How to Become a Notary in Minnesota (2026): Requirements, Cost & Steps

Requirements verified July 19, 2026 against Minnesota Secretary of State

Minnesota charges one of the higher state filing fees in the country — $120 to the Secretary of State, plus $20 to record the commission with your county — but requires no bond, no exam, and no training. Commissions run about five years, always expiring on January 31.

Minnesota's notary math is unusual: the state fee is steep — $120, non-refundable — but that's nearly the whole cost of entry. There's no surety bond, no exam, no mandatory class. You mail the Notary Commission Application to the Secretary of State, wait about four weeks, then finish the job at the county level: recording your commission with your county's local registrar for another $20 and filing two signature samples required by statute.

Practically, budget $160–$200 (state fee, county fee, and a rectangular stamp bearing the Minnesota state seal) and a little over a month of waiting. Every commission in the state expires on the same calendar day — January 31 of the fifth year after issue — so your first term may be closer to four and a half years than five, and renewals open six months out.

Two more things worth knowing. Minnesota caps routine notary fees around $5 per act, so walk-in notarizations are a service, not a business — volume work like loan signings and remote online notarization is where commissions get used commercially. And Minnesota's RON program (in place since 2019) is one of the cheaper add-ons anywhere: registering the authorization with the Secretary of State costs nothing beyond your existing commission, and border-state residents from Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Dakotas can hold Minnesota commissions too.

Who can become a notary in Minnesota?

• Age: at least 18 years old.
• Residency: You must be a Minnesota resident (citizen or resident alien, 18 or older), or a resident of a county in Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, or Wisconsin. Non-resident applicants must designate the Minnesota Secretary of State as their agent for service of process and name the Minnesota county where their commission will be recorded.
• Background: Minnesota statute does not spell out an automatic felony bar. The application form prepared under Minnesota Statutes 359.01 may ask about your criminal history, civil litigation, and any occupational-license discipline, and the state reviews answers case by case. If you have a record, contact the Secretary of State's notary unit before paying the non-refundable $120 fee.
• Notary appointments are formally made by the governor with senate consent — in practice you simply file the application with the Secretary of State.
• An expired prior commission means filing as a new applicant rather than a renewal.

How to apply: step by step

1. Download and complete the Notary Commission Application from the Minnesota Secretary of State's website (sos.mn.gov), choosing the exact name you will use on every notarization.
2. Sign the application and submit it to the Secretary of State with the non-refundable $120 fee (check or money order payable to 'Office of the Secretary of State' if mailing). Allow about 4 weeks for processing.
3. When your commission certificate arrives, read the instructions portion — it names your county contact. Register the commission with the local registrar (or the assigned county department) of your county of residence, or your designated Minnesota county if you live out of state. The county charges a $20 recording fee.
4. At registration, provide the two signature samples Minnesota Statutes 359.061 requires: one matching your full commissioned name exactly, and one showing how you will actually sign notarizations.
5. Order your rectangular notarial stamp — no more than 3/4" by 2-1/2", with a serrated or milled border — showing the Minnesota state seal, your name as commissioned, 'Notary Public,' and your commission expiration date.
6. Optional: set up a journal. Minnesota treats the notary's official journal as the notary's personal property; keeping one is standard practice even though a paper journal is not mandated for in-person acts.

How long it takes: The Secretary of State says to allow approximately 4 weeks from the date the application reaches its office, plus the county registration step after your certificate arrives.

What it costs in Minnesota

Exam and training

Minnesota does not require an exam or a mandatory course. No required training for a standard commission. The SOS publishes how-to material (including remote-notarization resources), and private courses exist but are optional.

Can you notarize online in Minnesota? RON allowed

Yes — Minnesota authorizes remote online notarization (RON). Authorized by Minnesota Statutes 358.645 (enacted 2018, effective January 1, 2019; amended since, most recently in 2024). A remote online notary must be physically located in Minnesota when performing the act.

To add RON to your commission: You must hold an active Minnesota commission, then file the Remote Online Notarization Authorization registration with the Secretary of State before performing any remote acts. There is no additional fee for the RON authorization. You certify the communication technology you will use (it must provide simultaneous sight and sound), verify identity by personal knowledge or by ID plus credential analysis and knowledge-based authentication (five or more questions, 80% to pass), record audio-video of every remote act, and keep those recordings at least 10 years. The authorization rides on your commission — it lapses when the commission does.

Full guide: how to become a remote online notary.

After you're commissioned

Get your stamp and journal. Required by Minnesota Statutes 359.03. Rectangular, no more than 3/4 inch tall by 2-1/2 inches wide, with a serrated or milled edge border, and it must reproduce legibly. Required elements: the seal of the State of Minnesota, your name exactly as commissioned, 'Notary Public,' and 'My commission expires ______' with the date. For electronic notarizations the same information may be attached electronically to the record. See the new-notary supplies checklist and Minnesota stamp requirements before you order.

What you can charge: Minnesota caps notary fees at $5 for most acts (oaths, affidavits, protests). Minnesota Statutes 357.17 caps typical charges at $5 — each oath administered, each protest or notice, and $5 per folio for affidavits and recorded instruments — with acknowledgments tied to the fees other officers may charge for the same service. A separate $25 cap for remote online notarizations was written to apply to acts performed before January 1, 2023; ask the SOS what governs RON pricing today. Either way, per-act income on walk-in work is modest here.

E&O insurance: Not required. With no bond in the picture, optional errors-and-omissions coverage is the only financial backstop a Minnesota notary has against a mistake claim.

Earning more with your commission

Most new notaries who turn the commission into real income do it through loan signings — notarizing mortgage document packages for title companies. If that interests you, start with what a loan signing agent actually does and earns. Loan signing agent guide

Minnesota notary FAQ