How to Become a Notary in New York (2026)

Any New York resident who is at least 18 years old can apply to be commissioned as a notary public by the New York Department of State, and so can a non-resident who keeps an office or place of business somewhere in the state. By national standards the path is unusually short: New York requires no mandatory training course, no surety bond and no fingerprinting. You sit a $15 walk-in written exam, wait for a pass slip to arrive by mail, then file a $60 application online. The Department of State lists a processing time of 3 to 5 business days for a complete application, so the calendar is driven almost entirely by when you can get to an exam date and how quickly your results are mailed back — realistically a few weeks from first sitting to commission in hand.

Eligibility requirements

• Age. You must be at least 18. The online application asks the question directly.
• Residency. Executive Law §130 requires that you either be a resident of New York State or have an office or place of business in New York State. Notaries are commissioned in their county of residence. Attorneys admitted in New York who live out of state but maintain a New York law office are deemed residents of the county where that office sits; other non-residents with a New York business address may also be commissioned, and file their oath with the county clerk where the business is located.
• Character and education. The Secretary of State must be satisfied that you are of good moral character, have "the equivalent of a common school education," and are familiar with the duties and responsibilities of a notary public. No diploma, transcript or course certificate is collected.
• Criminal history. No person convicted of a crime in New York or any other state or territory may be appointed unless the Secretary makes a finding, consistent with Article 23-A of the Correction Law, that the conviction is not a bar. Felonies and certain misdemeanors are generally disqualifying, but an executive pardon, a certificate of relief from disabilities or a certificate of good conduct can reopen the door. Answering "yes" to the conviction question on the application triggers a request for supporting documents rather than an automatic denial.
• Language. There is no English-only requirement. The written exam is offered in Spanish, Haitian-Creole, Italian, Korean, Russian and Chinese in addition to English — tell a proctor when you arrive at the exam center. Note that a notary who advertises services in a language other than English must post the state-prescribed disclaimer that they are not an attorney.
• Incompatible offices. Sheriffs may hold no other office, and anyone previously removed as a New York City commissioner of deeds is barred from appointment as a notary.

Step by step

1. Check whether you are exempt from the exam. Attorneys admitted to practice in New York State, and Unified Court System court clerks appointed to their position after a civil service promotional examination in the court clerk series, are appointed without taking the notary exam. Separately, notaries designated by a county clerk under County Law §534 to notarize free of charge at the clerk's office are exempt from both the exam fee and the application fee. Everyone else tests. Cost: $0.
2. Study the official booklet — this is the whole curriculum. New York mandates no pre-licensing course and endorses no vendor. The Department of State says the exam covers license law and "general terms and information related to the duties and functions of a notary public, as outlined in the Notary Public License Law booklet." That booklet, published free by the Division of Licensing Services, is the single authoritative study source: Executive Law §§130–142-a, the Title 19 NYCRR Part 182 rules, the statutory fee schedule, and a glossary of terms such as acknowledgment, jurat, affiant and proof of execution. Cost: free download.
3. Sit the written exam with the Department of State. Exams are walk-in — there is no pre-registration, seats are limited and assigned first-come, first-served, and late arrivals are not admitted. Bring a current government-issued photo identification bearing your signature, your $15 fee (check or money order payable to the Department of State, or MasterCard/Visa — cash is not accepted), and two #2 pencils, which are not supplied at the site. Arrive at least 15 minutes before the start time. During 2026 the Department has run walk-in sittings in Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Carmel, Franklin Square, Hauppauge, New York City, Plattsburgh, Pomona, Rochester, Sanborn, Syracuse, Utica and White Plains; New York City uses a separate scheduling notice and has very limited seating. Cost: $15 per attempt.
4. Wait for your pass slip in the mail. Results are mailed, not posted online, and are reported only as passed or failed. If you fail you may retake the exam on any later date for another $15. A passing result is valid for two years from the date of the examination, so the application must be filed inside that window. Cost: $0.
5. Have your Oath of Office notarized. Complete Form DOS-2201 and swear it before any notary public. Sign by hand in ink — the Department rejects electronic signatures on this form — fill in the county box above your signature, and make sure the name and address match your application exactly. It must be uploaded as a single-page scanned PDF, not a photo. A New York notary may charge at most $2 to administer an oath, and many will do it for nothing. Cost: $0–$2.
6. File the application on NY Business Express. Create or log in to a personal NY.gov account and choose the commission type — traditional notary or electronic notary. Upload a copy, scan or photo of your passing exam slip and the scanned oath PDF, provide your Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number (or a written explanation if you have neither), answer the conviction question, and pay the $60 fee. Credit and debit cards are the only accepted online payment methods, and the fee is non-refundable. Internally that $60 is split into a $40 appointment fee and $20 for filing the oath of office. Cost: $60.
7. Skip the steps other states require. This is where New York saves you money. There is no surety bond, no fingerprinting or background-check appointment, no errors-and-omissions insurance mandate and no state-approved course. The Department screens applicants through the sworn conviction disclosure on the application itself. Cost: $0.
8. Receive your commission, ID card and county clerk filing. Once approved, the Department of State issues a notary public identification card showing your name, address, county and commission term. By the tenth day of the following month the Secretary of State transmits your commission, the original oath of office and your official signature — along with $20 apportioned from your fee — to the clerk of the county in which you reside. The county clerk indexes it, which is what lets members of the public later verify your official signature or obtain an authentication for a document heading out of state. Cost: $0, already covered by the $60.
9. Buy a journal; a stamp is optional. A record book is not optional — Part 182 requires every notary to keep contemporaneous records of each notarial act. A seal is a different story: New York law does not require notaries to use a seal at all. What Executive Law §137 does require is that beneath your signature, in black ink, you print, typewrite or stamp your name, the words "Notary Public State of New York," the county where you originally qualified and your commission expiration date. A rubber stamp is simply the convenient way to satisfy that. Cost: vendor-dependent; not a state fee.

What it costs in 2026

Item	Who you pay	Cost
Notary Public License Law booklet	NYS Department of State	Free download
Written examination (per attempt)	Department of State, at the exam site	$15
Notarizing your Oath of Office (DOS-2201)	Any New York notary	$0–$2
Commission application ($40 appointment + $20 oath filing)	Department of State via NY Business Express	$60
Surety bond	Not required in New York	$0
Fingerprints or background-check appointment	Not required in New York	$0
State-mandated training course	Not required in New York	$0
Official seal or stamp	Optional; private vendor	Varies
Journal or record book (required to keep)	Private vendor	Varies
Total in state fees, traditional commission	Department of State	$75

Attorneys and qualifying court clerks pay $60, because the $15 exam fee never applies to them, and county clerk designees under County Law §534 pay nothing at all. Several optional or later charges sit outside that total: electronic notary registration is a separate $60; a certificate of official character costs $1 from the Secretary of State plus $1 to file with a county clerk; a county clerk authentication certificate is $3; changing your name or address, or replacing a lost identification card, is $10 each, though the Department waives the change fee for a marital status change; and a returned check draws a $20 penalty. Renewal is another $60 every four years.

The New York notary exam

The exam is a one-hour, multiple-choice test administered directly by the Department of State — not by a third-party testing vendor — at scheduled walk-in sittings around the state. That structure is worth understanding before you plan your week: because there is no pre-registration and seats go first-come, first-served, a popular site can fill, and arriving even a few minutes after the start time means being turned away with nothing to show for the trip.

New York publishes no passing percentage and no pass rate. The Department of State's own exam notice is explicit: all results are reported as either passed or failed, and candidates do not receive a numerical score. Any specific cut score you find quoted on a third-party site is not something the state has confirmed. Nor does the Department publish how many candidates pass. Plan to know the material cold rather than aiming at a number.

The content maps tightly onto the License Law booklet. Expect questions on the statutory fee schedule ($2 per acknowledgment, per oath, per swearing a witness), the distinction between an acknowledgment and a jurat, the §137 signature block, disqualification for financial interest in a transaction, the prohibition on giving legal advice or drafting documents, and the definitions in the glossary. Reading the booklet once is rarely enough; the fee amounts and the acknowledgment-versus-affidavit distinction are the classic stumbling blocks. Drill them with a free New York notary practice test until the answers are automatic, then go sit the exam.

After you are commissioned

Your commission runs for a four-year term. Within that term, three duties matter most.

Journal and records

Every New York notary must keep records sufficient to document compliance, created contemporaneously with the act. Each entry must capture the date, approximate time and type of notarial act; the name and address of the person served; the number and type of services provided; the type of credential used to identify the signer, including the names of any identifying witnesses; and the verification procedure used. Records must be retained for at least ten years and be capable of being produced to the Secretary of State on request.

Seal and signature block

New York does not require a seal. It does require the §137 statement in black ink beneath your signature: your name, "Notary Public State of New York," the county of original qualification and your commission expiration date. If you have filed a certificate of official character in another county, add "Certificate filed … County." Notaries who are attorneys may substitute "Attorney and Counselor at Law." Notaries qualified in a New York City county must also affix their official number. Your maximum statutory fee stays at $2 for an oath, affirmation, acknowledgment, proof of execution or swearing a witness.

Renewal and changes

Reappointment costs $60 and is filed through your NY Business Express dashboard; you may apply within 90 days of expiration, provided you still meet the §§130 and 131 requirements. If your commission has lapsed, applying for reappointment through your county clerk within six months of expiration lets the Secretary of State waive the qualifying requirements — miss that window and you are back to the written exam. Any change of name, address or e-mail must be reported to the Secretary of State within five days, and a name or address change costs $10.

Remote online notarization

Yes — New York authorizes electronic notarization under Executive Law §135-c, but it is a separate registration, not part of your base commission. Before performing any electronic notarial act you must register the capability with the Secretary of State and pay a non-refundable $60 registration fee, supplying your commissioned name and mailing address, commission expiration date and signature, e-mail address, a description of the technology you will use, and an exemplar of your electronic signature. Once registered you must be physically located within New York whenever you perform an electronic act, use a network that permits location detection, verify identity through credential analysis and third-party identity proofing, and keep an audio-video recording of each session for at least ten years. Electronic notarial acts carry a higher fee cap — up to $25 per act, inclusive of all your costs. Two practical notes: converting an existing traditional commission to an e-notary commission cancels and replaces the traditional license, and no notary or business may require a signer to use electronic notarization.

Weighed against most states, New York asks for very little money and quite a lot of reading. Seventy-five dollars and a one-hour test is the entire barrier, but the exam is drawn from a dense statute booklet, results come back as a bare pass or fail with no score to learn from, and a failed attempt costs another $15 and another trip to a walk-in site. The efficient plan is to over-prepare for a single sitting: read the License Law booklet start to finish, drill the fee schedule and the acknowledgment rules until they are reflexive, and have your Oath of Office notarized and scanned before your pass slip even arrives so the $60 application can go out the same day.