Can a PA Notary Notarize Documents for Out-of-State Residents

July 4, 2025

YES, a PA Notary Public can notarize documents for a person who lives in another state. The only caveat being that both of you are physically within the boundaries of Pennsylvania.

It does not matter if the person resides in another state but is visitng here in Pennsylvania. They can even produce an out-of-state identification as long as it is valid (not expired), is government issued and contains their picture and/or signature for verification.

You may have heard about Remote Online Notarization, which can be performed by a Pennsylvania notary for an individual located outside the state and done on a virtual platform. The notary must be registered with the Department of State to perform RON notarization.

For the in-person appointments, the notary will require you to appear personally, they will verify your identity and determine competency and willingness to participate in the notarization. This is a vital responsibility for the notary to ensure that the person before them is "who they claim to be" and understands and aware of what they are doing.

Notaries really are gatekeepers to identity and other types of fraud and abuse.