Getting an I-9 Notarized

Normally the I-9 doesn't require notarization - instead you sign it under penalty of perjury.

So if they want yours notarized, the place to do that must be on an added form. Most notaries have those forms, and can attach one to the I-9.

It NEVER requires an notarization. Period. End of discussion. What happens most times is that I am trying to get a remote job and the employer doesn't want to wait to get the forms filled out until I start to so they go to a notary who will look at your paperwork to make sure you are indeed able to work in the US. Just like the HR department would do face to face. But you don't need a notary just a Authorized Rep who can be just about anybody that the company wants it to be. They are attesting on the part of the company that they have laid eyeballs on the proper number and types of paper. Nothing more, nothing less.

Most notaries should not come with 100 miles of an I-9. From the Notaries national association website: "Many employers ask notaries serving as their Authorized Representative to affix their notarial seal to the certification section of the Form I-9. Never do this: the Form I-9 does not require an authorized notarial act of any kind, for either the employee's execution of the document or the Authorized Representative's." "Realize that if you agree to serve as an employer's Authorized Representative, you are NOT serving as a notary in any capacity. The Form I-9 does NOT require a notarial act, therefore you must NOT affix your notarial seal impression on it. You are signing the form in the capacity of Authorized Representative of the verifying employer, so we recommend that you indicate "Authorized Representative" as your title, not "Notary Public." "Since Authorized Representatives are designated by the verifying employer, we also feel that ideally, such designation should come to you straight from the verifying employer, through direct verbal or written communications. It is less than ideal for the employee who is the subject of the Form I-9 to come to you because he's been "told to find a notary." Bottom line: if you have any doubts at all that you have been designated by the verifying employer to serve as an Authorized Representative, then decline to perform the service."

Fascinating reading

Thanks, Kurt. That's interesting and very important information.

I found similar advice here. The notary is not acting as a notary, and the employer, not the employee, should engage the notary to act as its agent.