This question produces confident wrong answers in both directions, because both halves of the truth sound like they contradict each other. They don't.
Half one: you can do it today
A Californian can lawfully have many documents notarized online right now, by a notary commissioned in a state where remote online notarization is authorized — and California recognizes those acts. The notary appears on your screen, commissioned somewhere like Texas or Colorado, working under their own state's law and charging under their own state's fee rules.
Online Notarization
California signers may use online notaries commissioned in other states.
California's own remote online notarization won't operate until the Secretary of State certifies its technology. Until then, online notarizations performed by notaries in other states are recognized here.
§Cal. Gov. Code §8232.1Cross-checked · 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook
That answers the follow-up question: what does it cost? Whatever the notary's state says, not what California says. Our state calculators show exactly how differently they price it.
Half two: California notaries can't do it yet
A California-commissioned notary cannot perform online notarizations until the Secretary of State certifies the state's technology project. That certification hasn't happened, so there is no such thing today as a California online notarization, and anyone advertising one is describing something that doesn't exist.
Whether a specific document of yours is suited to online notarization at all can involve requirements from whoever's receiving it, which is a question for them or a lawyer, not for us.
What this means when you're choosing
If your document works online and speed matters, an out-of-state online notary is a legitimate option today. If your situation needs someone physically present, or the receiving party insists on it, a California mobile notary comes to you, and the familiar in-person rules apply.
Neither option is more official than the other. They're two lawful paths priced by two different states' rules, and now you know which rulebook applies to which.
NotaryOT is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Notaries public are not attorneys and cannot advise on immigration or other legal matters. Each California legal claim in this post carries its citation and was cross-checked against the source named on its card: 2026 CA Notary Public Handbook.