |
| 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 Washington remote notary or an out-of-state video notary can both fit that sentence. Using a random PDF stamp is a common reject. See the 1583 page. |
| Vehicle title, motor-vehicle power of attorney, real-estate closing | The Department of Licensing vehicle desk, the title company, the lender, or the closing desk, not this site, decides whether a remote act is enough. | We have not read a current DOL vehicle 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 or estate paper | We did not read a clean statewide sentence that every Washington will may be a remote-online checkout. The receiving desk or the estate statute in front of you is the authority. | If we cannot quote a current official page that the desk will take a remote electronic will today, we will not invent it. When the desk wants ink on paper, that is a mobile notary or a walk-in. |
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 remote notarization is live, all-night service is a real option for many Washington papers, if the receiving desk will take a remote act, and if the notary actually holds both Department endorsements. A Washington remote 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 Washington stamp on paper, the identity check fails, or the person you hired is only an electronic-records notary, 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.
The Department’s fee rule prints a legal maximum for the notarial act itself. WAC 308-30-220, effective June 22, 2024: an in-person acknowledgment is $15. A remote notarial act is $25. The same DOL laws-and-rules page reprints those caps. That is a state fee cap for a Washington-commissioned remote notary. It is not a company sticker and not a UPS price. Travel fees may be added for an in-person trip if both people agree in advance. Clerical copies are actual cost. The consumer starting prices we cite on company cards, about $25 a session, are still the official pages retrieved August 2026.
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 Washington rule and the document table. Official starting prices we cite: NotaryLive about $25 per session; Proof/Notarize about $25 for the first stamp and $15 for each extra stamp; OneNotary online about $25 and mobile from about $80. We do not invent a session price for BlueNotary. Independent Washington mobiles are not that OneNotary sticker. Counters set their own prices.
Form 1583 as a Washington 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 Washington signer can use a Washington remote notary or an out-of-state remote notary. That is the same idea as Arizona, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. 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 a Seattle 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” or “wet ink,” do not buy a video session to argue with them. If they will take an electronic seal only with both people in the room, that is Washington electronic-records notarization, not remote notarization.
- If they accept a remote act, you may use a Washington remote notary or a notary licensed in another video-notary state. The Department of Licensing is the authority for the two endorsements. NASS and NNA are the country sources. The company’s live notary pool is the day-of fact. Do not assume every Washington notary on a checkout screen already holds the remote endorsement.
- Budget the extras from the official page, extra stamp, extra signer, witness, before you upload a six-signature packet at the $25 sticker. The $25 in WAC 308-30-220 is the remote-act cap for a Washington-commissioned notary, not a promise that the company’s checkout stops there.
- If the identity check fails, stop treating “try again after midnight” as a plan. RCW 42.45.280 wants two kinds of identity proofing when the notary does not already know you. 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 a Washington remote session in a later dispute is the recording RCW 42.45.280 already requires the notary to keep for at least 10 years. The value of a walk-in is the ink the desk already said it wanted.
Sources
- Washington Department of Licensing, Resources and publications: Notaries public: electronic-records notarization keeps the signer physically present; remote notarization is without physical presence; both endorsements required; clients may be outside Washington; temporary remote licenses expired August 31, 2021; apostilles come from the Secretary of State, not DOL.
- Washington Department of Licensing, Get your license: Notaries public: $10,000 surety bond; electronic-records endorsement; name the electronic software within 30 days; remote endorsement by email to notaries@dol.wa.gov or by mail, including the software name; wait for approval; tangible journal kept 10 years after the last entry.
- Washington Department of Licensing, Laws and rules: Notaries public: reprints the WAC 308-30-220 caps, including $15 for an in-person acknowledgment and $25 for a remote notarial act; points to Chapter 42.45 RCW and Chapter 308-30 WAC.
- RCW 42.45.280 (effective until January 1, 2027): electronic-records notary located in this state; communication technology; two types of identity proofing; audiovisual recording retained at least ten years; notify the director and identify the technologies before the first remote act. 2019 c 154, effective October 1, 2020.
- RCW 42.45.180: tangible journal for all notarial acts; retain ten years after the last act; electronic journal may run beside the paper book, not instead of it.
- WAC 308-30-220 (WSR 24-11-162, effective June 22, 2024): $15 in-person acknowledgment; $25 remote notarial act. Those are state fee caps, not a company sticker.
- WAC 308-30-060: $40 commission application; $15 electronic-records endorsement. The table we retrieved does not print a remote-endorsement fee. We will not invent one.
- WAC 308-30-030: remote endorsement application; may apply with the electronic-records endorsement at the same time. WAC 308-30-300: credential analysis plus dynamic knowledge-based authentication. WAC 308-30-200: mark remote acts in the tangible journal.
- House Bill 2158 / 2026 c 21, signed March 11, 2026, effective January 1, 2027: later paper-remote path for a tangible record. The current RCW 42.45.280 page prints that later text as effective January 1, 2027. We do not treat it as live tonight.
- Washington Secretary of State, Limited Liability Company filing resource: Certificate of Formation under RCW 25.15; $180 filing fee. We did not read a notarization requirement on that page.
- NNA, How to Become a Remote Online Notary in Washington (updated June 21, 2023): two-step endorsement; email the Department; no extra remote bond beyond the $10,000 commission bond. We re-checked the live DOL pages and RCW 42.45.280.
- 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.