How to Become a Notary in Washington — Requirements & Fees

How to become a notary public in Washington: a surety bond, remote online notarization — verified from Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL).

Source-verified

Requirements below are drawn from Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL), Notary Public Program - NOT the Secretary of State, which is where most states put notaries and which is the first thing to get wrong about Washington. RCW 42.45.010 defines 'Department' as 'the department of licensing' and 'Director' as 'the director of licensing or the director's designee', and every commissioning, endorsement, discipline and rulemaking power in chapter 42.45 RCW runs to that director. The Secretary of State's remaining role is downstream and separate: DOL states 'We don't currently provide Apostilles and Certificates of Authority ... The Office of the Secretary of State provides Apostilles and Certificates of Authority.' DOL calls the credential a LICENSE throughout its own consumer-facing pages ('Get your license', 'Renew or update your license', 'License fees') while the statute calls it a COMMISSION - both words are the state's own and both are recorded. (official site) and last verified August 13, 2026. Boards change fees and rules often — confirm before acting.

Requirements at a glance

1) MEET THE STATUTORY QUALIFICATIONS (RCW 42.45.200(2); DOL 'Meet the requirements'): 'At least 18 years old'; 'Able to read and write English'; 'Live in Washington or have a place of employment or practice in Washington'; and not be disqualified under RCW 42.45.210. 2) GET THE OATH OF OFFICE NOTARIZED. RCW 42.45.200(3): 'Before issuance of a commission as a notary public, an applicant for the commission shall execute an oath of office and submit it to the department in the format prescribed by the director in rule'; WAC 308-30-030(1)(c) requires 'A signed and notarized oath of office'; DOL's document list begins 'Electronic copy of your notarized Oath of Office form'. Washington's oath is sworn BEFORE you apply, not after appointment. 3) BUY THE $10,000 SURETY BOND FIRST. WAC 308-30-030(1)(a) requires 'Evidence of a ten thousand dollar surety bond, signed by the notary public, that conforms to RCW 42.45.200(4).' Buy the bond before the license - DOL: 'Do I renew my bond first or my notary license? Renew your bond first.' 4) CHOOSE YOUR COMMISSION NAME CAREFULLY: 'an applicant shall provide both their legal name and their commission name. The applicant's commission name must contain their surname, and at least the initials of the applicant's first and middle name' (WAC 308-30-030(2)) - and every notarial certificate must then be signed 'using the exact name that appears on the notary's certificate of commission' (WAC 308-30-100). 5) APPLY AND PAY, online through SecureAccess Washington (SAW) or by mail with the Notary Public Commission Application, a copy of the signed surety bond and a check for $40. DOL warns: 'don't send the Errors and Omissions policy' - E&O is not the bond. 6) WAIT. 'Allow at least 30 days (we don't have expedited service).' An incomplete application is held 30 days: 'After the thirty day period, the application shall be canceled and any application fees forfeited' (WAC 308-30-040(2)). 7) GET THE STAMP - AFTER the commission, never before. RCW 42.45.150(1): 'It is unlawful for any person intentionally to manufacture, give, sell, procure, or possess a seal or stamp evidencing the current appointment of a person as a notary public until the director has issued a notary commission'; WAC 308-30-080(1) requires the notary to show the commission certificate to the vendor, and DOL adds the consumer-protection gloss 'By law, the vendor must see a copy of your notary license before making your stamp or seal. If they don't ask, they're not a reputable vendor and you should go to another vendor.' 8) START THE JOURNAL. A physical bound journal is mandatory from the first act; see journal_requirement. 9) DO NOT ACT EARLY: 'An applicant may not perform any notarial acts on a tangible or electronic record before receiving a notary public commission and the appropriate endorsement from the department' (WAC 308-30-040(3)). TO NOTARIZE ELECTRONIC RECORDS: add the $15 electronic records notary public endorsement, then name your tamper-evident technology provider to DOL within 30 days and before your first electronic act. TO NOTARIZE REMOTELY: hold the electronic endorsement, then separately request the remote notary endorsement - by SAW, or by emailing [email protected] (or writing to the program) with the name of your remote notarization software - and 'Wait until we've issued approval before remotely notarizing signatures.'

Legal basis

Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL), Notary Public Program - NOT the Secretary of State, which is where most states put notaries and which is the first thing to get wrong about Washington. RCW 42.45.010 defines ‘Department’ as ’the department of licensing’ and ‘Director’ as ’the director of licensing or the director’s designee’, and every commissioning, endorsement, discipline and rulemaking power in chapter 42.45 RCW runs to that director. The Secretary of State’s remaining role is downstream and separate: DOL states ‘We don’t currently provide Apostilles and Certificates of Authority … The Office of the Secretary of State provides Apostilles and Certificates of Authority.’ DOL calls the credential a LICENSE throughout its own consumer-facing pages (‘Get your license’, ‘Renew or update your license’, ‘License fees’) while the statute calls it a COMMISSION - both words are the state’s own and both are recorded. commissions notaries public in Washington. Every figure below is verified against the commissioning authority’s own official pages and dated.

What it’s called

WASHINGTON’S OWN AGENCY AND ITS OWN STATUTE USE DIFFERENT WORDS, AND BOTH ARE CORRECT HERE. The statute says COMMISSION - RCW 42.45.200 is headed ‘Commission - Qualifications - Oath - Surety bond - Commission term’ and speaks of the director issuing ‘a commission as a notary public’. The Department of Licensing says LICENSE everywhere a member of the public will land: ‘Get your license: Notaries public’, ‘Renew or update your license’, ‘License fees’, ‘How long will it take to get my notary license?’, ‘Why am I issued a 2-year license?’. So ‘Washington notary license’ is not merely a folk term - it is DOL’s own word, and unusually the searcher’s phrasing and the agency’s phrasing agree. Other folk terms for the same thing: ’notary certification’, ‘getting your notary’, ‘WA notary commission’. THE STATUTE’S WORD FOR THE BOND IS ‘ASSURANCE’ (RCW 42.45.200(4)) while the rule and every DOL page say ‘surety bond’ - a synonym pair that will trip a keyword search of the statute. ‘Electronic records notary public’ is the statutory name for what other states call an eNotary; DOL and the rules also call it an ’electronic notary endorsement’ and an ’electronic records notary endorsement’. ‘Remote notary endorsement’ and ‘remote notarial acts endorsement’ both appear in WAC 308-30-030 for the third credential; ‘RON’ and ‘remote online notarization’ are the national terms for it. DOL states the distinction plainly: ‘An electronic records notarization is the process of notarizing where electronic signatures get applied to electronic documents. This happens in the physical present of the notary and the signer … A remote notarization is the act of notarizing without being in the physical presence of a customer.’ ‘Temporary remote notary license’ names a pandemic-era credential that no longer exists - ‘Temporary remote notary licenses expired on August 31, 2021.’ ‘Notario’ and ’notario publico’ are not synonyms in Washington and using them is unlawful for most notaries: RCW 42.45.230(3) bars any notary other than a Washington-licensed attorney or a limited license legal technician acting in scope from using either term. ‘Notary signing agent’ and ’loan signing agent’ appear in no Washington statute, rule or DOL page read for this record; Washington issues no such credential. The chapter’s own short title is ’the 2018 revised uniform law on notarial acts’ (RCW 42.45.900).

Types of notary commission

Notary public commission (traditional / tangible records) — An individual at least 18 years old who can read and write English and who lives in Washington or has a place of employment or practice in Washington Issued by the Director of Licensing under RCW 42.45.200. ‘A commission to act as a notary public authorizes the notary public to perform notarial acts. The commission does not provide the notary public any immunity or benefit conferred by law of this state on public officials or employees’ (RCW 42.45.200(6)). No examination and no training course - see exam and training_requirement.
Electronic records notary public endorsement — A Washington notary public who wants to notarize ELECTRONIC records with the signer still physically present A separate $15 endorsement on the existing commission, and it is a hard gate: ‘A notary public may not perform notarial acts with respect to electronic records unless the notary public holds a commission as an electronic records notary public’ (RCW 42.45.190(1)). WAC 308-30-030(4) allows an applicant to hold or to be simultaneously applying for the underlying commission. SOFTWARE MUST BE NAMED BEFORE YOU ACT: ‘An individual applying for an electronic records notary public endorsement must inform the department within thirty days of applying of the tamper-evident technology provider that they have enrolled with before they perform their first electronic notarial act’ (WAC 308-30-030(5)); DOL puts it as ‘You must give us the name of the software you’ll be using within 30 days of receiving the endorsement. You can’t notarize electronic records until we’ve received the name of your software.’
Remote notary endorsement — A Washington notary public who ALREADY holds an electronic records notary public endorsement and wants to notarize for signers appearing by audio-video communication technology A THIRD, STACKED credential - Washington is unusual in requiring two endorsements, not one, for remote work. DOL: ‘A licensed notary with an electronic records notary endorsement is eligible to get a remote notary endorsement. You must apply for the remote endorsement separately. You must have BOTH endorsements before practicing remote notarial acts.’ WAC 308-30-030(7) permits applying for all three at once. No separate fee appears in the WAC 308-30-060 fee table or in DOL’s published fee list; DOL takes the request by email or mail with the name of the remote notarization software and says ‘Wait until we’ve issued approval before remotely notarizing signatures.’ Both endorsements are term-bound: ‘an electronic records notary public endorsement and the remote notary endorsement are valid from the date the endorsement is issued by the department, and continues as long as the notary public’s current commission remains valid’ (WAC 308-30-050(2)). TEMPORARY PANDEMIC-ERA REMOTE LICENSES ARE DEAD: ‘Temporary remote notary licenses expired on August 31, 2021.’

Who can be commissioned

STATUTORY QUALIFICATIONS, RCW 42.45.200(2): ‘An applicant for a commission as a notary public must: (a) Be at least eighteen years of age; (b) Be a resident of or have a place of employment or practice in this state; (c) Be able to read and write English; and (d) Not be disqualified to receive a commission under RCW 42.45.210.’ DOL restates them as ‘At least 18 years old’, ‘Able to read and write English’, ‘Live in Washington or have a place of employment or practice in Washington’. NOTE WHAT IS ABSENT: chapter 42.45 RCW imposes no citizenship or immigration-status requirement, and none appears in WAC 308-30 or on any DOL notary page read on 2026-08-13 - Washington’s list is age, nexus, English literacy and non-disqualification. CRIMINAL HISTORY - DOL’S OWN PRACTICE STATEMENT, WHICH IS NARROWER THAN A BLANKET BAR: ‘I was convicted of a crime in the past. Does this disqualify me from becoming a notary? You could be disqualified if you’ve been convicted within the past 5 years of any felony or gross misdemeanor relating to the practice of a notary (for example, a theft conviction). We look at each case on an individual basis.’ The underlying authority is RCW 42.45.210 (grounds to deny, refuse to renew, revoke, suspend or condition a commission), read together with chapter 18.235 RCW, the Uniform Regulation of Business and Professions Act, which RCW 42.45.270 applies to notaries. THE BOND IS A CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY CONDITION, NOT A ONE-TIME FILING: ‘A notary public may perform notarial acts in this state only during the period that a valid assurance is on file with the department’ (RCW 42.45.200(4)), and failure ’to maintain an assurance as provided in RCW 42.45.200(4)’ is itself a ground for action under RCW 42.45.210. NAME RULE AS AN APPLICATION-LEVEL CONDITION: the commission name ‘must contain their surname, and at least the initials of the applicant’s first and middle name’ (WAC 308-30-030(2)). ENDORSEMENT PREREQUISITES: an electronic records endorsement requires holding, or simultaneously applying for, a notary public commission (RCW 42.45.200(7)(a); WAC 308-30-030(4)); a remote notary endorsement requires holding, or simultaneously applying for, the electronic records endorsement (WAC 308-30-030(7)). REPORTING DUTY THAT KEEPS ELIGIBILITY CURRENT: ‘If any of the information submitted on a notary public’s commission or endorsement applications pursuant to WAC 308-30-030 changes, the notary public shall report this change to the department in writing within fifteen days’ (WAC 308-30-280).

Requirements

MEET THE STATUTORY QUALIFICATIONS (RCW 42.45.200(2); DOL ‘Meet the requirements’): ‘At least 18 years old’; ‘Able to read and write English’; ‘Live in Washington or have a place of employment or practice in Washington’; and not be disqualified under RCW 42.45.210. 2) GET THE OATH OF OFFICE NOTARIZED. RCW 42.45.200(3): ‘Before issuance of a commission as a notary public, an applicant for the commission shall execute an oath of office and submit it to the department in the format prescribed by the director in rule’; WAC 308-30-030(1)(c) requires ‘A signed and notarized oath of office’; DOL’s document list begins ‘Electronic copy of your notarized Oath of Office form’. Washington’s oath is sworn BEFORE you apply, not after appointment. 3) BUY THE $10,000 SURETY BOND FIRST. WAC 308-30-030(1)(a) requires ‘Evidence of a ten thousand dollar surety bond, signed by the notary public, that conforms to RCW 42.45.200(4).’ Buy the bond before the license - DOL: ‘Do I renew my bond first or my notary license? Renew your bond first.’ 4) CHOOSE YOUR COMMISSION NAME CAREFULLY: ‘an applicant shall provide both their legal name and their commission name. The applicant’s commission name must contain their surname, and at least the initials of the applicant’s first and middle name’ (WAC 308-30-030(2)) - and every notarial certificate must then be signed ‘using the exact name that appears on the notary’s certificate of commission’ (WAC 308-30-100). 5) APPLY AND PAY, online through SecureAccess Washington (SAW) or by mail with the Notary Public Commission Application, a copy of the signed surety bond and a check for $40. DOL warns: ‘don’t send the Errors and Omissions policy’ - E&O is not the bond. 6) WAIT. ‘Allow at least 30 days (we don’t have expedited service).’ An incomplete application is held 30 days: ‘After the thirty day period, the application shall be canceled and any application fees forfeited’ (WAC 308-30-040(2)). 7) GET THE STAMP - AFTER the commission, never before. RCW 42.45.150(1): ‘It is unlawful for any person intentionally to manufacture, give, sell, procure, or possess a seal or stamp evidencing the current appointment of a person as a notary public until the director has issued a notary commission’; WAC 308-30-080(1) requires the notary to show the commission certificate to the vendor, and DOL adds the consumer-protection gloss ‘By law, the vendor must see a copy of your notary license before making your stamp or seal. If they don’t ask, they’re not a reputable vendor and you should go to another vendor.’ 8) START THE JOURNAL. A physical bound journal is mandatory from the first act; see journal_requirement. 9) DO NOT ACT EARLY: ‘An applicant may not perform any notarial acts on a tangible or electronic record before receiving a notary public commission and the appropriate endorsement from the department’ (WAC 308-30-040(3)). TO NOTARIZE ELECTRONIC RECORDS: add the $15 electronic records notary public endorsement, then name your tamper-evident technology provider to DOL within 30 days and before your first electronic act. TO NOTARIZE REMOTELY: hold the electronic endorsement, then separately request the remote notary endorsement - by SAW, or by emailing [email protected] (or writing to the program) with the name of your remote notarization software - and ‘Wait until we’ve issued approval before remotely notarizing signatures.’

Training

Washington does not require a training course.

NOT REQUIRED - Washington asks for no education course for any of its three notary credentials, and DOL says so in terms while urging a class anyway: ‘Will I have to take a training class before I can become a notary? No, a training class isn’t required in Washington. However, your role as a notary public is extremely important and shouldn’t be taken lightly. In order to clearly understand the laws, duties, and responsibilities of being a notary public, we strongly urge you to take a class.’ DOL repeats the recommendation on its resources page - ‘Although you aren’t required to complete an education course to become a notary in Washington, we recommend it because you’ll learn how to perform notarial acts correctly’ - and in the post-commission checklist: ‘Take an OPTIONAL notary education class. Contact education providers for more information.’ DOL also publishes a free ‘Training video on notarial acts’. Sourced negative, tiers searched on 2026-08-13: chapter 42.45 RCW in full (the words education, course and training appear in no qualification provision - RCW 42.45.200(2) lists only age, nexus, English literacy and non-disqualification); chapter 308-30 WAC in full, including the application-process rule WAC 308-30-030, which lists exactly three application contents (bond evidence, fee, notarized oath) and no course; and DOL’s Get your license, Fees, Renew or update, Frequently asked questions, Laws and rules, and Resources and publications pages. NOTHING CHANGES AT RENEWAL EITHER - see ce_hours. EDUCATION PROVIDERS EXIST BUT ARE NOT STATE-APPROVED: DOL links a ’list of education providers offering notary courses’ without approving, certifying or pricing any of them, and no Washington source read on 2026-08-13 establishes a state approval scheme for notary course providers.

Exam

Washington does not require an exam.

NOT REQUIRED, stated by the agency in one line: ‘Will I have to take a test before I can become a notary? No, testing isn’t required in Washington.’ Sourced negative, tiers searched on 2026-08-13: RCW 42.45.200 (the qualification provision, which lists age, residency or place of employment or practice, English literacy and non-disqualification, and nothing else); the whole of chapter 42.45 RCW, which contains no examination provision; the whole of chapter 308-30 WAC, whose application rule WAC 308-30-030 requires only bond evidence, the fee and a notarized oath of office; and DOL’s Get your license, Fees, Renew or update, FAQ, Laws and rules and Resources and publications pages. NO EXAMINATION EXISTS FOR THE ENDORSEMENTS EITHER - the electronic records endorsement is granted on application, fee and disclosure of the tamper-evident technology provider (WAC 308-30-030(3)-(5)), and the remote notary endorsement on application plus the name of the remote notarization software; neither rule nor page mentions a test. WHAT WASHINGTON SUBSTITUTES FOR AN EXAM is the sworn oath of office filed with the application and the $10,000 bond standing behind every act.

Your surety bond

REQUIRED: a $10,000 surety bond, filed with the application and maintained for the whole term - and in Washington the bond does something extra that catches people out, because IT SETS THE LENGTH OF YOUR COMMISSION. AMOUNT: WAC 308-30-030(1)(a) requires ‘Evidence of a ten thousand dollar surety bond, signed by the notary public, that conforms to RCW 42.45.200(4)’; DOL’s document list says ‘Electronic copy of your signed $10,000 surety bond.’ THE STATUTE CALLS IT AN ‘ASSURANCE’: RCW 42.45.200(4) - ’the applicant for a commission shall submit to the director an assurance in the form of a surety bond in the amount established by the director in rule. The assurance must be issued by a surety or other entity licensed or authorized to write surety bonds in this state. The assurance must be effective for a four-year term or for a term that expires on the date the notary public’s commission expires … If a notary public violates law with respect to notaries public in this state, the surety or issuing entity is liable under the assurance. The surety or issuing entity shall give at least thirty days’ notice to the department before canceling the assurance. The surety or issuing entity shall notify the department not later than thirty days after making a payment to a claimant under the assurance. A NOTARY PUBLIC MAY PERFORM NOTARIAL ACTS IN THIS STATE ONLY DURING THE PERIOD THAT A VALID ASSURANCE IS ON FILE WITH THE DEPARTMENT.’ THE TERM-LENGTH CONSEQUENCE, WHICH IS THE MOST PRACTICALLY IMPORTANT SENTENCE ON THIS PAGE: ‘The term of a notary public commission shall expire on the expiration date of the notary public’s surety bond, no more than four years after their commission date’ (WAC 308-30-050(1)); RCW 42.45.200(5) says the director issues the commission ‘for a term of four years or for a term that expires on the date of expiration of the assurance, whichever comes first.’ DOL fields the resulting complaint as an FAQ: ‘Why am I issued a 2-year license? Notary licenses are valid for 4 years. We base the expiration date for the license on the expiration date of the surety bond. You can purchase surety bonds for 4-year periods. If the surety bond purchased expires in 2 years, then the notary license would only be valid for 2 years.’ BUY A 4-YEAR BOND OR PAY $42 AGAIN EARLY. E&O INSURANCE IS NOT THE BOND AND IS NOT REQUIRED: ‘Does my Errors and Omissions Policy cover the surety bond requirements? No, you are required to submit a copy of the surety bond given or sent to you by the insurance or bond company’, and DOL’s mail-in instructions say plainly ‘don’t send the Errors and Omissions policy’. No Washington source read on 2026-08-13 requires E&O for any of the three credentials. PREMIUM IS NOT REGULATED: ‘You can get a 4-year, $10,000 bond from any insurance or bonding company licensed to do surety in Washington … The cost will vary from company to company and our office doesn’t regulate how much the bonding company charges.’ RENEWAL ORDER: bond first, then licence - ‘You need to have a surety bond with an issue date and expiration date before you can renew your license.’ THE BOND IS YOURS, NOT YOUR EMPLOYER’S: a stamp, licence and bond ‘are the exclusive property of the notary public … and shouldn’t be surrendered to an employer upon termination of employment, regardless of whether the employer paid for the seal/stamp, license, or bond.’

Fees

PAID TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING (WAC 308-30-060 and DOL’s published fee page, both read live 2026-08-13, and they agree): application for a notary public commission $40; application for an electronic records notary public endorsement $15; renewal of a notary public commission $42; renewal of an electronic records notary public endorsement $15; licence print fee $5. DOL’s page expresses the renewals as a combined figure - ‘Renewal fee without endorsement $42’ and ‘Renewal fee with endorsement $57’, which is the $42 plus the $15 - and adds two free items: ‘Name change - No fee’ and ‘Address change - No fee’. NO FEE IS PUBLISHED ANYWHERE FOR THE REMOTE NOTARY ENDORSEMENT: it appears in neither the WAC 308-30-060 fee table nor DOL’s fee page, and DOL’s instructions for adding it (email [email protected] or mail the program with the name of your remote notarization software) mention no payment. That silence is recorded as a silence, not converted into a claim that it is free. PAYMENT RULES: ‘We cannot accept payments over the phone’; online payment by ‘Visa, MasterCard, or American Express (no gift cards)’; cheques and money orders payable to Department of Licensing; and ‘All fees are non-refundable.’ FEES CAN BE FORFEITED: an application left incomplete for 30 days ‘shall be canceled and any application fees forfeited’ (WAC 308-30-040(2)). PAID TO A THIRD PARTY AND NOT SET BY THE STATE: the $10,000 surety bond premium (‘our office doesn’t regulate how much the bonding company charges’); the official stamp, ordered ‘from your bonding company or any stamp provider such as an office supply store’; any optional notary education class; and the tamper-evident and communication technology for electronic and remote acts, though WAC 308-30-130(5) does require that ‘A technology provider shall provide prorated fees to align the usage and cost of the tamper-evident technology with the term limit of the notary public electronic records notary public endorsement.’ VETERAN FEE RELIEF EXISTS: ‘If you’re a U.S. veteran, you may be eligible for partial reimbursement of your fees.’

How long the commission lasts, and renewing it

4 years MAXIMUM - but Washington is the state where the answer is genuinely ‘it depends on your bond’, and a page that says a flat four years is wrong for a large share of Washington notaries. WAC 308-30-050(1): ‘The term of a notary public commission shall expire on the expiration date of the notary public’s surety bond, no more than four years after their commission date.’ RCW 42.45.200(5): the director issues the commission ‘for a term of four years or for a term that expires on the date of expiration of the assurance, WHICHEVER COMES FIRST.’ DOL fields the consequence as a standing FAQ: ‘Why am I issued a 2-year license? Notary licenses are valid for 4 years. We base the expiration date for the license on the expiration date of the surety bond. You can purchase surety bonds for 4-year periods. If the surety bond purchased expires in 2 years, then the notary license would only be valid for 2 years.’ A two-year bond therefore buys a two-year commission for the same $40. ENDORSEMENTS ARE NOT SEPARATELY TIMED: ‘an electronic records notary public endorsement and the remote notary endorsement are valid from the date the endorsement is issued by the department, and continues as long as the notary public’s current commission remains valid’ (WAC 308-30-050(2)), and any restriction, suspension or revocation of the commission ‘will automatically have the same effect on any endorsement the notary public holds’ (WAC 308-30-270(1)). THE STAMP FOLLOWS THE TERM, NOT THE CALENDAR: ‘The seal or stamp used at the time that a notarial act is performed must be the seal or stamp evidencing the notary public’s commission in effect as of such time, even if the notary public has received the seal or stamp evidencing his or her next commission’ (RCW 42.45.150(4)). AND THE COMMISSION MUST BE RE-EARNED EACH TERM: ‘A notary public shall reapply with the department for each commission term before performing notarial acts’ (WAC 308-30-030(8)). RENEW EARLY OR START OVER - Washington has NO grace period and no late renewal. DOL: ‘You must renew your notary public license every 4 years’; ‘You can renew up to 120 days before your license expires’; and ‘IF YOUR LICENSE EXPIRES, YOU CAN’T RENEW IT AND MUST APPLY FOR A NEW LICENSE.’ WHAT RENEWAL TAKES: your licence number, ‘Copy of your signed $10,000 surety bond’, and the renewal fee - $42 without an endorsement, $57 with the electronic records endorsement. Renew online through SecureAccess Washington, or mail the Notary Public Commission Renewal Application with a copy of the surety bond and a cheque. ORDER OF OPERATIONS, STATED BY DOL AS AN FAQ BECAUSE PEOPLE GET IT BACKWARDS: ‘Do I renew my bond first or my notary license? Renew your bond first. You need to have a surety bond with an issue date and expiration date before you can renew your license. You must also submit a copy of your surety bond along with the renewal.’ NO EDUCATION, NO EXAM, NO CONTINUING EDUCATION at renewal - see ce_hours. THE NEW TERM IS AGAIN BOUND BY THE NEW BOND (WAC 308-30-050(1)), so a short bond shortens the new term exactly as it did the first. A NEW STAMP FOLLOWS A NEW COMMISSION, and the old one may not be used past its own expiry date even if the new one has arrived (RCW 42.45.150(4)). MID-TERM CHANGES ARE FREE BUT DEADLINED: name and address changes carry ‘No fee’, and a name change requires ‘a copy of your surety bond RIDER with your new name’ before DOL issues a new certificate you can take to a stamp vendor; separately, any change to information submitted on the commission or endorsement application ‘shall be report[ed] … to the department in writing within fifteen days’ (WAC 308-30-280). ENDING A CREDENTIAL: ‘A notary public may terminate the electronic records notary public endorsement or the remote notary endorsement and maintain the underlying notary public commission’ (WAC 308-30-270(3)), and a notary whose commission is terminated or expired ‘shall disable their official stamp by destroying, defacing, damaging, or securing the device against use’ while still keeping the journals for ten years. NONE. Washington requires no continuing education to hold or renew a notary public commission, an electronic records notary public endorsement or a remote notary endorsement. Sourced negative, tiers searched on 2026-08-13: chapter 42.45 RCW in full, which contains no continuing-education provision anywhere and conditions renewal only on reapplication (WAC 308-30-030(8) - ‘A notary public shall reapply with the department for each commission term before performing notarial acts’); chapter 308-30 WAC in full, whose renewal-relevant rules (308-30-030, 308-30-050, 308-30-060) require an application, a bond and a fee and nothing else; and DOL’s Renew or update your license page, whose complete ‘Gather what you’ll need’ list is ‘Your license number’, ‘Copy of your signed $10,000 surety bond’ and ‘Payment for the renewal fee’. WHAT DOL DOES INSTEAD OF REQUIRING HOURS is recommend them: ‘Take an optional notary education class. Contact education providers for more information’, and ‘we strongly urge you to take a class.’ It also publishes a free training video on notarial acts. NO STATE APPROVAL SCHEME for notary education providers was located in any source read, so the ’list of education providers’ DOL links is a convenience list, not an approved-provider register - a real difference from states that approve curricula.

Your seal or stamp

A STAMP IS REQUIRED, MAY NOT LAWFULLY EXIST BEFORE THE COMMISSION DOES, AND MUST CARRY THE COMMISSION NUMBER. CRIMINAL-EDGED TIMING RULE: ‘It is unlawful for any person intentionally to manufacture, give, sell, procure, or possess a seal or stamp evidencing the current appointment of a person as a notary public UNTIL the director has issued a notary commission’ (RCW 42.45.150(1)); WAC 308-30-080(1) requires the notary to procure a stamp ‘only after receiving a certificate evidencing the notary public’s commission from the department, and [to] provide a copy of this certificate to their chosen seal or stamp vendor as part of procuring the stamp.’ DOL turns it into a consumer test: ‘By law, the vendor must see a copy of your notary license before making your stamp or seal. If they don’t ask, they’re not a reputable vendor and you should go to another vendor.’ REQUIRED CONTENT is the union of statute and rule, and the rule adds one item the statute does not spell out. RCW 42.45.150(1) requires ‘The words “notary public”; The words “state of Washington”; The notary public’s name as commissioned; The notary public’s commission expiration date; and Any other information required by the director.’ WAC 308-30-070(1) supplies that last item: the same four plus ‘(e) The notary public’s commission number.’ SIZE AND FORM (WAC 308-30-070(2)-(4)): ‘The type on this seal or stamp shall be a minimum of 8 point type’; ‘The seal or stamp shall be minimum one and five-eighths inches diameter if circular, or one inch wide by one and five-eighths inches long if rectangular’; ‘The face of the seal or stamp shall be permanently affixed’; ‘If the stamp is affixed to a tangible record, it shall be applied in permanent ink and shall be capable of being photocopied’; and ‘The seal or stamp shall NOT contain the Washington state seal.’ RCW 42.45.150(3) adds that it ‘must be capable of being copied together with the record to which it is affixed or attached or with which it is logically associated.’ WHICH STAMP TO USE: ‘The seal or stamp used at the time that a notarial act is performed must be the seal or stamp evidencing the notary public’s commission in effect as of such time, even if the notary public has received the seal or stamp evidencing his or her next commission’ (RCW 42.45.150(4)). SECURITY AND END OF LIFE (RCW 42.45.160; WAC 308-30-270(4)): the notary is responsible for the device’s security and ‘may not allow another individual to use the device to perform a notarial act’; on resignation, revocation or expiration, or on the expiry date shown on the device, the notary ‘shall disable the stamping device by destroying, defacing, damaging, erasing, or securing it against use in a manner that renders it unusable’, and a personal representative, guardian or anyone knowingly holding it must do the same on death or adjudicated incompetency. DOL’s own gloss is looser than the statute and both are recorded: ‘When and how can I dispose of my notary stamp? You can discard the notary stamp after the expiration date of your commission. We have no authority over how you dispose of your notary stamp.’ LOST OR STOLEN: notify DOL in writing within ten business days; no replacement may be obtained until DOL has been notified; ‘A replacement official seal or stamp must contain some variance from the original’; and if the original turns up after a replacement is made, ’the original seal or stamp shall be destroyed’ (WAC 308-30-090). THE STAMP IS THE NOTARY’S PROPERTY: it ‘shall not be surrendered to an employer upon termination of employment, regardless of whether the employer paid for the seal or for the notary’s bond or appointment fees’ (WAC 308-30-080(3)). ELECTRONIC STAMP: ‘a digital image that appears in the likeness or representation of a traditional physical notary public official stamp meeting the requirements of RCW 42.45.150 and WAC 308-30-070’, usable only for electronic notarial acts and generated only by the notary to whom the technology is registered (WAC 308-30-180). GRANDFATHERING, NOW HISTORIC: a notary commissioned as of July 1, 2018 could keep the old seal to the end of that commission (WAC 308-30-080(2)).

Keeping a journal

Washington requires a notary journal.

REQUIRED FOR EVERY NOTARIAL ACT SINCE JULY 1, 2018, AND THE PAPER BOOK IS MANDATORY - an electronic journal is only ever an addition, never a substitute. That is the single most misstated Washington fact. STATUTE, RCW 42.45.180: ‘(1) A notary public shall maintain a journal in which the notary public chronicles all notarial acts that the notary public performs. The notary public shall retain the journal for ten years after the performance of the last notarial act chronicled in the journal … (3) A notary public shall maintain only ONE TANGIBLE JOURNAL AT A TIME to chronicle notarial acts, whether those notarial acts are performed regarding tangible or electronic records. The journal must be a permanent, bound register with numbered pages. An electronic records notary public may ALSO maintain an electronic format journal, which can be kept concurrently with the tangible journal.’ DOL states the same rule in plain words: ‘You must keep a PHYSICAL journal of all your notarizations. You may also keep an electronic journal for your own records, but IT CAN’T REPLACE THE PHYSICAL BOOK.’ DOL confirms the start date: ‘Am I required to keep a journal? Yes. As of July 1, 2018, you’re required to maintain a journal of notarial acts.’ ENTRY CONTENTS, made contemporaneously (RCW 42.45.180(4), expanded by WAC 308-30-200(1)(b)): the date and time of the notarial act; a description of the record, if any, and type of notarial act; the full name and address of each individual for whom the act is performed; a description of the notary’s method of identifying the principal; and the principal’s signature (or an authorized party’s signature under RCW 42.45.070) - ‘or a notation in the notary journal that the notarial act was performed via remote notarization.’ DOL’s summary adds ‘signature’ to the name and address and ‘A brief description of the identification method.’ REMOTE ACTS ARE STILL LOGGED ON PAPER: ‘A notary performing remote notarization must maintain a tangible notary journal … Notaries performing remote notarization are not required to collect and maintain the signatures of the signers when those notarizations were performed remotely. Notaries must note in their tangible notary log that a notarization was performed remotely’ (WAC 308-30-200(4)). BATCHING IS ALLOWED: ‘If a notary public performs notarial acts involving different statements or documents for the same individual on the same date, the notary public may record a single entry … The entry shall include the number of statements or documents notarized’ (WAC 308-30-190(2)). AN EMPLOYER’S RECORDS DO NOT COUNT: ‘The fact that the notary public’s employer or contractor keeps a record of notarial acts shall not relieve the notary of the duties required by these rules’ (WAC 308-30-190(3)), and the journal ‘is the exclusive property of the notary public, and shall not be surrendered to an employer upon demand or termination’ (WAC 308-30-200(3)). STORAGE: ‘The journal shall be kept in a locked and secured area, under the direct and exclusive control of the notary public. Failure to secure the journal may be cause for the director to take administrative action against the commission’ (RCW 42.45.180(5)); a lost or stolen journal must be reported promptly. THE ONE EXEMPTION IS NARROW AND CONDITIONAL: ‘a notary public who is an attorney licensed to practice law in this state is not required to chronicle a notarial act in a journal IF documentation of the notarial act is otherwise maintained by professional practice’ (RCW 42.45.180(2)) - it is an alternative-documentation rule, not a blanket attorney pass. AN ELECTRONIC JOURNAL, IF KEPT, must be ‘maintained only in addition to the tangible journal’, hold everything the paper journal holds, require ‘a password or other secure means of authentication’, be tamper-evident, ‘Create a duplicate record of the journal as a backup’, and be able to produce tangible or electronic copies of any entry (WAC 308-30-200(2)). DESTRUCTION IS PRESCRIBED, NOT OPTIONAL: at ten years the paper journal ‘is to be destroyed by shredding or other destruction that leaves any entry in the journal illegible’, and an electronic journal by deleting the records and any remaining tamper-evident technology - unless another jurisdiction’s law requires a longer hold (WAC 308-30-210). ON THE WAY OUT: ‘On resignation from, or the revocation or suspension of, a notary public’s commission, the notary public shall retain the notary public’s journal … and inform the department where the journal is located’ (RCW 42.45.180(6)), and access instructions for any electronic journal must be given to DOL on resignation, revocation, expiry without renewal, death or adjudicated incompetence.

Online (remote) notarization

Washington authorizes remote online notarization, and it requires a registration separate from your commission.

AUTHORIZED SINCE OCTOBER 1, 2020, AND IT TAKES TWO STACKED ENDORSEMENTS, NOT ONE. The enabling act is 2019 c 154, which added RCW 42.45.280 and amended RCW 42.45.040; the statute’s own note reads ‘Effective date - 2019 c 154: “This act takes effect October 1, 2020.”’ RCW 42.45.040 now begins ‘EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN RCW 42.45.280, if a notarial act relates to a statement made in or a signature executed on a record, the individual making the statement or executing the signature shall appear personally before the notarial officer’, and RCW 42.45.280(2) supplies the exception: ‘A remotely located individual complies with RCW 42.45.040 by using communication technology to appear before an electronic records notary public.’ THE TWO-ENDORSEMENT STACK: DOL - ‘A licensed notary with an electronic records notary endorsement is eligible to get a remote notary endorsement. You must apply for the remote endorsement separately. You must have BOTH endorsements before practicing remote notarial acts’; WAC 308-30-290(1) opens ‘A notary public who has received BOTH an electronic records notary public endorsement AND a remote notarial acts endorsement from the department may perform the following remote notarial acts’. HOW TO ADD THE REMOTE ENDORSEMENT: through SecureAccess Washington, or ‘Email us at [email protected] to request this endorsement and include the name of your remote notarization software’ (or mail the program). ‘Wait until we’ve issued approval before remotely notarizing signatures.’ NOTIFICATION IS STATUTORY: ‘Before an electronic records notary public performs the electronic records notary public’s initial notarial act under this section, the electronic records notary public must notify the director that the electronic records notary public will be performing notarial acts and identify the technologies the electronic records notary public intends to use’ (RCW 42.45.280(7)). WHAT MAY BE DONE REMOTELY (WAC 308-30-290(1)): taking an acknowledgment; taking a verification on oath or affirmation; witnessing or attesting a signature; certifying or attesting a copy; certifying that an event has occurred or an act has been performed; and noting a protest of a negotiable instrument only if acting under the authority of a licensed attorney or of a regulated financial institution. LOCATION: ‘An electronic records notary public LOCATED IN THIS STATE may perform a notarial act using communication technology for a remotely located individual’ (RCW 42.45.280(3)); DOL adds ‘You can also conduct notarization for clients who aren’t located in Washington.’ For a signer outside the United States the record must be one ’to be filed with or relat[ing] to a matter before a public official or court, governmental entity, or other entity subject to the jurisdiction of the United States’ or one involving US property or a transaction substantially connected with the US, and the act of signing must not be prohibited where the signer is. IDENTITY - WASHINGTON WRITES THE KBA QUIZ INTO ITS RULES, WHICH FEW STATES DO. Absent personal knowledge or a credible witness, the notary must use ’two different types of identity proofing consisting of a credential analysis procedure AND a dynamic knowledge-based authentication assessment’ (WAC 308-30-300(1)). Credential analysis must use automated software, an authenticity test of the credential’s ‘visual, physical, or cryptographic security features’, issuing-source or authoritative-source data, and a real-time visual comparison of the credential photograph against the person on camera. The KBA quiz is specified to the question: ‘a minimum of five questions related to the individual’s personal history or identity formulated from public or private data sources’; ‘Each question must have a minimum of five possible answer choices’; ‘At least eighty percent of the questions must be answered correctly’; ‘All questions must be answered within two minutes’; one retake within twenty-four hours, with ‘a minimum of forty percent of the prior questions… replaced’; after a second failure the individual ‘is not allowed to retry with the same online notary public within twenty-four hours’; and ‘The notary public must not be able to see or record the questions or answers.’ A credible witness may themselves be remote if all three parties can use the communication technology, and the witness must be personally known to the notary or identity-proofed the same way. COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS (WAC 308-30-310): synchronous audio-visual feeds of sufficient clarity and resolution; security against unauthorized access to the live feed, the identity-verification methods and the electronic record; and ‘If a remotely located individual must exit the workflow, the individual must restart the identify verification process… from the beginning.’ CERTIFICATE: the certificate ‘must indicate that the notarial act was performed using communication technology’, satisfied by ‘This notarial act involved the use of communication technology’ or by the long-form wording ‘This record was acknowledged before me BY MEANS OF COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY on (date) by (name(s) of individuals)’ (RCW 42.45.280(4)-(5); WAC 308-30-320). RECORDING AND RETENTION: the notary or someone acting for them ‘creates an audiovisual recording of the performance of the notarial act’, retained ‘for a period of at least ten years after the recording is made’; WAC 308-30-330 adds that the recording must be password-protected or otherwise authenticated, ‘created in an industry-standard audio-visual file format’, ‘must NOT include images of any electronic record that was the subject of the remote notarial act’, must be backed up, and may be held by a contracted third-party repository under a contract that survives its own termination. An employer’s or repository’s storage ‘shall not relieve the notary of the duties required by these rules.’ NO STATE-APPROVED VENDOR LIST is published: DOL tells notaries ‘Check with the software maker to find out if their product is capable of meeting these standards.’ A FUTURE-EFFECTIVE REWRITE IS ALREADY ON THE BOOKS -.45.280 EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2027, adding remote notarization of TANGIBLE (paper) records, a remote oath/affirmation provision, and a service-of-process appointment for technology providers. Until that date the current section governs.

What you may charge

CAPPED BY RULE, AND THE CAPS WENT UP RECENTLY. WAC 308-30-220(1) sets the maximum fees: witnessing or attesting a signature $15.00; taking an acknowledgment or a verification upon oath or affirmation $15.00; certifying or attesting a copy $15.00; administering an oath or affirmation $15.00; certifying that an event has occurred or an act has been performed $15.00; and a remote notarial act $25.00. DOL flags the change on its Laws and rules page under the heading ‘Notarial acts fee changes’: ‘The maximum fees a notary may charge for notarial acts have INCREASED as follows’ - listing the same six figures - ‘These changes stem from recent changes to Chapter 308-30-220 WAC, Fees for notarial acts.’ A page quoting Washington’s older $10 cap is out of date. THE AUTHORITY IS DELEGATED, NOT LEGISLATED: RCW 42.45.170 says only that ‘The director MAY establish by rule the maximum fees that may be charged by notaries public for various notarial services’ and that ‘A notary public need not charge fees for notarial acts’ - so the numbers live in the WAC and can move without a statute. PROTESTS ARE FREE, WITH ONE EXCEPTION: ‘A notary public may not charge fees for receiving or noting a protest of a negotiable instrument’ (WAC 308-30-220(3)) - but subsection (6) overrides both that prohibition and the $15 caps for remote work: ‘Notwithstanding the maximum fees set forth in subsection (1) of this section and the prohibition set forth in subsection (3) of this section, a notary public may charge a maximum fee of $25 to perform a remote notarial act.’ COPY COSTS PASS THROUGH: ‘A notary public may additionally charge the actual costs of copying any instrument or record’ (WAC 308-30-220(4)). TRAVEL FEES ARE PERMITTED, UNCAPPED, AND CONDITIONED ON A DISCLOSURE SCRIPT: ‘A notary public may charge a travel fee when traveling to perform a notarial act if: (a) The notary public and the individual requesting the notarial act agree upon the travel fee in advance of the travel; and (b) The notary public EXPLAINS to the individual requesting the notarial act that the travel fee is in addition to the notarial fee … AND IS NOT REQUIRED BY LAW’ (WAC 308-30-220(5)). A NOTARY NEED NOT CHARGE AT ALL (RCW 42.45.170(2); WAC 308-30-220(2)). A RELATED PROHIBITION THAT IS NOT A FEE RULE BUT BITES COMMERCIALLY: ‘A notary may not endorse or promote any service, contest, or other offering if the notary’s seal or title is used in the endorsement or promotional statement’ (WAC 308-30-230).

Who does NOT need a commission — exemptions

NO EXEMPTION FROM COMMISSIONING EXISTS - and because Washington requires no course and no exam, there is almost nothing to be exempt from; the binding steps are the notarized oath, the $10,000 bond, the $40 fee and the stamp. THE ONE REAL STATUTORY CARVE-OUT IS FOR ATTORNEYS, AND IT IS ABOUT THE JOURNAL, NOT THE LICENCE: ‘a notary public who is an attorney licensed to practice law in this state is not required to chronicle a notarial act in a journal IF documentation of the notarial act is otherwise maintained by professional practice’ (RCW 42.45.180(2)). It is conditional on alternative documentation and does not touch the commission, the bond or the stamp. ATTORNEYS AND LIMITED LICENSE LEGAL TECHNICIANS ARE ALSO CARVED OUT OF THREE PROHIBITIONS in RCW 42.45.230: only they may use the term ’notario’ or ’notario publico’; only they may assist another person in selecting the appropriate notarial certificate under RCW 42.45.130; only they may advertise or represent that they can draft legal records or give legal advice; and the ban on maintaining copies or electronic images of notarized documents does not reach copies kept by an attorney or LLLT ‘acting within his or her scope of practice for the performance of legal services’. PROTESTS ARE RESTRICTED RATHER THAN EXEMPTED: an electronic or remote notary may note a protest of a negotiable instrument only if licensed to practice law in Washington, acting under the authority of a licensed attorney, or acting under the authority of a regulated financial institution (WAC 308-30-120(6), 308-30-290(1)(f)); doing it without that authority is itself a ground for discipline under RCW 42.45.210. WHAT A WASHINGTON COMMISSION DOES NOT AUTHORIZE (RCW 42.45.230(1)) - a list worth reading as the outer edge of the credential: assisting in drafting legal records, giving legal advice or otherwise practising law; acting as an immigration consultant or expert; representing a person in a judicial or administrative proceeding relating to immigration, citizenship or related matters; receiving compensation for any of those; or providing court reporting services. And the commission ‘does not provide the notary public any immunity or benefit conferred by law of this state on public officials or employees’ (RCW 42.45.200(6)). AN ADJACENT SERVICE THE PROGRAM DOES NOT PROVIDE: apostilles and certificates of authority - ‘We don’t currently provide Apostilles and Certificates of Authority … The Office of the Secretary of State provides’ them. MILITARY AND OUT-OF-STATE APPLICANTS: DOL notes generally that ‘Your military experience or training might help you meet licensing requirements’ and that a temporary licence may be available to someone moving to Washington with a current licence from another state; no Washington source read on 2026-08-13 spells out how either applies to a notary commission specifically, so nothing is asserted about it here.

How to apply

Applications are handled by Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL), Notary Public Program - NOT the Secretary of State, which is where most states put notaries and which is the first thing to get wrong about Washington. RCW 42.45.010 defines ‘Department’ as ’the department of licensing’ and ‘Director’ as ’the director of licensing or the director’s designee’, and every commissioning, endorsement, discipline and rulemaking power in chapter 42.45 RCW runs to that director. The Secretary of State’s remaining role is downstream and separate: DOL states ‘We don’t currently provide Apostilles and Certificates of Authority … The Office of the Secretary of State provides Apostilles and Certificates of Authority.’ DOL calls the credential a LICENSE throughout its own consumer-facing pages (‘Get your license’, ‘Renew or update your license’, ‘License fees’) while the statute calls it a COMMISSION - both words are the state’s own and both are recorded.. Start at the official application page .

Verify a license in Washington

Washington State Department of Licensing publishes a public license search , searchable by Not enumerated – professions.dol.wa.gov loads, but serves only a Salesforce Lightning application shell (’lightning-washington … Loading … Sorry to interrupt CSS Error / Refresh’) with no field labels in the markup (checked 2026-08-13), so the live search fields could not be read. DOL links this exact URL from its notary FAQ as the answer to ‘How can I check to see if a person is really an active notary?’ (‘You can look up a license for more information’).. It covers Washington professional licences including notaries public. WHAT THE DATABASE IS REQUIRED TO DO IS SET BY STATUTE, so its scope is known even though its form is not readable: RCW 42.45.220 - ‘The director shall maintain an electronic database of notaries public: (1) Through which a person may verify the authority of a notary public to perform notarial acts; and (2) Which indicates whether a notary public has notified the director that the notary public will be performing notarial acts on ELECTRONIC RECORDS.’ So the register is required to show electronic-records capability, not merely name and expiry. WAC 308-30-170(4) leans on the same database for electronic signatures: ‘“capable of independent verification” means that any interested individual may confirm THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT that a notary public who signed an electronic record in an official capacity had authority at that time to perform electronic notarial acts.’ CONTACT DETAILS ARE NOT IN IT: asked ‘How can I get contact information for a specific notary?’, DOL answers ‘Visit the Request Public Records portal to make your request’ - a public-records request, not a lookup. A commission’s expiry is bond-dependent (see term_years), so a Washington record’s expiration date reflects the surety bond term rather than an automatic four years.

Records come from Washington State Department of Licensing’s own system. LicensingAtlas does not hold license records and cannot confirm any individual’s status — the date on this page refers to the requirements described above, not to anyone’s credential.

Frequently asked questions

How do you become a notary public in Washington?

Five steps, and none of them is a class or a test. Meet the qualifications - at least 18 years old, able to read and write English, and living in Washington or having a place of employment or practice here. Get your Oath of Office form notarized. Buy a $10,000 surety bond from a company licensed to write surety in Washington - buy a FOUR-year bond, because your commission expires when your bond does. Apply and pay the $40 fee, online through SecureAccess Washington or by mail with a copy of the signed bond. Then, only after your commission arrives, order your stamp - the vendor must see your commission certificate first, and possessing a Washington notary stamp before the Director has issued the commission is unlawful. Allow at least 30 days; there is no expedited service.

Does Washington require notary training or an exam?

No to both, and the Department of Licensing says so directly: ‘No, a training class isn’t required in Washington’ and ‘No, testing isn’t required in Washington.’ DOL still urges a class - ‘your role as a notary public is extremely important and shouldn’t be taken lightly’ - and links a list of education providers and a free training video, but no course provider is state-approved and no hours are required at application or at renewal. What Washington requires instead is a notarized oath of office and a $10,000 bond.

Why is my Washington notary commission only 2 years instead of 4?

Because your surety bond is only two years. This is Washington’s most distinctive rule: ‘The term of a notary public commission shall expire on the expiration date of the notary public’s surety bond, no more than four years after their commission date’ (WAC 308-30-050(1)), and the statute issues the commission ‘for a term of four years or for a term that expires on the date of expiration of the assurance, whichever comes first.’ DOL’s own FAQ says it plainly: ‘You can purchase surety bonds for 4-year periods. If the surety bond purchased expires in 2 years, then the notary license would only be valid for 2 years.’ Buying a short bond costs you a full $42 renewal early.

What does a Washington notary license cost?

$40 to apply and $42 to renew, paid to the Department of Licensing. The electronic records notary endorsement is $15 to add and $15 to renew, so a renewal with that endorsement is $57. A printed copy of your licence is $5. Name changes and address changes are free. No fee is published anywhere for the remote notary endorsement - it appears in neither the WAC 308-30-060 fee table nor DOL’s fee page. On top of the state fees you pay a surety for the $10,000 bond (unregulated premium), a vendor for the stamp, and a software provider if you go electronic or remote. All state fees are non-refundable, and an application left incomplete for 30 days is cancelled with the fee forfeited.

Does a Washington notary have to keep a journal, and can it be electronic?

Yes, since July 1, 2018, and the paper book is mandatory. RCW 42.45.180(3) allows ‘only one tangible journal at a time … a permanent, bound register with numbered pages’, and an electronic journal may be kept CONCURRENTLY but never instead - DOL: ‘You may also keep an electronic journal for your own records, but it can’t replace the physical book.’ Each entry, made at the time of the act, records the date and time, a description of the record and type of act, the full name and address of each person served, your method of identifying them, and the signer’s signature - or, for a remote act, a notation that it was performed remotely. Keep the journal locked and under your exclusive control for ten years after the last act, then shred it. Your employer’s records do not substitute, and the journal is your property, not your employer’s.

What must a Washington notary stamp show?

Five things: the words ’notary public’, the words ‘state of Washington’, your name as commissioned, your commission expiration date, and your commission number (RCW 42.45.150 supplies the first four; WAC 308-30-070(1)(e) adds the number). Type must be at least 8 point. A circular stamp must be at least one and five-eighths inches in diameter; a rectangular one at least one inch by one and five-eighths inches. It must be applied in permanent ink, be photocopiable, and must NOT contain the Washington state seal. You cannot lawfully obtain or possess one until the Director has issued your commission, and the vendor must see your commission certificate - DOL says a vendor who does not ask ‘is not a reputable vendor.’

How does remote online notarization work in Washington?

You need TWO endorsements, not one. First add the $15 electronic records notary public endorsement and tell DOL the name of your tamper-evident technology provider - you cannot notarize electronic records until DOL has that name. Then apply separately for the remote notary endorsement, giving the name of your remote notarization software, and wait for approval before notarizing remotely. You must be physically in Washington for every remote act; the signer can be anywhere. Absent personal knowledge or a credible witness, you must use two types of identity proofing - credential analysis plus a knowledge-based authentication quiz whose specification is written into WAC 308-30-300: at least five questions, at least five answer choices each, 80% correct, two minutes, one retake within 24 hours with 40% new questions. The certificate must say the act ‘involved the use of communication technology’, and the audio-visual recording is kept at least ten years - without images of the record itself.

How much can a Washington notary charge?

Up to $15 per act for witnessing or attesting a signature, taking an acknowledgment or a verification on oath or affirmation, certifying or attesting a copy, administering an oath or affirmation, or certifying that an event has occurred - and up to $25 for a remote notarial act (WAC 308-30-220). DOL flags these as increases from the earlier caps, so older figures are stale. You may not charge anything for receiving or noting a protest of a negotiable instrument, except that the $25 remote cap overrides even that. You may pass through actual copying costs, and you may charge a travel fee only if you agree it in advance AND explain that it is on top of the notarial fee and ‘is not required by law’. You never have to charge at all.

Is anything about Washington's remote notarization law changing?

Yes - 2026 c 21 replaces RCW 42.45.280 effective January 1, 2027, and both versions are already printed in the code. The new version keeps everything in force today and adds three things: a Washington electronic records notary will be able to take an acknowledgment on a TANGIBLE paper record physically in front of them from a remotely located signer who identifies it on camera; a procedure for a paper record NOT in front of the notary, where the signer signs the record and a penalty-of-perjury declaration on camera and mails both within three days, after which the notary certifies ‘I witnessed, by means of communication technology, (name) sign the attached tangible record and declaration on (date)’; and express authority to administer an oath or affirmation remotely. It also makes any communication-technology, identity-proofing or storage provider that facilitates a Washington remote notarization subject to service of process through the Director. Until January 1, 2027 the current section governs.

See every license and certification LicensingAtlas covers in Washington.

Sources & verification

Last verified against these sources: August 13, 2026.

We re-fetch every cited source on a weekly schedule: see what changed at the agencies, or every correction we have ever made.

LicensingAtlas states licensing and certification requirements categorically from official sources. It is a reference, not legal or career advice, and requirements change frequently — confirm details with the issuing board before you act.