How to Become a Notary in Florida for Free: Steps & Costs

You can become a notary in Florida for free in one sense only: the mandatory three-hour education course is available at no cost directly from the Florida Department of State, so you never need to pay a private vendor for training. The commission itself still costs money. Expect roughly $80 to $120 total once you add the $39 state application fee, a surety bond premium, and a rubber stamp seal. Skipping the bundled packages and handling each piece yourself is what keeps the number low.

Who Can Be Appointed

Florida’s Governor appoints notaries public, and the state sets no cap on how many it will commission. You must be at least 18, a legal resident of Florida, and able to read, write, and understand English.¹

The application asks whether you have been convicted of a felony. If so, you must describe the offense and state whether your civil rights have been restored.¹ A felony does not automatically bar you, but it gives the Governor grounds to deny the appointment, and approval without restored civil rights is unlikely.

Take the Free State Education Course

Every first-time applicant must complete at least three hours of instruction on notary duties and electronic notarization, and you must finish it within one year before submitting your application.² The Florida Department of State and the Governor’s Office jointly offer an online course that satisfies this requirement at no cost.³

Approved private courses exist and generally charge $50 to $100 or more, but they count the same as the state’s program. Unless you specifically want a classroom setting, there is no reason to pay. When you finish, you receive a certificate of completion to include with your application.

Budget for the Costs You Cannot Skip

Three expenses are fixed by law or practical necessity. This is the real out-of-pocket you should plan for.

State application fee, $39. This is a $25 application fee, a $10 commission fee, and a $4 surcharge for notary education programs. Pay by check or money order made out to the Department of State.¹³
Surety bond, $7,500 face value. Florida law requires every notary to carry this bond for the entire four-year commission to protect the public against financial harm from notary misconduct. You do not pay the $7,500; you pay a premium to a surety company, typically around $25 to $50 for the full four years.¹
Rubber stamp seal. You need one before you can notarize anything. A basic stamp runs about $15 to $30 from office supply stores or notary vendors.

Bundled packages from bonding agencies wrap the application processing, bond, and seal into one payment. They save time but often cost more, and any bundle that includes an education course is charging you for something the state gives away. If cost is what you care about, buy the pieces separately.

Prepare and Submit Your Application

The application asks for your full legal name, home and business addresses, phone numbers, date of birth, driver’s license number, and Social Security number. You also need an affidavit of good character from someone unrelated to you who has known you for at least one year.¹ A missing affidavit is one of the more common reasons applications stall.

Your completed oath of office and surety bond go in with the application.¹ Applications are submitted through an approved bonding agency, called a Notary Processor, that transmits your information electronically to the Division of Corporations.⁴ You can download the packet directly from the Department of State’s website if you want to shop for a bond separately, though most applicants find it simpler to work through a processor.

Processing takes time. Plan for at least a couple of weeks between submission and approval.

Take Your Oath and Get Your Seal

Once the Governor approves the application, the Department of State issues a commission certificate with your name, commission number, and expiration date. Your commission lasts four years.¹

Before you notarize anything, take your oath of office. Part of that oath is a sworn statement that you have read Chapter 117 of the Florida Statutes and understand the duties, responsibilities, limitations, and powers of a notary public.¹ Notarizing before the effective date on your commission is unauthorized and creates legal problems for both you and the signer.

Florida law requires a rubber stamp seal on every notarized paper document. It must include your name exactly as commissioned, the words “Notary Public-State of Florida,” your commission number, and your commission expiration date, printed in photographically reproducible black ink. You may use an embosser alongside the stamp, but an embosser alone does not satisfy the requirement.⁵ This trips up new notaries who buy the embosser thinking it counts.

Florida does not require in-person notaries to keep a journal of notarial acts, though keeping one is smart protection if a signer later disputes what happened.

Earning Back Your Startup Costs

A Florida notary may charge up to $10 for any single notarial act performed under the standard commission.⁵ Each acknowledgment, oath, or jurat is a separate act, so a loan closing with several notarized signatures produces several fees. At the cap, a handful of signings covers your startup.

You are not required to charge. Many notaries in bank branches and government offices work for free as a public service. The cap matters if you plan to notarize as a side income.

Renewing Your Commission

Your commission expires four years after it was issued. To continue, you go through the application and bond process again, but you do not have to retake the education course. Renewal applicants go straight to a bonding agency and submit a new application.⁶ You still pay the $39 state fee and a new bond premium.

Do not wait until after expiration to start. If your old commission ends before the new one is issued, you cannot legally notarize during the gap. Submit several weeks before expiration.

If You Want to Add Remote Online Notarization

Once you hold a standard commission, you can register separately as a remote online notary (RON) to notarize over live audio-video calls with signers anywhere, as long as you are physically in Florida during the session. This path is not free, and the costs are meaningfully higher than the standard commission.

An additional online course covering the duties, obligations, and technology requirements for online notarization.⁷
A $25,000 surety bond, which replaces your standard $7,500 bond for the duration of the RON registration.⁸
At least $25,000 in errors and omissions insurance from an insurer authorized in Florida.⁸
A contract with an approved RON service provider that handles the audio-video platform, identity proofing, credential analysis, and session recording.⁷
A $10 initial RON registration fee.⁷

Your RON registration expires on the same date as your underlying commission, regardless of when you register.⁷ RON notaries must also keep a secure electronic journal for every online notarization, listing the date, type of act, signer’s name and address, identification method used, and any fee charged. This journal is mandatory for online work even though it is optional for in-person work.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 117.01 – Appointment, Application, Suspension, Revocation, Application Fee, Bond, and Oath
2
Florida Department of State. Notary Education Program
3
Florida Department of State. Florida Division of Corporations – Notary Commissions and Apostille/Certification Sections
4
Florida Department of State. Florida Department of State – Notaries
5
Florida Senate. Florida Code 117.05 – Use of Notary Commission
6
Executive Office of the Governor. Notary
7
Florida Department of State. Remote Online Notary Public
8
Florida House of Representatives. 2025 Statutes Chapter 0117