Remote ink notarization vs RON

Remote ink notarization (RIN) is a remote session with a paper document. The signer signs in ink while you watch on a recorded call, signs a declaration that ties the paper to the call, and posts both to you; you complete the certificate when they arrive. It is not a separate commission: where it exists, it is a route inside the state's remote-notarization statute, with deadlines counted in days. The full-RON side, platform by platform, is under RON platforms.

Checked 2026-10-23

Fig. 1

The paper stays with the signer during the call; the recording is your evidence until it arrives.

One Texas remote ink act, by the statute's days

Day 0On the recorded call, the signer signs the paper and the declaration while you watch.Signer, on camera
By day 3The signer sends you the signed paper and declaration.Signer
By day 10The paper reaches you.Carrier, then you
On receiptYou complete the certificate with the witnessed-by-video statement. The act dates from day 0.You

Tex. Gov't Code § 406.1103

Two statutes, one procedure

Neither state created a separate “remote ink” commission. Both wrote the paper route into the remote-notarization statute you already work under, so the session is a normal remote session: the same identity checks, the same recording. What changes is the signature, the timing of your certificate and a declaration that ties the paper you later hold to the call you recorded.

Remote ink procedure in Texas and Maryland
	Texas	Maryland
What the signer signs on camera	The paper document and a declaration under penalty of perjury, part of or attached to it	The paper record and a declaration under penalty of perjury, part of or attached to it
Signer sends the paper	No later than the third day after the session	No later than 3 days after the act
You must receive it	No later than the 10th day after the session	No receipt deadline in the subsection
Your certificate	Executed after the paper arrives, with the “I witnessed … by means of video and audio conference technology” statement	Executed after the paper arrives, with the “I witnessed, by means of communication technology” statement
The act is effective	On the date the signer signed the declaration	On the date the signer signed the declaration
Another procedure allowed	Yes, the statutory one is not the only way	Yes, the statutory one is not the only way
Paper already in front of you	Not addressed in § 406.1103	You may take the acknowledgment if the signer is shown and identifies the record on the recording

Tex. Gov't Code § 406.1103 Md. Code, State Gov't § 18-214(b)-(f) read 2026-10-23

“I, (name of online notary public), witnessed, by means of video and audio conference technology, (name of principal) sign the attached document and declaration on (date).”

Tex. Gov't Code § 406.1103(b)(3)(C) read 2026-10-23

The declaration is the piece that makes it work. The signer swears that the paper is the same one they signed on the call; you watch them sign both, and the recording shows it. When the envelope arrives you are checking that the paper and declaration match what you saw, not notarizing something new.

Ink and electronic, from your side

From your side of the call, a remote ink act differs from an electronic remote act in five places:

The signature. Ink on paper at the signer's end, not an e-signature on the platform.
Your seal. In Texas, the certificate on a paper document carries your seal of office; your electronic seal is for electronic documents (§ 406.109).
The certificate. In Texas it notes that the act was online and whether the signature was a tangible symbol or an electronic one (§ 406.110(d)); every state's remote line is in remote certificate wording by state.
The wait. You finish the act days later, when the paper arrives, so the file stays open in your journal until then.
Your records. Texas has you keep a record of every tangible-symbol online notarization with the same elements as an electronic one (§ 406.108(d)); the recording is kept 5 years in Texas and 10 years in Maryland.

Everything else is RON: the platform still runs credential analysis and identity proofing and records the call. Ask a platform before you rely on it for ink: some sessions are built around signing inside the platform, and you need one that lets you record a paper signing and attach the declaration. Platforms are compared in RON platforms for solo notaries, and the Texas path is in Texas online notary requirements.

Art Deco illustration of a folded ruled document beside a half-closed laptop — The session ends before the act does: the certificate waits for the paper.

When ink is the right call

Ink is the fallback when the receiving end wants paper: a county recorder, or a lender or other party whose process still runs on originals. It costs you days and a courier, and the document is not finished until it is back on your desk. Where the receiving party accepts an electronic original, a fully electronic remote act is faster for everyone. For mortgage work, ask the lender and title company first; the industry standards they follow are in MISMO RON standards, and a signer abroad is covered in signers outside the US.

Other states

We have read the remote-ink procedure in two statutes. Other states may have similar wording in their remote notarization law, or none. Washington's next version of its remote statute adds procedures for tangible records from January 1, 2027 (RCW 42.45.280). For any other state, check your state's current rule before you agree to a paper signing on video. The rows every state applies to remote acts are explained in what state rules ask of a RON platform.

Questions notaries ask

Is remote ink notarization legal?

Where the state's remote-notarization statute provides for it. Texas (Tex. Gov't Code § 406.1103) and Maryland (State Gov't § 18-214) both set a procedure for a paper document signed on a recorded video call. Check your own state's current rule.

When is a remote ink notarization effective?

In both Texas and Maryland, on the date the signer signed the declaration during the recorded session, even though you complete the certificate after the paper arrives.

How long does the signer have to send the paper back?

In Texas and Maryland, no later than the third day after the session. Texas also says you must receive it no later than the 10th day.

Do I still need a RON platform for remote ink?

Yes, in the states we read: it is a remote notarization with a paper signature, so the identity checks and the recording still apply.