New York Notary Public exam FAQ
Format · pass mark · reappointment · exemptions · after you pass
How many questions are on the New York notary exam?
40 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, with a 70% pass mark — 28 correct out of 40. The examination is administered by the New York Department of State, Division of Licensing Services.
How often is the New York notary exam offered?
Walk-in sittings are scheduled regularly across the state, several times a month in the larger centres. There is no appointment queue and no cap on attempts, though the $15 examination fee applies to each examination taken.
Is the New York notary exam open book?
No. It is proctored and closed-book. No notes, books, or reference materials.
What is the New York notary exam based on?
The Notary Public License Law booklet published by the Department of State. It reprints the Executive Law appointment and powers provisions, the Public Officers Law, County Law section 534, the Real Property Law acknowledgment and proof provisions, the Judiciary Law restrictions on practising law, the relevant Penal Law offences, and the whole of 19 NYCRR Part 182 on electronic notarization.
Do New York notaries have to retake the exam to renew?
No. A commission runs four years and reappointment is an application, not another examination. This is the opposite of California, and it is the most common thing candidates get wrong after reading advice written for another state. Applicants may apply for reappointment within 90 days of expiry, and the qualifying requirements may be waived where the application is made before expiry or within six months after it.
Is anyone exempt from the examination?
Yes. An attorney admitted to practise in New York may be appointed without an examination. So may a court clerk of the Unified Court System appointed to that position after the Civil Service promotional examination in the court clerk series of titles.
Do I have to live in New York?
Not necessarily. Every appointee must be a New York resident or have an office or place of business in the state. A nonresident with a New York office qualifies, and files the oath and signature with the clerk of the county where that office is located. A resident who moves out of state but keeps a New York office does not vacate the commission; a nonresident who closes the New York office does.
Can I notarize outside the county where my commission is filed?
Yes. The jurisdiction of a New York notary is co-extensive with the boundaries of the state. Notaries who sign regularly in other counties may file an autograph signature and a certificate of official character with those county clerks, but that is a convenience for authentication, not a precondition to acting.
Do I need a seal?
No. New York law does not require notaries to use a seal. If one is used it should identify the notary, the authority and the jurisdiction. What is required is the statement of authority beneath the signature: your name, the words "Notary Public State of New York", the county in which you originally qualified, and the commission expiration date — in black ink.
Can I rely on personally knowing the signer in New York?
Yes. Real Property Law section 303 requires that the officer know, or have satisfactory evidence, that the person is the one described in and who executed the instrument. Personal knowledge remains a valid basis in New York — unlike California, which removed it. For remote electronic acts, an electronic notary’s attestation of personal knowledge also satisfies the identity requirement.
Can New York notaries perform remote online notarization?
Yes, after registering the capability with the Secretary of State and paying a further $60. The notary must be physically located within New York during every act regardless of where the signer is, must not disguise that location, and must keep the audio-video recording and the supporting records for at least ten years. The fee for an electronic notarial act is $25, inclusive of all costs the notary incurs.
What can a New York notary charge?
$2 for administering an oath or affirmation and certifying it; $2 per person for taking and certifying an acknowledgment or proof, and $2 for swearing each witness; 75 cents for a protest plus 10 cents per notice up to five; and $25 for an electronic notarial act. No fee at all may be charged for administering the oath of office to a public officer or public employee. Charging more than the statutory allowance exposes a notary to criminal prosecution, civil suit and possible removal.
What can a notary not do?
A notary who is not an attorney may not give legal advice or draw legal papers — deeds, mortgages, wills, contracts, leases, powers of attorney or pleadings — and doing so for compensation is a misdemeanor under the Judiciary Law. A notary also has no authority to issue certified copies, no authority to solemnize marriages, and must not take an acknowledgment over the telephone: that is a misdemeanor in itself.
Can I use a New York notary commission in another state?
No. Notary law is state law. New York’s rules on identification, certificate forms, electronic notarization and penalties differ substantially from other states’. A New York commission authorises you in New York only.
Is this app affiliated with the Department of State?
No. It is an independent study aid. The examination’s own items are not public; every question in the app is original content written from the public License Law booklet, and each one carries the verbatim provision it tests.
Independent study aid. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the New York Department of State. Nothing here is legal advice — verify against the current official Notary Public License Law booklet before relying on any point for professional purposes.
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