How to Become a Notary Public in Washington State

To become a notary public in Washington state, you apply to the Department of Licensing with a $40 fee, a $10,000 surety bond, and a notarized Oath of Office, after meeting the state’s basic eligibility rules. If approved, your commission runs four years, and you can start notarizing as soon as you receive your commission certificate and order a compliant stamp and journal.

Do You Qualify

Washington sets four baseline requirements. You must be at least 18, able to read and write English, and either a Washington resident or someone who works or practices in the state. You also cannot have disqualifying conduct under the notary statute, which primarily means no felony convictions and no findings of fraud or dishonesty that would call your integrity into question.¹

Buy Your $10,000 Surety Bond

Before you submit anything, line up a $10,000 surety bond from an insurance or bonding company licensed to write surety in Washington.² The bond protects the public if you make an error during a notarization. It does not protect you personally; if the bond pays out, the bonding company can come after you to recover what it paid.

The bond must cover your full four-year commission term or expire on the same date your commission does.¹ The premium is usually modest, often well under $100 for the full four years. You will need a signed copy of the bond to include with your application.

Errors and omissions insurance is a separate, optional product some notaries carry. It covers your legal defense and any damages if a signer sues you over a notarization mistake, which the surety bond does not do.

Fill Out and Submit the Application

The application asks for your full legal name and a separate “commission name” that will appear on your stamp and all notarial certificates. The commission name has to be more than an initial or a single name.³

You also complete a separate Oath of Office form, which must be notarized by a current Washington notary before you send it in.⁴

The application fee is $40, non-refundable. If you want the electronic notarization endorsement at the same time, add $15 for a total of $55. Pay by check or money order made out to the Department of Licensing, or pay online with Visa, MasterCard, or American Express.⁵

You can submit through the SecureAccess Washington (SAW) portal online, or by mail. Mailed packages with payment go to the Notary Public Program at PO Box 3777, Seattle, WA 98124-3777. Forms without payment go to PO Box 3917, Seattle, WA 98124-3917.⁶

Order Your Stamp and Journal

Once your commission certificate arrives, you need a compliant stamp and a journal before you can perform any notarial acts. It is illegal to manufacture or possess a notary stamp before the director has issued your commission.⁷

Stamp

Your stamp must include the words “notary public” and “state of Washington,” your commissioned name, and your commission expiration date.⁷ The administrative code adds that your commission number must appear on it as well.

Minimum type is 8-point, and the stamp has to measure at least 1⅝ inches in diameter if circular, or 1 inch by 1⅝ inches if rectangular. On paper, it must use permanent ink and be capable of being photocopied. It cannot include the Washington state seal.⁸ The stamp is your exclusive property and must be stored in a locked, secured location under your direct control at all times.⁷

Journal

Washington requires a tangible journal of all notarial acts. You may only maintain one tangible journal at a time, and it must be a permanent, bound book with numbered pages. Each entry is made at the time of the act and must include the date and time, a description of the record and type of notarial act, and the full name and address of each person involved.

Keep the journal locked and under your exclusive control. If it is lost or stolen, notify the Department of Licensing immediately. After your last entry in a given journal, you must retain it for ten years, including after you resign or if your commission is revoked.⁹

Add Electronic or Remote Notarization (Optional)

Washington offers two endorsements beyond the standard commission. Electronic notarization covers documents in electronic format with the signer physically in front of you. Remote online notarization lets you and the signer be in different locations, connected by audio-visual technology.

Both require an active traditional commission. Apply for the electronic records endorsement with your initial application for $55 total, or add it later for a separate $15 fee.⁵ The remote notary endorsement rides on the electronic records endorsement and stays valid as long as your current commission is active.¹⁰

After you receive the electronic endorsement, you have 30 days to report to the Department of Licensing the name of the tamper-evident software you plan to use. Remote notarization also requires stronger signer identity verification than checking an ID on camera, using methods such as knowledge-based authentication, credential analysis, or biometric comparison through a compliant platform.

What You Can Do and Charge

A Washington commission authorizes you to take acknowledgments, administer oaths and affirmations, perform verifications on oath or affirmation, witness signatures, certify copies, and certify that an event or act occurred. You may also note a protest of a negotiable instrument, but only when the protest is prepared under the authority of an attorney or a regulated financial institution.¹¹

Fees are capped per act, not per document. You are not required to charge anything, but you cannot exceed $15 for an acknowledgment, verification, oath or affirmation, signature witnessing, copy certification, or event certification, or $25 for any remote notarial act. A document that needs two separate notarizations allows two separate fees.¹²

One important boundary: a notary is not a lawyer. You cannot explain what a document means, advise a signer whether to sign, draft or alter legal documents, or tell someone which type of notarization they need. Doing any of that is unauthorized practice of law and can cost you your commission. If a signer wants advice, point them to an attorney.

Keeping the Commission in Good Standing

Your commission lasts four years.¹³ You can renew up to 120 days before the expiration date through the Department of Licensing.¹⁴ If you let it expire without renewing, you cannot renew late; you have to start over as a brand-new applicant.

Renewal requires a fresh $10,000 surety bond for the new four-year term. The renewal fee is $42 for a standard commission, or $57 if you also hold an electronic notary endorsement.²

If your name or address changes during the term, notify the Department of Licensing in writing within 15 days. An address change is free and does not trigger a new certificate. A name change is more involved: you need a bond rider from your bonding company amending the surety bond, and you pay a fee to receive a new commission certificate. Keep using your original stamp and signing with your original commissioned name until the new certificate arrives.¹⁵

The Department of Licensing can deny, suspend, revoke, or place conditions on a commission for dishonesty in your application, a felony conviction or any conviction involving fraud or deceit, failing to keep a proper journal or secure your stamp, misleading advertising about your authority, letting your bond lapse, or having a notary commission denied, revoked, or suspended in another state. If the department moves against your commission, you are entitled to notice and a formal hearing.¹⁶

1
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 42.45.200 – Commission as Notary Public
2
Washington State Department of Licensing. Frequently Asked Questions: Notaries Public
3
Cornell Law Institute. Washington Administrative Code 308-30-030 – Application Process for Notary Public Commission
4
Washington State Department of Licensing. Get Your License: Notaries Public
5
Washington State Department of Licensing. Fees: Notaries Public
6
Washington State Department of Licensing. Notaries Public
7
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 42.45.150 – Official Stamp
8
Washington State Legislature. Washington Administrative Code 308-30-070 – Size and Form of Official Seal or Stamp
9
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 42.45.180 – Journal
10
Washington State Legislature. Washington Administrative Code 308-30-050 – Term of Commission
11
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 42.45.010 – Definitions
12
Washington State Legislature. Washington Administrative Code 308-30-220 – Maximum Fees
13
Justia. Washington Code 308-30-050 – Term of Commission
14
Washington State Department of Licensing. Renew or Update Your License: Notaries Public
15
Washington State Legislature. Washington Administrative Code 308-30-250 – Name or Address Change
16
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 42.45.210 – Grounds to Deny, Refuse to Renew, Revoke, Suspend, or Condition Commission