Frequently asked questions

notarity is a software company based in Vienna, Austria. We develop a platform for online notarial services (remote online notarisation). You can use notarity to have signatures on documents notarised or notarial deeds drawn up, at any time and from anywhere. The notarisation itself is carried out by licensed partner notaries who work via notarity.

No. notarity is a software provider, not a notary's office. Online notarisations and notarial deeds are carried out by partner notaries who use the notarity platform. No notaries work at notarity itself, and notarity does not provide legal services.

notarity is a technology company based in Vienna, Austria. The team brings together experts in law, software development and business. To provide the service, notarity works with partner notaries. notarity itself does not offer any services reserved for notaries.

notarity works with a network of licensed partner notaries from various European countries, who are experienced in digital notarisation. Which notary handles your appointment depends on the destination country you select during booking. The receiving country does not require a local notary: the apostille makes the document internationally valid.

No. notarity is not related to the Austrian Chamber of Notaries. It is a private company operated by notarity GmbH.

You choose the service you need, book an appointment and upload your documents. Before the appointment, you complete a short identity verification. At the agreed time, you join a secure video call with a partner notary, who identifies you again and guides you through signing. You sign electronically, in compliance with eIDAS, with a signature issued to you during identity verification, so you don't need one in advance. The notary then notarises your signature, and the documents are available for download on the platform shortly afterwards. If you need the document abroad, an apostille and physical hard copies can be arranged as well.

Yes. You can add multiple signers during booking. Each signer receives their own email with instructions and joins the same appointment, wherever they are. The notarisation is charged per document, not per signer.

Partner notaries offer a wide range of services, including signature notarisation, powers of attorney, corporate documents, affidavits, certifications of facts and certified copies of IDs and passports. If a document can legally be notarised by a notary, the appointment can generally take place fully online.

The signature notarisation itself usually takes no more than 5 minutes. Identity verification takes about 5 to 10 minutes and can be completed at any time before the appointment. Appointments are often available on short notice.

Yes, please upload them in advance in the appointment details, so the notary can review and prepare them. You can still replace or edit documents up until the appointment.

Yes. You can use notarity from anywhere and at any time. There are no geographical restrictions on where you join the appointment from.

Your identity is verified in two stages. Before the appointment, you verify yourself online, either with an electronic ID (e.g. ID Austria) or via video identification with a valid passport or EU identity card. During the appointment, the notary identifies you again; you just follow their instructions and don't need to prepare anything.

notarity can onboard citizens from over 100 countries for online notarial appointments. Restrictions depend on the identity documents accepted for verification. See the overview of supported countries and identity documents.

You sign the document electronically during the video appointment, in compliance with eIDAS, and the signature is securely encrypted. You can choose how your signature looks, for example by uploading an image of your handwritten signature or selecting a generated style. Once you sign, the notary notarises your signature and finalises the document.

Yes. During setup, click "I have activated the app" twice to continue. After the video identification, you set a signature password and confirm each signature with a one-time SMS code. Please remember your password, as it cannot be reset.

In most cases, the notarised documents, including an apostille if ordered, are available for download within minutes after the appointment. You will receive an email with a download link as soon as they are ready. For some jurisdictions, such as Austria or the UK, processing can take up to 24 hours. If more than 30 minutes have passed and your documents are still not available, please contact [email protected].

Yes. The digital documents, signed electronically in compliance with eIDAS, are the originals. On request, the notary can also issue a hard copy with wet-ink signature, stamp and seal, sent to any address worldwide. This costs EUR 60 per document including standard shipping (approx. 3–5 working days within Europe), plus EUR 60 per shipment for optional express courier (approx. 1–2 working days within Europe). You can order a hard copy during booking or after the appointment. Prices include 20% VAT. These are our international prices. For Austria, prices are different and set by the notary.

No. For a signature notarisation, the notary certifies your signature, not the content, so the document can be in any language, and electronic copies are fine. If the recipient needs a translation, you can order one through our partner Translayte at translate.notarity.com; the price depends on length and language pair. Note that the notary notarises exactly the version you sign in the appointment, so if the signed version should be the translated one, translate first and sign afterwards.

Yes. Partner notaries can draft the documents for you and advise you on what you need. Drafting a document costs EUR 480 (incl. taxes). This is our international price. For Austria, prices are different and set by the notary. notarity itself does not draft documents.

No. Once a document has been notarised, it cannot be changed. If it needs to be corrected, a new appointment must be booked so the corrected document can be notarised again.

Online notarisation is legally permitted in many countries worldwide. The notarisation is carried out by a licensed partner notary, and documents are signed electronically, in compliance with eIDAS. The platform is hosted in EU data centres on ISO 27001-certified infrastructure, data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest (AES-256), and access is protected with multi-factor authentication and strict access controls. If you are unsure whether your document can be notarised online, contact our support team.

Documents notarised via notarity can be used almost anywhere in the world. With an apostille, they are generally recognised in the 120+ contracting states of the Hague Apostille Convention. For other countries, embassy legalisation may be required. As requirements differ, please check with the recipient of the document what they need; we cannot guarantee acceptance by every authority.

Always select the destination country, meaning the country where the document will be used. Your citizenship or place of residence does not affect this choice. The destination country determines which notary is assigned: if you select the United Kingdom, for example, a UK notary will carry out the notarisation with a UK notarial certificate and seal.

Yes. When you book an appointment, notarity matches you with a suitable partner notary from its network, usually within 24 hours and often on much shorter notice. You can also work with a notary you already know. There is no fee for being matched with a partner notary, and no obligation to proceed.

Yes, free of charge. Log in at app.notarity.com, open your appointment (you may need to accept it first) and click "Reschedule appointment" in the appointment details. There is no need to cancel first.

Please check your spam folder first. If the email isn't there, click "Resend verification email"; in most cases, the code arrives within a few seconds.

The notarity platform is hosted in data centres in the European Union, on ISO 27001-certified infrastructure. Where individual subcontractors process data outside the EU, they do so only in compliance with the GDPR's requirements for international data transfers.

Only employees who need it for their role. Access is role-based, protected with multi-factor authentication, reviewed regularly and logged.

Data is encrypted in transit with TLS and at rest with AES-256. Access requires multi-factor authentication and is role-based, and all access to personal data is logged. Firewalls, intrusion detection, endpoint protection and real-time monitoring protect the systems, which are patched and scanned for vulnerabilities regularly. Encrypted backups and tested disaster recovery plans keep data available.

notarity has a documented incident response plan that sets out roles, responsibilities and procedures. In case of a data breach, affected individuals and the regulatory authorities are notified promptly, as required by the GDPR.

Personal data is only kept for as long as necessary, in line with the GDPR. Details are in our privacy policy.

Your signature via the Swisscom Mobile ID app is linked to your smartphone, but you can transfer it to a new device. Log in at mobileid.ch, generate a recovery code, then choose "Activate Mobile ID" and enter the code. Scan the QR code shown with the Mobile ID app on your new phone. Important: if you delete or reinstall the app without using your recovery code, your signature becomes invalid.