Virginia Code 47.1-16: Notarizations to show date of act, official signature and seal, etc
A. Every notarization shall include the date upon which the notarial act was performed and the county or city and state in which it was performed. Every electronic notarial certificate completed by an electronic notary public commissioned in the Commonwealth shall include the county or city within the Commonwealth where the electronic notary public was physically located at the time of the notarial act. The electronic notarial certificate shall indicate whether the notarization was done in person or by remote online notarization.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 47.1-16
- certificate: means the part of, or attachment to, a notarized document that is completed by the notary public, bears the notary public's signature, title, commission expiration date, notary registration number, and other required information concerning the date and place of the notarization and states the facts attested to or certified by the notary public in a particular notarization. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- Document: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form, including a record as defined in the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (§ Virginia Code 47.1-2
- Electronic: means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
- Electronic document: means information that is created, generated, sent, communicated, received, or stored by electronic means. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
- Electronic notarial certificate: means the portion of a notarized electronic document that is completed by the notary public, bears the notary public's signature, title, commission expiration date, and other required information concerning the date and place of the electronic notarization, and states the facts attested to or certified by the notary public in a particular notarization. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
- electronic notarization: means an official act by a notary under § Virginia Code 47.1-2
- electronic notary: means a notary public who has been commissioned by the Secretary of the Commonwealth with the capability of performing electronic notarial acts under § Virginia Code 47.1-2
- electronic seal: means information within a notarized electronic document that confirms the notary's name, jurisdiction, and commission expiration date and generally corresponds to data in notary seals used on paper documents. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
- Electronic signature: means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the document. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
- notarization: means any official act performed by a notary under § Virginia Code 47.1-2
- notary: means any person commissioned to perform official acts under the title, and includes an electronic notary except where expressly provided otherwise. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Remote online notarization: means an electronic notarization under this chapter where the signer is not in the physical presence of the notary. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
- Seal: means a device for affixing on a paper document an image containing the notary's name and other information related to the notary's commission. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
- State: includes any state, territory, or possession of the United States. See Virginia Code 47.1-2
B. A notarial act shall be evidenced by a notarial certificate or electronic notarial certificate signed by a notary in a manner that attributes such signature to the notary public identified on the commission.
C. Upon every writing that is the subject of a notarial act, the notary shall, after his certificate, state the date of the expiration of his commission in substantially the following form:
“My commission expires the____ day of_____________, _____”
Near the notary’s official signature on the notarial certificate of a paper document, the notary shall affix a sharp, legible, permanent, and photographically reproducible image of the official seal, or, to an electronic document, the notary shall attach an official electronic seal.
D. The notary shall attach the official electronic signature and electronic seal to the electronic notarial certificate of an electronic document in a manner that is capable of independent verification and renders any subsequent changes or modifications to the electronic document evident.
E. An electronic notary’s electronic signature and electronic seal shall conform to the standards for electronic notarization developed in accordance with § 47.1-6.1.
Code 1950, § 55-116; 1980, c. 580; 2007, cc. 269, 590; 2008, cc. 117, 814; 2009, c. 160; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 78; 2024, c. 832.