To get a notary license in California, you complete a state-approved six-hour education course, pass a proctored state exam, submit fingerprints through Live Scan, buy a $15,000 surety bond, and file your oath of office and bond with the county clerk within 30 days of your commission date.1California Secretary of State. Notary Public Handbook The commission lasts four years. Budget roughly $350 to $400 all in for education, exam and application fees, fingerprinting, the bond, and your seal and journal.
Who Can Apply
You need to be at least 18 and a legal California resident.2California Secretary of State. Become a Notary Public U.S. citizenship isn’t required, and there’s no age cap. The Secretary of State runs a background check on every applicant. A felony conviction incompatible with notary duties, or a crime involving dishonesty, can disqualify you.
Disclosure is where people trip. You must list every arrest and every conviction on your application, including charges that were later dismissed.3California Secretary of State. Notary Public Application – Section: Background Information An incomplete history is grounds for denial by itself, separate from whatever’s in the record.
Step 1: Complete the Approved Education Course
Every new applicant takes a six-hour course approved by the Secretary of State before sitting for the exam.4California Secretary of State. Complete Approved Education The curriculum covers notary law, the different notarial acts, how to verify a signer’s identity, and your ethical duties. Providers offer the course online and in classroom form, generally in the $50 to $100 range.
Already commissioned and applying for reappointment before your term expires? You can take a three-hour refresher instead of the full six hours.4California Secretary of State. Complete Approved Education If your commission expires before you finish the refresher and submit your application, that shortcut disappears and you’re back to the full six-hour course.
Step 2: Pass the State Exam
Register through CPS HR Consulting, which administers the exam for the Secretary of State.5California Secretary of State. Register for the Exam You choose your date and location at registration. The test is closed-book and proctored: 45 multiple-choice questions, 60 minutes, and you need 70% (32 correct) to pass.
Bring all of this to the exam site:
- A current government-issued photo ID, such as a California driver’s license
- Your completed Notary Public Application
- A 2-by-2-inch color passport-style photo
- The certificate of completion from your education course
- $40 for the combined exam and application processing fee
Results come back about 15 business days after your test date.6California Secretary of State. Take the Exam If you don’t pass, a retake costs $20 because your application has already been processed.
Step 3: Submit Fingerprints Through Live Scan
After you pass, you’ll get a “Request for Live Scan Service” form. Take it, a photo ID, and payment to any authorized Live Scan location, where your prints are electronically submitted to the California Department of Justice and the FBI.7California Secretary of State. Submit Fingerprints via Live Scan The DOJ and FBI processing fees are set; the site adds its own rolling fee, which varies. Call ahead to confirm the rolling fee and payment methods. Total cost usually runs $50 to $85.
You have one year from your exam date to complete fingerprinting. Miss that window and you retake the exam. Keep a copy of your Live Scan form; if prints ever need to be resubmitted, that copy proves you already paid the processing fee, so you’d only owe the rolling fee.
Step 4: Buy Your $15,000 Surety Bond
California requires every notary to carry a $15,000 surety bond before the commission takes effect. The bond protects the public, not you. If a signer suffers a financial loss because of your error or misconduct, they can file a claim against the bond, and the bonding company can then come after you to recover whatever it pays out. You stay personally on the hook.
Buy the bond from a surety company authorized to do business in California. A four-year bond typically costs $40 to $75. Errors and omissions insurance is a separate product that covers you rather than the public. It isn’t required, but many notaries carry it precisely because the bond gives them no personal protection.
Step 5: File Your Oath and Bond Within 30 Days
Once the Secretary of State issues your commission, you have 30 calendar days from the commission start date to file your oath of office and your surety bond with the county clerk in the county where you keep your principal place of business.8California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 8213 – Filing of Oath and Bond Miss the deadline and your commission is void. No extensions, no grace period. You go back to the start of the appointment process.
You can take the oath before a county clerk or before another notary in the county where you’re filing. Filing in person is safer than mailing, because a postal delay that pushes you past day 30 still voids the commission. After the clerk accepts your filing, they send a certificate to the Secretary of State and the bond is recorded with the county recorder.
Get Your Seal and Journal Before Notarizing
You can’t perform a single notarization without an official seal and a journal. Buy the seal only from a manufacturer authorized by the Secretary of State.9California Secretary of State. Notary Seal Manufacturer Guidelines It can be circular (up to two inches across) or rectangular (up to one by two and a half inches) with a serrated or milled border, and it must show your name, the California state seal, “Notary Public,” the county of filing, your commission expiration date, your commission number, and the manufacturer’s ID number.
The journal is your permanent record. For each notarization, log the date and time, the type of notarial act, the character of the document, the signer’s signature, how you verified the signer’s identity, and the fee. When the document involves real property (deeds, deeds of trust) or a power of attorney, you’re also required to take the signer’s thumbprint in the journal.10California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 8206 – Official Journal Build the thumbprint step into your routine now; it’s one of the most common misses among new notaries.
What You Can Charge
The state caps notarial fees. Acknowledgments and oaths run up to $15 per signature. Depositions go up to $30, plus $7 for administering the oath and $7 for the certificate. You cannot charge anything to notarize a vote-by-mail ballot envelope or a signature on a military veteran’s benefits application.11California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 8211 – Fees A separate travel fee is allowed for mobile work, because travel isn’t a notarial fee.
Remote Online Notarization Is Still Rolling Out
Your California commission by itself doesn’t let you perform remote online notarizations. Senate Bill 696, signed September 30, 2023, created the Online Notarization Act, with some provisions effective January 1, 2024, and more taking effect January 1, 2025. Full implementation waits on the Secretary of State’s technology buildout, with a statutory deadline of January 1, 2030.12California Secretary of State. Notary Public Customer Alerts When the system opens, you’ll need a separate registration with the Secretary of State on top of your standard commission. Check the Secretary of State’s customer alerts page for the current status before making plans that depend on it.
How Your Notary Income Is Taxed
Fees you earn for notarial acts are exempt from federal self-employment tax, so the 15.3% Social Security and Medicare portion doesn’t apply to that income.13Internal Revenue Service. Persons Employed in a U.S. Possession/Territory – Self-Employment Tax Regular income tax still applies. And the exemption is narrow: if you also work as a loan signing agent or charge travel fees, that income stays subject to self-employment tax. Only the notarial portion gets the break, so keep the two streams separated in your books from your first assignment.