Become a Notary in Pennsylvania: Exam, Bond, and Recording

The notary commission is one of the credentials covered in Pennsylvania personal records, IDs, and certificates. Pennsylvania runs its notary program under the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts at 57 Pa.C.S. Chapter 3, supplemented since March 2026 by a full set of Department of State regulations at 4 Pa. Code Chapter 167. This article covers the eligibility rules, the education and examination sequence, the bond, and the county recording step that makes a commission valid.

Who qualifies for a Pennsylvania notary commission

Six eligibility conditions apply to every first-time applicant. Under 57 Pa.C.S. § 321(a), an applicant must be at least 18 years old, a citizen or permanent legal resident of the United States, a resident of Pennsylvania or a person with a place of employment or practice in Pennsylvania, able to read and write English, not disqualified under the sanctions provision, and a passing candidate on the required examination.

The out-of-state rule is narrower than occasional work in the state. Under 4 Pa. Code § 167.11(c), an applicant who does not live in Pennsylvania must maintain an office in the Commonwealth on an ongoing basis, at an established location, capable of receiving mail. The application also carries the applicant’s legal name, so an applicant who has obtained a Pennsylvania name change order is commissioned under the new name.

Criminal history is handled through the sanctions statute rather than a flat bar. 57 Pa.C.S. § 323(a) lets the Department deny or refuse to renew a commission for acts or omissions showing a lack of honesty, integrity, competence, or reliability. The listed examples include a conviction or acceptance of Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition for a felony or an offense involving fraud, dishonesty, or deceit, a fraudulent misstatement on the application, and discipline against a notary commission in another state.

The three-hour basic education course

Education comes before the application, not after. 57 Pa.C.S. § 322(b) requires at least three hours of Department-approved notary public basic education completed within the six-month period immediately preceding the application. The course must cover the statutes, regulations, procedures, and ethics of notarial acts, with a core curriculum that includes the duties of the office and electronic notarization.

Only preapproved providers count. Section 322(d) requires every basic and continuing education course of study to be preapproved by the Department, and 4 Pa. Code § 167.92 requires a provider to hold a certificate of approval for each course it offers. The regulations recognize two formats: live classroom instruction and interactive education, which covers live webinars and asynchronous online courses requiring active engagement with the content.

Applying to the Department of State and passing the exam

The application goes to the Pennsylvania Department of State, which administers the notary program. Section 321(b) requires the application to be made on a form prescribed by the Department and accompanied by a nonrefundable fee of $42, an amount that covers both the commission application and the filing of the bond with the Department (57 Pa.C.S. § 321(b)(2)).

The exam comes after the application, not before it, which reverses the order many first-time applicants expect. 4 Pa. Code § 167.15 states that an applicant may not take the examination before the Department receives and approves an application for appointment. The exam is a proctored, computer-based test administered by the Department or by a professional testing organization under contract with it.

1. Complete the approved basic education course

   Three hours of preapproved basic education, taken within the six months before the application is submitted. The provider issues a certificate of education that becomes part of the application packet.

2. File the application and pay $42

   The application is submitted on the Department’s prescribed form with the $42 nonrefundable fee and the certificate of education, as required by 57 Pa.C.S. § 321(b). An applicant who lives outside Pennsylvania identifies the Pennsylvania office address where mail can be received.

3. Take the examination within the authorization window

   Department approval of the application opens a six-month window to sit for the exam. A candidate may retake it inside that window, but no more than once per 24-hour period, and a scaled score of 75 or higher passes (4 Pa. Code § 167.15(c)–(d)).

4. Obtain the surety bond and take the oath

   After appointment, the appointee obtains the surety bond and executes the oath or affirmation of office. The commission issues once those conditions are met.

5. Record everything at the county level within 45 days

   The bond, oath of office, and commission are recorded with the county recorder of deeds, and the official signature is registered in the Notary Register, both within 45 days of appointment under 57 Pa.C.S. § 321(d.1)–(d.2).

Under 4 Pa. Code § 167.15(d)(2), examination results stay valid for one year from the exam date.

The bond, the oath, and the $25,000 amount

Two numbers appear in Pennsylvania law for the notary bond, and the regulation controls. Section 321(d)(1) sets the bond at $10,000 “or the amount set by regulation of the department,” and 4 Pa. Code § 167.16(b) sets that amount at $25,000. The regulation took effect March 28, 2026, as part of Chapter 167.

A notary who already held a commission on March 28, 2026 may keep the existing bond until that commission expires, under the transitional provision in section 167.16(c). New applicants and notaries renewing after that date obtain the higher amount. The bond must be executed by an insurance company authorized to do business in Pennsylvania, must cover acts performed during the commission term, and must be in the form the Department prescribes (57 Pa.C.S. § 321(d)(3)).

The bond is a continuing condition. Section 321(c) requires the appointee to execute an oath or affirmation of office before the commission issues, and section 321(d)(7) allows notarial acts only while a valid bond is on file with the Department. The surety must give the Department 30 days’ notice before canceling. Failure to maintain a bond is separately listed as grounds for sanctions under 57 Pa.C.S. § 323(a)(9).

Recording with the county within 45 days

Appointment and commissioning are not the same thing in Pennsylvania, and the gap between them is where commissions are lost. Under 57 Pa.C.S. § 321(d.2), the bond, oath of office, and commission must be recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds for the county where the notary maintains an office, within 45 days after appointment and before performing any notarial act. A copy of the bond and oath is then filed with the Department within 90 days of that recording.

A second county filing runs alongside it. Section 321(d.1) requires the notary’s official signature to be registered in the Notary Register kept by the recorder of deeds or by the prothonotary of the county Court of Common Pleas where the notary maintains an office, within 45 days after appointment or reappointment and within 30 days after moving to a different county. In a county of the second class, that registration happens in the office of the clerk of courts instead.

Renewal, lapse, and what the commission is worth

A Pennsylvania commission runs four years from issuance under section 321(e). Renewal replaces the exam with continuing education: 57 Pa.C.S. § 322(c) requires at least three hours of Department-approved continuing education within the six months immediately preceding the renewal application. A currently commissioned notary does not retake the examination.

Timing controls whether the renewal is treated as a renewal at all. 4 Pa. Code § 167.12(c) allows a renewal application to be filed up to 90 days before the current commission expires and requires it to be submitted before expiration. Once a commission has lapsed, section 167.13 routes the applicant back through the first-time requirements, including the basic education course and the examination.

What the commission earns is capped by regulation. 4 Pa. Code § 167.3(a) sets maximum notarial fees at $5 for taking an acknowledgment from the first individual named in the certificate and $2 for each additional name, $5 for administering an oath or affirmation, $5 for witnessing or attesting a signature, $5 for certifying a copy, and $3 per page for noting a protest. Electronic and remote notaries may add a fee of up to $20 per notarial act performed with respect to electronic records. Certified copies of vital records sit outside that fee schedule entirely: a Pennsylvania death certificate is issued by the Commonwealth’s vital records office, not by a notary.