From the 2018 notary handbook:
Physical Presence
RCW 42.45.030; RCW 42.45.040; WAC 308-30-020
Under Washington State law, in all cases the signing party must “appear physically” before the notary, which means that they must be in the physical presence of the notary at the time of the notarial act. Using video communication software or other means of communicating over distances is not permitted. The physical presence rule applies to any signing party, even if they are personally known to the notary. This is also true for electronic notarizations of documents: the signing party or parties must be in the physical presence of the notary even though the documents will be on a computer or online. |
