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New York State Notary Public Examination
The New York State notary public examination is the written multiple-choice exam administered by the Department of State's Division of Licensing Services that applicants must pass (unless exempt as an attorney or court clerk) to be commissioned as a New York notary public.
Official exam siteJump to prep options ↓
QuestionsNot publicly disclosed — The current first-party exam pages and candidate materials cited for this record were reviewed; they do not publish this field.
Testing time1 hour
ScoringPass/fail designation only; no numerical score is reported and no cut score is published
Exam feeUSD 15 examination fee paid at the exam site (a separate USD 60 initial application fee applies for the notary commission)
Prep options
Study resources for NY Notary Exam
Independent prep
Courses and study resources
Exam overview
What to know before choosing your prep
- Who runs it
- NY Department of State
- Category
- Notarial Practice
- Current version
- Current specification; no public version label (content drawn from the Notary Public License Law booklet, January 2023 edition)
- Where it applies
- US-NY, United States
- Exam languages
- English, Spanish, Italian, Korean, Russian, Haitian Creole, Chinese
- Format
- Paper-based, walk-in written exam at Department of State exam sites (candidates bring two #2 pencils); New York City sessions require email scheduling in advance
- Availability
- Walk-in at scheduled session times (multiple sessions per month at sites including Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, New York City, Rochester, Syracuse, and Utica); no pre-registration outside New York City
- Results
- Results reported as passed or failed and sent to the candidate by mail
- Score validity
- Examination results are valid for two years
- Remote testing
- Not available
Exam structure
Multiple-choice exam covering license law, general terms, and information related to the duties and functions of a notary public, as outlined in the Notary Public License Law booklet; no section breakdown or question count is published
Where rules vary
New York State commission; non-residents may qualify through an office or place of business in New York State. No course is required, but passing the written exam is (attorneys and Unified Court System court clerks excepted).
Eligibility
Must be a New York State resident or have an office or place of business in New York State; NYS attorneys and court clerks of the Unified Court System are exempt from the examination; photo ID required at the exam site
Retake policy
A failed candidate may retake the exam on another date and time of their choice; the examination fee applies to each attempt