How an online notary appointment works

With online notarial deeds on the notarity platform, the effort involved in notarial certifications and notarial deeds has been reduced from several weeks to a few minutes. Below, we explain how an online notary appointment works. We also cover security and validity, and the advantages it brings.

How does an online notary appointment via notarity work?

A digital notary appointment takes place live via video conference with a partner notary. During the call, you can sign the documents with a qualified electronic signature.

1. Identity verification

   Your identity must be verified before your digital appointment. One way to verify your identity is a video identification procedure. You can find out more about verifying your identity by video identification here.

   Alternatively, you can use an electronic ID (eID). Examples of electronic IDs are ID Austria, electronic German identity cards and electronic Estonian ID cards.

   During this verification, you are also issued a qualified electronic signature that you can use to sign during the online notary appointment. You do not need to have an electronic signature beforehand.

   Learn more about qualified electronic signatures here.

   During the appointment, the notary will always carry out their own identification of the parties as well. Please have your ID document ready for this.

2. Appointment invitation

   When your preferred notary invites you to a digital notary appointment on notarity, or when you book an appointment directly via notarity, you will receive an appointment confirmation within a few minutes. You will then receive an invitation to the notarity platform, which is also sent to you by email. To take part in online notary appointments, you need to accept the invitation. You can then view the appointment details and upload the documents to be dealt with during the appointment.

3. Online notary appointment and signature

   At the time of the appointment, simply click the “Join appointment” button in the appointment details on the notarity platform. You will then be connected with your notary in a video conference. Your notary will verify your identity and then guide you through the rest of the appointment, instructing you to sign the relevant documents digitally.

   You can join the video conference from any device, including your mobile phone or tablet. The video conference starts in your browser, so you do not need to download any additional software.

   The notary appointment only takes a few minutes. For example, an appointment for a signature certification usually takes less than two minutes.

4. Download your documents

   The certified documents are then available for download.

Legal basis for online notary appointments

Since the Austrian Electronic Notarial Form Formation Act (Elektronisches Notariatsform-Gründungsgesetz, ENG) came into force, it has been possible to execute an electronic notarial deed using electronic telecommunication. This builds on the existing option of executing an electronic notarial deed and the associated requirements. The exact requirements and conditions, in particular the specific form requirements for the notarial deed, are set out in the new Section 69b NO.¹

Everyone who signs an electronic notarial deed must use electronic signatures in accordance with Article 3 (10) of the eIDAS Regulation.²

Is an online notary appointment secure?

Yes, online notary appointments are secure. Qualified electronic signatures (QES) are far harder to forge than handwritten signatures. A QES can only ever be triggered using two factors. The QES also protects the signed document against subsequent manipulation.

Special legal measures are required to ensure the identity of the people involved.

Section 69 (2) NO deals with the special measures required to reliably check and establish a person’s identity, especially given that the party is only connected via a qualified video conference. Particular care must be taken to account for the potentially increased risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.³

In addition, the notary must establish identity either using an official photo ID in a video-based electronic procedure, or using a procedure provided for by law that provides the same information as presenting an official photo ID (electronic ID).⁴

Finally, the ultimate obligation to identify the parties always remains with the notary executing the deed. The notary will therefore establish the identity of the parties again during the appointment.

Advantages of an online notary appointment

The advantages of an online notary appointment are obvious. For one thing, you save yourself the trip to the notary: you can simply reach them via the notarity platform in an online appointment. Online notary appointments are especially useful when several people from different countries need to be present at the same time. There is no need to travel long distances by plane, train or car, which saves you a lot of time, money and fuel.

Interested? Send us a non-binding enquiry here for more information.

Footnotes

1. Feltl/Aicher in Straube/Ratka/Rauter, WK GmbHG § 4, Rz 50. ↩

2. Section 68 (1) (g) NO ↩

3. Section 36b (2) NO in conjunction with Annex III of the Financial Markets Anti-Money Laundering Act (FM-GwG). ↩

4. Cf. explanatory notes to the government bill on the ENG; Feltl/Aicher in Straube/Ratka/Rauter, WK GmbHG § 4, Rz 58. ↩