How to Become a Notary in New Jersey: Six-Hour Course to Commission

A notary commission is one of the credentials covered in the New Jersey name change and personal-records reference. This article covers who qualifies, what the course and examination involve, how the application reaches the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, what happens at the county clerk’s counter afterward, and the rules a commissioned notary works under.

Who qualifies for a New Jersey commission

The Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services (DORES) commissions notaries on behalf of the State Treasurer. Its published eligibility test has two parts: age and connection to the state. An applicant must be 18 years of age or older and must be either a New Jersey resident or a resident of an adjoining state who regularly works in New Jersey, according to the Division’s notary public program FAQ.

The statute behind that test is P.L. 2021, c. 179, the law that rewrote New Jersey’s notary provisions. Section 3 of P.L. 2021, c. 179 requires an applicant to be at the time of appointment at least 18 years of age and a legal resident of the State or a person with a place of employment or practice in it. Section 2 of the same law sets the term: notaries public hold their offices for a term of five years.

Criminal history does not automatically end an application, but it does change the path. The New Jersey Notary Public Manual identifies a conviction of a crime of the second degree or above as disqualifying, and the Division’s FAQ describes a review in which the State Treasurer’s approval and the Attorney General’s consent are required before a commission issues to an applicant with certain convictions. The same law lets the Treasurer deny, refuse to renew, revoke, or suspend a commission for findings of fraud, dishonesty, or deceit.

Licensed New Jersey attorneys sit in a separate category. The education and testing section of the 2021 law states that its provisions do not apply to notaries public who are also licensed attorneys-at-law in this State, so an attorney applicant skips the course and the examination while still filing an application and taking the oath.

The six-hour course and the state examination

This is the step that changed most recently, and it is the one that trips up applicants working from older instructions. Under the Division’s announcement of the notary education and testing requirements, a non-attorney applicant for an initial commission must provide proof of two things: completion of a six-hour course of study approved by the State Treasurer, and a passing score on an examination prescribed by the State Treasurer. Both provisions are in effect.

The course is not offered by the state itself. Providers seek Treasurer approval, and the approved-provider list is the reference point that matters, because a course from an unapproved vendor does not satisfy the requirement. The examination is administered through the Division’s online notary system, separately from the course.

Renewal applicants face a lighter version. The Division’s announcement provides that a commissioned notary who has already completed the six-hour course and passed the examination at least once, or who was first commissioned before the October 22, 2021 effective date of P.L. 2021, c. 179, completes a three-hour continuing education course instead.

Filing the application and paying the fee

New Jersey no longer processes notary applications on paper. Mandatory electronic filing of commission applications is one of the changes the Division lists under the new notary public provisions, alongside identification standards, journal requirements, stamp requirements, and authority for remote and electronic notarization. Applications are filed through the Division’s online notary system.

The fee is modest. The Division’s notary FAQ states the application fee as $25, plus a convenience fee of $5 when the application is filed online. The fee is non-refundable, so an application that fails the eligibility review does not produce a refund.

1. Confirm the eligibility test

   Check age and the residency or employment connection before paying for anything. An applicant who lives in Pennsylvania or New York and works in New Jersey qualifies on the residency prong; an applicant who lives in neither category does not.

2. Complete the approved six-hour course

   Non-attorney applicants for an initial commission take a six-hour course of study approved by the State Treasurer, under the Division’s education and testing requirements. The completion record the provider issues is what the application asks for as proof.

3. Pass the examination

   The examination is prescribed by the State Treasurer and administered online. A passing result is a precondition to the commission, not a formality that follows it.

4. File the application electronically and pay

   The application goes to the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services through its online notary system. As of 2026 the fee is $25 plus a $5 online convenience fee, both non-refundable (Division notary FAQ).

5. Swear the oath before a county clerk

   When the commission packet arrives, it goes to the county clerk’s office for the oath of office, within three months of receipt under P.L. 2021, c. 179. The clerk charges $15 to administer and record it.

Swearing the oath before a county clerk

A commission is not usable the day it arrives in the mail. The oath completes it. Section 5 of P.L. 2021, c. 179 directs that within three months of receipt of a commission, each notary public takes and subscribes an oath before the clerk of the county in which the notary resides, and it authorizes the State Treasurer to cancel and revoke the appointment of a notary who misses that window. The Division’s FAQ gives the same instruction in days, telling new notaries to bring the commission packet to the county clerk’s office within 90 days, and lists the clerk’s fee as $15.

County clerk offices set their own counter hours, appointment rules, and accepted payment methods. Some take walk-ins; others schedule oath appointments. The clerk’s office for the county of residence is the one with authority to administer the oath.

Stamp, journal, and what a commission allows

A commissioned New Jersey notary works under a set of recordkeeping and equipment rules that the 2021 law made specific. The Notary Public Manual describes a stamping device carrying the notary’s name, the title “Notary Public, State of New Jersey,” and the commission expiration date.

The journal requirement is the other recordkeeping obligation. A notary maintains a record of notarial acts performed, and under P.L. 2021, c. 179 retains that journal for 10 years after the last notarial act chronicled in it, or transmits the journal to the Department of the Treasury.

Fees for the work itself are capped by law rather than set by the notary. The Notary Public Manual lists $2.50 per notarial act for ordinary acts such as administering an oath or affirmation, executing a jurat, taking proof of a deed, and taking an acknowledgment. It lists higher maximums tied to real estate work: $15.00 for a real estate transfer and $25.00 for a real estate financing transaction.

Remote notarization is available but is not automatic. The Division’s new notary public provisions page instructs an active notary who will offer remote or electronic notarization to update the commission record through the online notary system before doing so. One boundary applies throughout: a non-attorney notary who gives legal advice is subject to discipline under the 2021 law, which lists that conduct among the grounds for action against a commission.

Renewing at the end of five years

A New Jersey commission expires five years after it issues, according to the Division’s notary FAQ. Renewal runs through the same online system as an initial application.

The continuing education requirement is what separates renewal from a first application. A renewing notary who already completed the six-hour course and passed the examination, or who was first commissioned before October 22, 2021, completes a three-hour continuing education course, as the Division’s education announcement provides. Notaries who let a commission lapse and later reapply are treated as new applicants by the initial-commission provisions of the same announcement, which apply the six-hour course and the examination to applicants for initial commissions.