How to become a notary: fees, bond and term in your state

The path to a commission, step by step

A notary is not licensed by a professional board but commissioned by a state officer, usually the Secretary of State. Washington runs its program through the Department of Licensing, Utah through the Lieutenant Governor's office and New Jersey through the Department of the Treasury. The sequence is short in most states: meet the residency or employment rule, complete the course and pass the exam where the state requires them, file the application with its fee, then take the oath and, in bonded states, file the bond. Only after that last step does the commission take effect.

The oath step has its own deadline, and missing it voids the appointment in several states. California gives new notaries thirty calendar days from the start of the term to file the oath and bond with the county clerk. Pennsylvania allows forty-five days to execute the bond, register the signature and record everything with the recorder of deeds. Virginia invalidates a commission not claimed at the Circuit Court within sixty days, and New Jersey voids one if the oath is not taken before the county clerk within three months.

What the state fees cover

In several states the bill is a single line. Minnesota charges $120 for the commission application and Connecticut $120, which already includes the exam taken inside the online application. Colorado asks only $10, and its training and exam are free through the Secretary of State's online course. Other states split the charge between the state and the county: Maryland bills $25 to apply, then the Clerk of the Circuit Court collects $10 for the commission plus a registration fee; Virginia adds $10 at the Circuit Court clerk to its $45 application; North Carolina $10 at the Register of Deeds.

Louisiana sits at the top for a reason. An applicant who is not an attorney pays $35 for the Application to Qualify, $30 for a mandatory exam pre-assessment, $100 to register for the state exam and $35 to file the commission documents, $200 in all. The exam is given regionally at least twice a year, and no out-of-state commission lets you skip it.

Course and exam: where they are required

California asks for the longest course: 6 hours of approved study before the first appointment, then a written exam whose sitting is covered by the $40 application; a retake costs $20. Florida requires 3 hours of instruction within a year before applying but no state exam. Pennsylvania wants a 3-hour course within six months before every application, and first-time applicants also take a Pearson VUE exam at $65 per test. New York and Utah test without any course: $15 for the New York written exam, $40 for the Utah online exam. New Jersey's online exam can cost up to $15, and Oregon's mandatory training is free. Colorado, Maryland, North Carolina and Oregon all require training followed by an exam without printing a length in hours; in North Carolina the course is taught at a community college or university, and in Maryland by an authorized provider.

At the other end, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Kentucky and Washington set no education or exam requirement for a new notary, although Washington's licensing department strongly urges a class. Virginia belongs to that group in 2026, but legislation adds a mandatory course and written exam for applications from July 1, 2027. Private courses beyond these rules are optional, and no state sets their price.

The surety bond is coverage, not a fee

A bond protects the public against a notary's mistakes; it does not protect the notary. The law fixes the amount of coverage, and you buy the bond from a surety company, which charges a premium based on its own rates. That premium is not published by any state, so the totals on this site leave it out. Bond amounts vary more than fees do. Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina and Virginia require no bond in the records read.

Term, renewal and moving states

A commission lasts 4 years or more: 12 of the states priced here use a four-year term, Connecticut and Minnesota five, and South Carolina 10. Renewal is cheaper in some states, Connecticut charging $60 instead of the first fee, and more demanding in others: California asks for a three-hour refresher course and Pennsylvania the same 3 hours as the first course. Florida has no automatic reappointment, so each new commission goes through the full application. A commission is valid only in the state that issued it, and most states require residence or a place of work there; Louisiana and California accept no out-of-state commission in place of their own exam. The renewal page compares what keeping each license costs over time.