No, fully electronic remote notarizations using electronic signatures and electronic notary seals (as opposed to remote notarizations using traditional wet ink signatures) have not yet been authorized in Illinois.

Fully electronic remote online notarizations will be authorized under the Illinois Notary Public Act once the Secretary of State finalizes its implementing rules. The Secretary of State published proposed rules on April 15, 2022, with a comment period that ended on June 1, 2022. We do not yet know when the Secretary of State will publish its final rules.

However, remote notarizations using wet ink signatures are currently authorized in Illinois under the Electronic Wills and Remote Witnesses Act. That law authorizes remote notarizations — using wet ink signatures and performed remotely through audio-video technology meeting the law’s requirements — on a temporary basis ending thirty days after the expiration of the Illinois Governor’s COVID-19 emergency declaration (which remains in effect as of this writing).

Once the Illinois Notary Public Act’s changes go into effect, both remote notarizations using wet ink and fully electronic remote notarizations will be permanently authorized in Illinois.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Illinois Notary Public Act, 5 ILCS 312/6A-103, subject to a delayed effective date as described above (“Electronic notarial acts. . . . (b) In performing an electronic notarization, an electronic notary public shall verify the identity of a person creating an electronic signature at the time that the signature is taken by using two-way audio and video conference technology that meets the requirements of this Act and rules adopted under this Article. . . .”)

• Illinois Notary Public Act, 5 ILCS 312/2-104, subject to a delayed effective date as described above (“‘Electronic notarial act’ means an act that an electronic notary public of this State is authorized to perform. . . .”)

• Illinois Notary Public Act, 5 ILCS 312/2-102(b), subject to a delayed effective date as described above (“Any notary appointed under subsection (a) shall have the authority to conduct remote notarizations.”)

• Illinois Notary Public Act, 5 ILCS 312/1-104, subject to a delayed effective date as described above (“‘Remote notarial act’ means a notarial act that is done by way of audio-video communication technology that allows for direct, contemporaneous interaction between the individual signing the document (the signatory) and the witness by sight and sound but that requires the notary public to use his or her physical stamp and seal to notarize the document without the aid of an electronic seal or signature.”)

• Public Act 102-160, Section 99 (“This Act takes effect on the later of: (1) January 1, 2022; or (2) the date on which the Office of the Secretary of State files with the Index Department of the Office of the Secretary of State a notice that the Office of the Secretary of State has adopted the rules necessary to implement this Act. . . .”)

• Illinois Secretary of State, Notice of Proposed Amendments, Notary Public Records, 46 Ill. Reg. 5800, 5874 (April 15, 2022)

• Electronic Wills and Remote Witnesses Act, 755 ILCS 6/15-20(b) (“Notwithstanding any provision of law or rule, effective March 26, 2020 and ending 30 days after the expiration of the Governor’s emergency declaration regarding COVID-19, a notarial act or an act of witnessing, including when a person must ‘appear before’, act ‘in the presence of’, or any variation thereof, may be performed through means of 2-way audio-video communication technology that allows for direct contemporaneous interaction by sight and sound between the individual signing the document, the witness, and the notary public.”)

• Electronic Wills and Remote Witnesses Act, 755 ILCS 6/15-20(d) (“An act of witnessing and the technology used in the audio-video communication shall substantially comply with the following process: . . . .”)