U.S. property · British Columbia

Closing on U.S. property from Canada

Your title or escrow company has sent documents to sign, and you live in B.C. Find out first whether you can sign online. If you can't, here is every in-person option — ours included.

01

What a “wet-ink” signing is

The traditional kind: the documents are printed, you sign them with a pen in front of a notary, the notary applies a physical seal, and the paper originals go back to the title or escrow company by courier.

“Wet-ink state” is industry shorthand, not a legal category. People use it for closings that cannot be done electronically. Whether yours can is decided by your lender, your title or escrow company and the county where the deed is recorded — and their signing instructions will tell you.

Why a closing ends up in ink

The state's notary law

Most states now allow remote online notarization (RON), but not all of them. In Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina, notaries could not notarize remotely at all when we last checked.

Source: Andrii Co. apostille handbook — Georgia, Andrii Co. apostille handbook — Mississippi, Andrii Co. apostille handbook — South Carolina · checked August 9, 2026

The county recorder

Not every recording office accepts electronic documents. The Property Records Industry Association counts 2,738 that do, and there are roughly 3,600 in the country — so in some counties the deed or mortgage is still recorded on paper.

Source: Property Records Industry Association (PRIA), American Land Title Association (ALTA), 2019 · checked September 28, 2026

The lender or title insurer

A lender or title insurer can require paper originals with ink signatures for some or all documents, whatever the state and county would allow.

Your identity check

Remote notarization platforms usually verify you with questions drawn from U.S. credit records. Proof, for example, asks for the last four digits of a U.S. Social Security number or ITIN and about six months of U.S. credit history — and tells signers without them to ask for an in-person notarization.

Source: Proof help centre — Knowledge-Based Authentication · checked September 28, 2026

If your signing instructions say “wet signatures” or “ink signatures required”, you need a notary in person: the options below. If they allow e-signing or RON and you can pass the identity check, ask the title company about that first — you may not need to travel at all.

02

Your options from B.C.

Ask your title or escrow officer which of these they accept before you book anything.

Sign online through the title company

If your file allows remote online notarization, the title company arranges a video session with a U.S. notary and you sign from home.

Good fit when the signing instructions allow RON and you have the U.S. credit history the identity check needs.

Source: Proof help centre — Knowledge-Based Authentication · checked September 28, 2026

The U.S. Consulate General in Vancouver

Consular officers notarize documents for use in the United States, for U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike, by appointment only. Their list includes real-estate documents such as grant and warranty deeds and closing affidavits.

The fee is US$50 per consular seal, and a package can need several. Consulate staff cannot act as witnesses, so bring your own if a document needs one. The consulate itself notes that notaries in any U.S. state may have more availability in urgent cases.

Good fit when your title company accepts a consular notarization and an appointment fits your sign-by date.

Source: U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Canada — Notarial services, U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Canada — Consular services · checked September 28, 2026

A notary or lawyer in B.C.

Ask your title company whether it accepts a signature notarized in Canada, and whether it wants an apostille on top. If it does, a B.C. lawyer or notary can do it without a trip across the border.

Good fit when the title company confirms in writing that it accepts a Canadian notarization.

A notary in Washington State

That's us

We meet you at Peace Arch Park, where no U.S. visa or border crossing is needed, or in Blaine, Lynden, Sumas or Bellingham, or anywhere in Washington. Park meetings run on scheduled days and depend on the weather — see the park guide.

You sign the package in ink, we notarize it with a physical seal, scan it back the same day and courier the originals as the instructions say.

Good fit when the instructions require ink signatures, or your sign-by date is close.

03

Questions for your title or escrow officer

Their answers decide which option works for you:

  • Can I sign electronically, or by remote online notarization? If so, what identity check does the platform use?
  • If it has to be ink: will you accept a notarization by the U.S. Consulate in Vancouver? By a Canadian notary, and with or without an apostille?
  • Do you assign the notary, or may I choose one?
  • What is the sign-by date, and how should the originals come back to you?
04

Signing with us

The same routine on every file, whether the package comes from you or straight from escrow:

  1. 01Your title or escrow company emails the package and signing instructions to notary@andrii.co, or assigns the signing to us through its signing platform.
  2. 02We confirm a time and place inside your sign-by date: Peace Arch Park, a Whatcom County border town, or anywhere in Washington.
  3. 03We check your government-issued ID; you sign in black ink, exactly as your name appears on the documents; we notarize with a physical seal.
  4. 04We scan the signed package back the same day.
  5. 05The originals go back by courier, as the distribution instructions say, and you keep your copy set.

We witness and notarize; we do not advise. Questions about your loan, the contract or taxes go to your lender, your escrow officer or your lawyer.

05

Price

Signing package

US$150 flat for a purchase, sale, refinance or HELOC package.

Travel

From US$75 for a mobile appointment, on top of the signing fee.

Billed to escrow

When your title or escrow company assigns the signing, our fee can go on your settlement statement and be paid at closing.

Paying directly? Cards, PayPal, Venmo and Interac e-Transfer (in Canadian dollars) are all accepted.

06

Common questions

Can a Washington notary notarize documents for property in another state?

Yes. Title companies routinely assign a signing to a notary where the signer is, and we have closed packages for property in Hawaii, California and other states without the signer leaving the Pacific Northwest.

Do I need a U.S. visa?

Not to meet at Peace Arch Park: the park spans the border, and you stay in the park. To meet in Blaine or anywhere else in Washington, you have to be admissible to the United States. Border rules are set by the border agencies, not by us.

Is this remote online notarization?

No. Every signing on this page is in person, in ink, with a physical seal. If your title company offers RON and you can pass its identity check, that may be the easier choice.

Can you prepare or explain the documents for me?

I am not an attorney licensed to practice law in this state. I am not allowed to draft legal records, give advice on legal matters, including immigration, or charge a fee for those activities.

Ready to close

Send the package. We'll find a time before your deadline.

Title and escrow officers: email the package and the signing instructions. Signers: call or email. We confirm the appointment the same business day.