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Witnesses
A witness watches. A signatory signs.
If the person you are about to add has to put their signature on the document, they are not a witness — they are a signatory, and adding them here would be wrong.
A witness attests that they saw somebody else sign, and takes on no obligation under the document. A signatory executes it. Name a co-owner, a co-director or a fellow party as a witness and the notarial certificate will say a witness attested a deed that a party in fact executed.
Add signatories at step 2 of booking, or from the booking afterwards. Come back here only for people who are watching.
Some documents need a witness present when you sign. NotariseIt lets you add up to three witnesses to a session, and verifies each of them before the session begins so the notary is not left checking identities on the call.
Adding witnesses
Witnesses are added at Step 3 of the booking wizard, after your documents.
- Enter each witness's full name, email address and mobile number. All three are needed: the invitation goes to their inbox and the code that lets them into the session is texted to their handset, so a witness has to have their own of each. They cannot share yours.
- Add up to three. Leave the step empty if your document does not need one.
- Continue with the booking as normal.
Each witness adds a small fee
A witness is verified before the session and joins the call, so each one adds a per-person fee to your total. The rate is set on the platform and can change, so it is not printed here — the booking screen shows the current amount and your total updates as you add or remove witnesses, before you pay.
Does your document need a witness?
That depends on the document and the jurisdiction it will be used in, not on NotariseIt. If you are unsure, ask the Help Bot or check with whoever asked you for the notarised document. Adding a witness who is not required does no harm; missing one that is required can invalidate the document.
What happens next
Each witness receives an email invitation with a private link to their own portal, sent once your payment settles. They do not need a NotariseIt account.
Through that link, before the session, each witness:
- Confirms who they are and which session they are attending.
- Verifies their identity — instantly, using their NIN, BVN, voter's card, passport or driver's licence. Uploading a photo of an ID is available as a fallback if none of those work.
The whole thing takes a couple of minutes and works on a phone. Your witnesses do not need a NotariseIt account.
Point your witnesses at their own guide
There is a witness guide written for them rather than for you — what being a witness means, what they will be asked for, how to prepare, and what happens to their ID afterwards. It is linked from their invitation email, and worth mentioning if someone asks you what they have been signed up for.
Every witness you added appears on the booking in Dashboard → Appointments with their current state, so you can see the flow actually happening:
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Invited — awaiting their ID | The invitation has been emailed. Nothing more for you to do. |
| ID uploaded — awaiting check | They have submitted their document; verification is running. |
| Verified | Done. They can be admitted to the session. |
| Invitation not sent | The email did not go out. Tell your notary — they can resend it. |
Check this a day or two before the session
A witness who has not verified can hold up the start of your session while the notary checks their identity on the call. The state above is the earliest place you will see a problem, and there is time to fix it.
Witnesses should complete this early
A witness who arrives at the session unverified may not be able to take part, and the notary cannot proceed with a witnessed act without them. Send the invitations as soon as you book, and check their status before the day.
Checking witness status
Open the appointment from Dashboard → Appointments. Each witness is listed with their verification progress, so you can see at a glance who is ready and who still needs to act.
If a witness has not started, you can resend their invitation from the same place.
During the session
Verified witnesses join the same video room as you and your notary. The notary confirms each witness on the record, and their participation is captured in the session audit trail alongside everything else that happened.
If a witness cannot attend
Cancel the appointment from Dashboard → Appointments and book a new time — there is no reschedule, and the normal cancellation policy applies to the cancellation. A session that legally requires a witness cannot go ahead without one, so it is better to move the booking than to arrive without them.