How to Become a Notary Public in North Carolina

G.S. 10B-5(b) lists the qualifications. You must be at least 18 or legally emancipated, live in North Carolina or have a regular place of work or business here, reside legally in the United States, speak, read and write English, and hold a high school diploma or its equivalent. You must also buy and keep the most recent notary manual approved by the Secretary, and your application must be free of significant misstatements or omissions.

The Secretary may refuse a commission for an incomplete or misleading application, for a felony conviction or a crime involving dishonesty or moral turpitude, or for a civil finding of deceit. The statute also sets a hard floor: no commission may issue within 10 years after release from prison, probation, or parole, whichever ends last.

G.S. 10B-8(a) requires every first-time applicant to complete a course of classroom instruction of not less than six hours, approved by the Secretary, within the three months before applying. The course must be taught by an instructor certified under G.S. 10B-14, which requires the instructor to hold an active commission, have at least a year of notary experience, and pass a six-hour instructor certification course.

The Secretary's Become a Notary page points applicants to course offerings through the North Carolina Community College System, N.C. State University, Gaston College, Greensboro College and Guilford College. Course tuition is set by the school, not by statute, so ask the provider directly. Licensed members of the North Carolina State Bar are exempt from both the course and the initial exam.

The same subsection requires a written examination approved by the Secretary, and you must answer at least 80 percent of the questions correctly. By statute the course and the test both cover notarial laws, procedures, and ethics. Plan to study the manual before class rather than after; the three-month clock in G.S. 10B-8(a) means a slow start can force you to repeat the course.

If you want extra repetition before test day, NotaryPrepHQ offers North Carolina practice questions written from Chapter 10B and the manual, with an explanation after each answer. It is practice only; the six-hour course is still mandatory.

Under G.S. 10B-6 the application includes your statement of personal qualifications, the instructor's certificate or signed statement that you completed the course, and a notarized declaration in which you swear that the information is true and that you understand the duties of the office. G.S. 10B-13 sets a nonrefundable application fee of $50, and the Secretary's online renewal page notes a small added transaction fee when paying electronically.

The Secretary's FAQ says a complete, correct application may take up to two weeks to process, and longer if something is missing. Your signature on a first application must be in pen and ink under G.S. 10B-5(b)(8), and the signature must be acknowledged before someone authorized to administer oaths.

When the Secretary grants your commission, you receive instructions to appear before the register of deeds in your county of commissioning. G.S. 10B-10 gives you 45 days from commissioning to take the general oath of office and the oath prescribed for officers. A register of deeds may administer the oath by video conference if you are personally known or properly identified.

Miss the 45-day window and the register returns your commission to the Secretary, and you must reapply. If you reapply within a year, the Secretary may waive the education requirement. Any notarial act performed before the oath is invalid under G.S. 10B-9, and doing so is a Class 1 misdemeanor under G.S. 10B-60(b).

Once sworn in, buy an official seal or stamp that meets G.S. 10B-37: your name exactly as commissioned, the words Notary Public, your county of commissioning with the word County or Co., and North Carolina or NC. Round seals must be 1 1/2 to 2 inches across; rectangular ones may be no more than 1 inch high and 2 1/2 inches long. A vendor must see your commission before selling you a seal.

Your commission runs five years from issuance under G.S. 10B-9, and you may act anywhere in the state, not only in your home county.

G.S. 10B-11 lets you apply for recommissioning no earlier than 10 weeks before your commission expires. Renewing notaries skip the course but must pass the recommissioning exam, unless they are State Bar members or have been continuously commissioned since July 10, 1991 with no discipline. The Secretary's reappointment page describes the current process: own the 2026 manual, update your information online, pay the $50 fee, pass the online exam at 80 percent within three tries in 30 days, mail the notarized application, and take the oath within 45 days of the notification.

If your commission has already lapsed, you have one year to apply as a renewing notary, but the course requirement comes back unless the Secretary waives it.