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

Requirements verified July 19, 2026 against Nevada Secretary of State

Nevada requires every new and renewing notary to take the Secretary of State's $45 training course and pass an exam at 80%, post a $10,000 surety bond filed with the county clerk, and pay a $35 application fee. The commission lasts four years and a journal is mandatory.

Nevada front-loads its quality control: before you can be appointed, you take the Secretary of State's own online training course ($45), pass its exam with at least 80%, and repeat both every four years when you renew. No other step surprises people as much — the rest is a familiar recipe of a $10,000 surety bond, a constitutional oath, and a $35 application filed through the SilverFlume portal.

The county clerk is the middle stop most applicants don't expect. Your bond and signed oath get filed with the clerk of your home county — with its own small fee, like Clark County's $20 — and the clerk's filing notice is part of the paperwork the state wants. All in, first-time costs usually land between $150 and $200 including the stamp and the journal, which Nevada law actually requires you to keep.

The economics are better here than in many bond states. The 2021 fee increase lifted the acknowledgment cap to $15 per first signature, night travel bills at up to $25 an hour by agreement, and an eNotary registration ($50, plus a second $45 course) opens up electronic and remote notarization through state-approved platforms. Las Vegas's escrow-driven real estate market keeps signing-agent demand steady.

Who can become a notary in Nevada?

• Age: at least 18 years old.
• Residency: You qualify if you're a Nevada resident, or if you live in a bordering state and are regularly employed at or maintain a place of business in Nevada. Non-residents file an extra affidavit about their Nevada employment, and their stamp must include the word 'nonresident'.
• Background: The Secretary of State will not appoint someone convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude unless their civil rights have been restored, and will refuse applicants whose application contains a material misstatement or whose notary appointment was previously revoked for cause in any state.
• You must take the oath from Article 15, Section 2 of the Nevada Constitution — administered at the county clerk's office or by another active Nevada notary.
• All new and renewing applicants must finish the state's training course and exam before appointment.

How to apply: step by step

1. Complete the mandatory notary training course on the Nevada Secretary of State's online training site ($45) and pass the exam that follows it with a score of at least 80%. This applies to every new applicant and every renewal.
2. Buy a $10,000 surety bond covering the four-year term from a company authorized in Nevada.
3. Take and subscribe the constitutional oath of office — either at your county clerk's office or before another active Nevada notary.
4. File the bond and oath with the county clerk of the county where you live (non-residents use the county tied to their Nevada work). The clerk charges a filing fee — $20 in Clark County, for example — and gives you a filing notice.
5. Submit the notary application, supporting documents, and the $35 non-refundable application fee to the Secretary of State through the SilverFlume online portal.
6. Wait for review — applications are processed in the order received — and receive your Certificate of Appointment. Then order your rectangular ink stamp and set up the journal Nevada law requires you to keep.

How long it takes: The Secretary of State says applications are reviewed in the order received but publishes no standard turnaround. Contact the Notary Division (nvnotary@sos.nv.gov) for current processing times.

What it costs in Nevada

Exam and training

Exam: Yes — after the mandatory online training course you must pass the state's exam with at least 80%. It's administered through the Secretary of State's training site as part of the $45 course, and renewing notaries take it again every four years.

Required course: Mandatory for everyone, new and renewing. The course is offered online through the Secretary of State's own training site for $45, with the exam built in at the end. Third-party prep courses exist but don't replace the state's course.

Can you notarize online in Nevada? RON allowed

Yes — Nevada authorizes remote online notarization (RON). Nevada eNotaries can notarize by audio-video communication (remote online notarization) if they meet the extra statutory requirements — including a real-time, uninterrupted simultaneous audio-video feed with the session recorded. Confirm current platform and recording rules on the SOS eNotary pages before your first remote act.

To add RON to your commission: First you need an active traditional Nevada commission. Then you complete the separate electronic notary training course ($45) and pass its exam at 80%, pay the $50 eNotary registration fee, pick a technology platform from the state's approved Electronic Notary Solution Provider list, and submit an electronic exemplar from that platform. The eNotary registration expires with your underlying commission.

Full guide: how to become a remote online notary.

After you're commissioned

Get your stamp and journal. A rectangular ink stamp no larger than 1 inch by 2.5 inches, in indelible, photographically reproducible ink. It must show your name, 'Notary Public, State of Nevada', your appointment expiration date, and your certificate-of-appointment number; the Nevada Great Seal is optional, and non-resident notaries must add the word 'nonresident'. Keep it locked up when not in use — that's a statutory duty. See the new-notary supplies checklist and Nevada stamp requirements before you order.

What you can charge: Nevada caps notary fees at $15 for an acknowledgment (first signature). NRS 240.100, as raised by AB 245 (2021): $15 for the first acknowledgment signature per signer and $7.50 for each additional, $15 per signature for a jurat, $7.50 for an oath or affirmation, and $7.50 for a certified copy. Travel can be billed separately only by advance agreement, capped at $10/hour daytime and $25/hour at night with a two-hour minimum. Electronic notarial acts have their own fee schedule under NRS 240.197 (up to $25 for common e-acts).

E&O insurance: Optional. The bond only protects the public — the surety can come after you to recover what it pays out — so errors-and-omissions coverage is the piece that actually protects the notary.

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

Nevada notary FAQ