Pennsylvania Notary Rules You Must Follow

A Pennsylvania notary may take acknowledgments, administer oaths and affirmations, take verifications on oath or affirmation, witness or attest signatures, certify or attest copies and depositions, and note protests of negotiable instruments. Notaries may not take marriage license applications or perform marriages, and they may act anywhere in the Commonwealth but not outside it.

Under 4 Pa. Code Section 167.42, personal appearance means you and the signer are physically together, can see and hear each other, and can hand identification back and forth without phones, cameras or computers in between. There are two narrow exceptions: certifying a copy does not need an appearance, and an oral oath in a court or agency proceeding may be given by phone or video. Otherwise, only a notary who has notified the Department and is using approved technology may notarize for someone appearing remotely.

You must know the person personally or have satisfactory evidence of identity. Satisfactory evidence starts with a current, unexpired passport, passport card, driver's license or nondriver ID card. Foreign passports and licenses qualify only if you can read the language they use (4 Pa. Code Section 167.43). Other current government IDs with the person's signature or photograph can also work if they satisfy you.

A credible witness must appear with the signer, be personally known to you, personally know the signer, and have no direct or pecuniary interest in the record. The witness swears or affirms to those facts. You may ask for more ID if something seems wrong, and you may refuse when you doubt the signer's competence, willingness, or signature and photo match. You may never refuse on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, sex, gender, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, disability or marital status (4 Pa. Code Section 167.113).

Every notarial act goes in your journal, recorded at the time of the act, with the date and time, the type of act and a description of the record, each person's full name and address, how you identified them (including issue and expiration dates of any ID), and the fee. A paper journal must be permanently bound with preprinted page and entry numbers; tape, paper clips and binder clips do not count. Strike out any blank lines, and leave no box empty.

The 2026 rules forbid personally identifiable information: no part of a Social Security number, no full driver's license or ID number, no date or place of birth, no mother's maiden name, no biometric data. You may note the last four digits of a license or passport. Anyone may inspect the journal in your presence, and a requested certified copy must be delivered within 15 days. Report a lost or stolen journal to the Department within 15 days, and deliver the journal to the county recorder of deeds within 30 days after you resign or your commission expires unless you are renewing.

The rubber stamp must be rectangular, no larger than 1 inch high and 3.5 inches wide, with a plain border. Under 4 Pa. Code Section 167.21 it must show, in this order: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania followed by Notary Seal; your commissioned name with Notary Public; your county; your commission expiration date; and your seven-digit commission number. Nothing may be abbreviated except a name suffix. An embosser may be added but can never replace the ink stamp. Stamp near your signature so it copies clearly, never over a signature or certificate wording.

Certificates must be in English, though a matching version in another language you understand may sit right beside it. A loose certificate must be stapled or grommeted to the record. Sign exactly as commissioned. You alone control the stamp; lending it or using another notary's device is grounds for discipline, and when the commission ends you must destroy or deface it.

The Department sets maximum fees in 4 Pa. Code Section 167.3. Electronic and remote notaries may add up to $20 per act done electronically or with communication technology. Whenever you charge any fee you must give an itemized receipt, and you must post your fees or provide them on request. Reasonable clerical charges for copying, postage or travel are allowed if disclosed in advance and itemized in the journal and on the receipt. No fee may be charged for an emergency absentee ballot affidavit or the absentee voter assistance affidavit.

You may not notarize a record in which you or your spouse has a direct or pecuniary interest, meaning any potential gain beyond your regular pay or notarial fee (4 Pa. Code Section 167.111). You may notarize for your spouse only when neither of you has such an interest, and you may never notarize your own signature. Section 167.121 lists acts that invite sanctions, among them stamping a certificate before the act, predating or postdating, altering a notarized record, keeping copies of a customer's ID, using the term notario, practicing law, and placing the stamp over a signature.

Tell the Department within 30 days about changes to your name, addresses, phone numbers, email, technology provider or a resignation. A lost or stolen stamp, like a journal, must be reported within 15 days.

Pennsylvania permits both. Electronic notarization still requires physical presence but uses electronic records and signatures. Remote online notarization, made permanent by Act 97 of 2020, lets a signer appear by audio-video technology. Before doing either, notify the Department at notaries.pa.gov and name each approved technology provider you will use. Remote platforms must offer two identity-proofing methods and keep an audio-visual recording of each session for 10 years (4 Pa. Code Section 167.86).