Georgia Remote Online Notary: What Signers and Recipients Should Know

As of September 2026, Georgia-commissioned notaries are not generally authorized to offer remote online notarization under a permanent Georgia RON statute. GSCCCA materials describe ordinary Georgia notary commissioning and practice; they do not publish an operative Georgia RON program for Georgia notaries. The Georgia General Assembly’s HB 289 (2025–2026 session)—a bill to provide for remote online notaries public—had been reported favorably by a House committee substitute but had not been enacted as of the research date.

O.C.G.A. § 45-17-8.1 generally requires a Georgia notary, when documenting a notarial act, to sign the notarial certification by hand in ink with the name on the commission. That hand-in-ink certificate rule is one reason Georgia is commonly treated as not authorizing full remote online notarization for Georgia-commissioned notaries under current law.

A temporary COVID-era executive order once suspended certain physical-presence requirements for Georgia notarial acts under defined conditions. That temporary framework is not a current permanent RON authorization. Do not rely on expired emergency rules for a 2026 session plan.

If legislation later authorizes Georgia RON, confirm the operative date, technology/vendor requirements, and GSCCCA or clerk guidance before treating a Georgia-commissioned remote session as available.

Often yes for eligible documents, when the online notary’s commissioning-state law authorizes remote online notarization with a principal located outside that state, identity and technology requirements can be met, and the recipient accepts the result.

For a Florida-commissioned online notary, Florida Statutes § 117.209 and § 117.265 allow an online notary physically located in Florida to perform an online notarization regardless of whether the principal is physically located in Florida. Validity of that notarial act is determined by Florida law. Online notarization is performed under the law of the online notary’s commissioning state.

Being physically in Georgia does not, by itself, convert the session into a Georgia-commissioned RON. It also does not automatically force every Georgia recipient to accept the finished document.

Practical planning still depends on the document packet: unsigned status, required certificate, witnesses, and whether the receiving organization will take an electronic original.

Even when an out-of-state remote online notarization is lawfully performed, a Georgia bank, title company, employer, school, court clerk, agency, or other recipient may still reject or delay the packet based on internal policy, form design, wet-ink requirements, attorney-closing practice, or channel rules.

Do not assume that “valid in Florida” means “must be accepted in Georgia.” Confirm acceptance for the exact form before booking.

One important Georgia-agency exception to treat carefully: the Georgia Department of Revenue’s Policy Bulletin ADMIN-2025-03 and Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 560-1-1-.14 state that DOR will accept remote notarizations from notaries in states where remote notarization is permitted by law on documents that require a notary and that are authorized through DOR regulations, policy, or other DOR guidance. That DOR acceptance rule does not automatically apply to Motor Vehicle Division documents, and it does not rewrite every other Georgia recipient’s policy.

For bank and financial-institution acceptance generally, see will banks accept remote online notarization. For mortgage/title closings, see mortgage lender and title company RON acceptance.

Georgia Code § 44-2-21 addresses recording of certain deeds and instruments executed outside Georgia, including acknowledgment or attestation before a notary of the place of execution with seal attached, and—for realty deeds—attestation by two witnesses (one of whom may be a listed official). That statute is about recording eligibility for out-of-state execution formalities; it is not a blanket rule that every remote online notarization from every platform must be recorded by every Georgia clerk.

Georgia is widely known as an attorney-closing state for many residential real-estate closings. Closing counsel, title underwriting, and the specific clerk’s eRecording or paper channel can still block or reshape a packet even when a notarial act was authorized under another state’s law.

Ask early whether the file will be recorded, filed with a court, submitted to an agency portal, or only held by a private recipient. Recording and filing rules can be stricter than private-recipient email acceptance.

For clerk/court and recording-office decision questions, see remote notarization clerk and court acceptance and property deed transfer online notarization.

This guide does not claim that Georgia accepts all out-of-state remote online notarizations.

It does not claim that Georgia rejects all remote online notarization in every context.

It does not claim that a valid Florida online notarization must be accepted by every Georgia recipient.

It does not claim that Georgia clerks must record every electronically notarized deed.

It does not claim that a Georgia signer automatically cannot use an out-of-state online notary.

It does not claim that pending bills such as HB 289 are already operative law.