[guan]

At the very least, the question of whether out-of-state notarization must be accepted is disputed. Here’s a document on the FTC website by the National Notary Assocation, which states that “[b]ecause of the Full Faith and Credit clause of the U.S. Constitution, notarial acts performed by a Notary in one state have the same force and effect as if performed by a Notary in the respective state.”

http://www.ftc.gov/os/comments/factaidt/FBI%20Evid%20Memo1.p...

I couldn’t find any federal or other court decisions that state that a notarial act is not considered a “public act” under the Full Faith and Credit clause. Can you provide a citation?

Here’s testimony before a House of Representatives committee which states that out-of-state notarizations are often rejected, but usually for formalistic and not substantive reasons:

http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju26412.000/...

[rprasad]

It's tricky. A notarial act is not a "public act" under the Full Faith and Credit clause because Congress has not defined it as a public act for purposes of the Clause, nor has it set forth rules for proving the public act. (A public act for Constitutional purposes generally means an official act performed by an elected or appointed official, but this definition is expanded by statute to include actions performed by other persons acting in the capacity of the state.) Nonetheless, despite Congressional authorization, it is generally treated as a public act by most state and federal rules of evidence.

States still can and do reject out-of-state notarizations if it fails to satisfy procedural requirements for notarization in that state. Notarization is a formal process--it has very little actual substance--so this effectively swallows up the impact of the Full Faith and Credit Clause.