On line notary in the United States for a Thai person in Thailand

[thaisail]

The following is copied from pdffiller.com website under Notary service. My Thai wife must sign and have her signature notarized so that I can complete my retirement documents with my union in Florida. The union will send forms and my wife's signature must be notarized. The purpose of this form is so that upon my death, she will receive 100% of my annuity until she dies. Please can anyone tell me if there is a law that prevents Thai people from using an online service like the one offered on pdffiller.com ? It seems that the EU and UK have forbidden this service with recent digital on line legislation. But I wonder about Thailand...

 

1. Outside the United States. If when you access the Platform or request the Services you are physically located outside the United States, you confirm to us: (i) that it is not illegal or prohibited in the jurisdiction where you are physically located to access and use the Platform or to obtain Notarizations or other Services from us; and (ii) that the Document or Transaction pertains to a matter before a court, governmental entity, public official, or other entity located in the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or involves property located in the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or a transaction substantially connected with the United States.

 

[ubonjoe]

She could have the notarization done at the US embassy or the consulate in Chiang Mai.

"U.S. Consular Officers may provide specific notarial services authorized by relevant U.S. law and Department of State policy for all U.S. citizens. In addition, they can provide services for any person regardless of nationality so long as the document being notarized is required for use within the jurisdiction of the United States and is authorized by relevant U.S. law."

See: https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/notaries-public/

 

[thaisail]

19 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

She could have the notarization done at the US embassy or the consulate in Chiang Mai.

"U.S. Consular Officers may provide specific notarial services authorized by relevant U.S. law and Department of State policy for all U.S. citizens. In addition, they can provide services for any person regardless of nationality so long as the document being notarized is required for use within the jurisdiction of the United States and is authorized by relevant U.S. law."

See: https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/notaries-public/

 

The cost is minimum $50 for this service at the US consulate and you must scedule an appointment first with the consulate. After viewing the document to notarize, the officer can refuse to notarize the document for many different reasons and there will be no refund of the $50 fee which is just for the appointment.

 

Adding the fuel price for an 8 hour drive for our Ford Ranger plus a two night hotel stay, the cost will be very high.

 

Hotel:  750 baht per night

Fuel:    1000 km, 2000 baht

Notary: 1800

 

Total cost: 5300 baht

 

Is there no cheaper way to do this in Thailand?

 

What about this online service with pdffiller.com that uses notary.com as a 3rd party. They do the whole thing with a webcam  and a meeting with a legal office who is a licensed notary public in the US. 

 

I just heard that this service has been declared illegal by the UK and the EU but what about Thailand?

 

The document is just to authenticate the signature of my wife as beneficiary for my pension upon my death. 

 

[ubonjoe]

I suggested the embassy route since it is the only certain way I know of to get the notarization done and having it accepted.

I know little to nothing about the online notary.

People have had some things accepted that were notarized by a lawyer here.

[gamb00ler]

My wife and I just used an online Notary Public service based in Florida to complete a US real estate transaction (RE outside Florida).  The service was arranged by the escrow company.  My Thai wife also holds US citizenship and used her US passport to prove identity to the Notary Public via a video connection.  She could have just used her still valid US driver's license but couldn't find it quickly so we went with using the PP.  I used my US license.

 

We used a desktop computer with a webcam/microphone for the video connection.  Perhaps it could be accomplished with just a smartphone.  We had to hold our ID up to the camera for inspection.  The Notary said the entire video/audio would be recorded.

 

I don't know what the charge was for the service as the escrow company included it in their normal fee.

 

To use this service you will need:

- computing device with a camera and microphone

- solid internet connection

- US government issued ID or a currently valid passport (not sure if must be US issued)

- about 30 minutes for a RE transaction with several docs to be notarized

 

We never checked if there were any Thai laws applicable to this service.

 

Edited December 16, 2020 by gamb00ler
additional info

[thaisail]

31 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

My wife and I just used an online Notary Public service based in Florida to complete a US real estate transaction (RE outside Florida).  The service was arranged by the escrow company.  My Thai wife also holds US citizenship and used her US passport to prove identity to the Notary Public via a video connection.  She could have just used her still valid US driver's license but couldn't find it quickly so we went with using the PP.  I used my US license.

 

We used a desktop computer with a webcam/microphone for the video connection.  Perhaps it could be accomplished with just a smartphone.  We had to hold our ID up to the camera for inspection.  The Notary said the entire video/audio would be recorded.

 

I don't know what the charge was for the service as the escrow company included it in their normal fee.

 

To use this service you will need:

- computing device with a camera and microphone

- solid internet connection

- US government issued ID or a currently valid passport (not sure if must be US issued)

- about 30 minutes for a RE transaction with several docs to be notarized

 

We never checked if there were any Thai laws applicable to this service.

 

My Thai wife was working in Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands for 5 years from 2001 to 2005. She has a US social Securty card and even got her $1200 stimulus check. But she never applied for or received a green card and has only a Thai Passport and Thai ID card to identify herself. I am not sure that a Florida based notary will be able to identify her from her Thai Passport or Thai ID card. Do you think you could find out the name of the notary and the town in Florida? It will be free to call them and may avoid the long drive to Chiang Mai to go to the US consulate.