How to Become a Notary Public in Pennsylvania

The qualifications sit in 57 Pa.C.S. Section 321 and are restated in 4 Pa. Code Section 167.11. A first-time applicant must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident, and able to read and write English. You must either live in Pennsylvania or have a place of employment or practice here. If you live out of state, the regulation expects an office that you keep on an ongoing basis at an established Pennsylvania location where you can receive mail.

The Department can refuse a commission to someone who lacks the honesty, integrity, competence or reliability for the office. In practice that usually means a conviction of, or acceptance of Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition for, a felony or an offense involving fraud, dishonesty or deceit. Prior notary discipline in any state, other license discipline, or a judgment against you for your conduct as a notary can also disqualify you. Members of Congress, federal officeholders who draw a salary, and members of the General Assembly are not eligible.

Every applicant, new or renewing, must complete at least three hours of notary education from a provider the Department of State has approved, and the course must fall within the six months immediately before you apply. The Department issues each provider a certificate of approval for each course it offers (4 Pa. Code Section 167.92), and it publishes the list of approved providers on pa.gov. Courses are marked as approved for initial appointment or for reappointment, and an initial-appointment course also works for a renewal.

Courses can be classroom or interactive online instruction. When you finish, the provider gives you a certificate of education, which you submit with your application. The Department says it audits applicants against provider class rosters, so the certificate needs to come from a real, approved course. There is no exemption; the old grandfather rule for long-serving notaries ended when the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (RULONA) took effect in October 2017.

The Department encourages online applications through its notary portal at notaries.pa.gov, where the $42 fee is paid by credit or debit card. A fillable paper form is also available; mail it with your education certificate and a check or money order for $42 payable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The fee is non-refundable. The application includes four legal questions, and any yes answer needs a signed written statement and supporting documents.

Your name matters more than you might expect. Under 4 Pa. Code Section 167.14 you may use first and last name, first-middle-last, or first initial with full middle and last name. Initials alone and nicknames are rejected, and professional titles such as Esquire or Doctor cannot be part of the commissioned name. Whatever form you choose, you must sign notarial acts in exactly that form for the whole term. The Pearson VUE candidate bulletin advises new applicants to allow four to six weeks for processing.

Anyone who does not hold a current, unexpired Pennsylvania commission when the Department receives the application must pass the state exam. Once your application is approved, Pearson VUE emails an approval-to-test notice with scheduling instructions. The exam fee is $65 per attempt, you need a scaled score of 75, and you have six months from authorization to pass, with as many attempts as you need in that window. Our separate Pennsylvania notary exam guide covers format, content weights and retake rules in detail.

After you pass, the Department appoints you and sends your commission to the recorder of deeds in the county where you keep your office. From the appointment date you have 45 days to complete four tasks: obtain a $25,000 surety bond, take the constitutional oath of office, record the bond, oath and commission with the recorder of deeds, and register your official signature with the prothonotary or recorder of deeds. If any piece is missing at day 45, 4 Pa. Code Section 167.18 makes the commission null and void and you must apply again.

The $25,000 amount comes from 4 Pa. Code Section 167.16(b), part of the rules effective March 28, 2026. Older materials that cite a $10,000 bond are out of date for new appointees. A notary already commissioned on March 28, 2026 may keep using the existing bond until that commission ends. The bond must come from a surety authorized by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, and it protects your customers, not you; if the surety pays a claim, you owe the surety that money. Errors and omissions insurance is optional and exists to protect the notary.

Before your first notarization you need an official rubber stamp that meets 4 Pa. Code Section 167.21, including the seven-digit commission identification number the Department assigns, plus a journal that meets Sections 167.31 through 167.34. The Department does not sell or regulate these supplies, and neither does it regulate the bonds and insurance many education providers bundle with them. Our Pennsylvania notary rules guide explains exactly what the stamp and journal must contain.

A Pennsylvania commission lasts four years from the appointment date, and there is no cap on how many terms you can serve. To renew, you need three hours of continuing education from an approved provider within the six months before you apply, plus a new application and fee. The regulations let you file up to 90 days before your commission expires, and the Department suggests filing two to three months ahead so there is no gap.

Timing is the whole game here. If your renewal arrives even one day after the commission expires, RULONA treats you like a new applicant, and you must pass the exam again even if you passed it years ago. Renewing notaries who were reappointed on or after March 28, 2026 also need the $25,000 bond and the new stamp format.