Virginia Notary Acknowledgment: Free Fillable Form, Wording & Venue Rules

This content is educational and informational, not legal advice. The requirements reflect Title 47.1 of the Code of Virginia, particularly sections 47.1-2, 47.1-8 and 47.1-16, but the law can change. Confirm current requirements with the Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth before relying on this.

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Fillable Virginia acknowledgment certificate

Choose whether the act took place in a county or an independent city, enter the details, and the certificate updates live with wording that satisfies the Virginia requirements. Copy or print it, then attach it to your document.

What is the usual Virginia acknowledgment wording?

Virginia certificates commonly use the form below, which carries the date, the venue, the signer, and the notary's registration number and expiration date.

What must every Virginia notarization include?

Section 47.1-16 requires every notarization to include the date the notarial act was performed and the county or city and state in which it was performed. The act must also be evidenced by a notarial certificate signed in a manner that attributes the signature to the notary named on the commission. Leave the date out and the certificate is defective on its face, regardless of how complete the rest looks. For an electronic notarial certificate, Virginia adds two more items: the county or city within the Commonwealth where the electronic notary was physically located, and a statement of whether the act was done in person or by remote online notarization.

Why does the Virginia venue say "county or city"?

Because Virginia has independent cities that belong to no county, so an act performed in one names the city instead of a county. Virginia has more independent cities than any other state, including Richmond, Alexandria, Virginia Beach, and Roanoke, and each sits outside the county that surrounds it. Writing "Fairfax County" for an act performed in the City of Fairfax names a different jurisdiction, and a circuit court clerk will notice. Check whether your location is the county or the city before completing the venue.

What does a Virginia acknowledgment actually certify?

Virginia defines the act tightly: the individual must, at a single time and place, appear in person and present the document, be personally known to the notary or identified through satisfactory evidence, and indicate that the signature was voluntarily affixed for the purposes stated in the document. The phrase "at a single time and place" rules out splitting the steps across two visits or two locations. If the signer is acting in a representative capacity, they also indicate they had due authority to sign in that capacity. Every element has to happen in that one encounter.

What must a Virginia notary seal contain?

A Virginia notary's seal must be photographically reproducible and contain the notary's name exactly as it appears on the commission, along with the words "Notary Public" and "Commonwealth of Virginia." Photographic reproducibility matters because Virginia documents are routinely scanned into land records, and a seal that will not copy cleanly causes rejections. The commission itself carries a registration number issued when the Secretary of the Commonwealth prepares it, and it is forwarded to the clerk of the circuit court where the applicant elects to qualify and take the oath. Fees are capped at ten dollars for a paper acknowledgment and twenty-five for an electronic one.

Published June 13, 2026 by the Trámites Notariales US editorial team. Sources: Code of Virginia Title 47.1, sections 47.1-2, 47.1-8, 47.1-12, 47.1-16 and 47.1-19 (Virginia Law Portal); the Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth notary commissions guidance. Confirm current requirements before relying on this.