Do I need a traditional New York notary license first?

Yes. New York will not register you as an electronic notary until you already hold a traditional Notary Public commission. If you do not have one yet, take the $77 basic license class, pass the 40-question test, and file the $60 commission. Then come back for this $78 RON upgrade.

Is Remote Online Notary the same as an electronic notary in New York?

Yes. New York law and the exam use both names. Remote Online Notary (RON) is the same registration as electronic notary. One commission covers remote work on a screen and in-person paper work. Learn both phrases — they show up in the statute and on the test.

How much can a NY electronic notary charge?

Up to $25 per electronic notarial act. If several acts happen in one session, you may charge for each. Papering out — a certificate of authenticity that a paper copy matches the electronic record — is $2. Traditional in-person oaths and acknowledgments stay at $2 unless another statute says otherwise.

Does New York certify RON software?

No. DOS does not pick a vendor. You choose a commercially available platform that meets the state’s minimum standards (audio-visual, credential analysis, identity proofing, recording, backup). Get that confirmation in writing from the vendor.

What does the $78 class include that the state site does not?

The state site tells you that registration exists. This class shows the application path, walks three training sections with 100-percent quizzes, demos templates and a full e-notary session, and leaves you with a desk reference, FAQ packet, and the current License Law PDF so you are not guessing the first week you go live.

Step 2 · Remote Online Notary (RON) / electronic notary

Become a New York Remote Online Notary (RON) — also called an electronic notary — then charge $25 an act from your desk.

Q: Where do I have to sit during a remote notarization?

You, the notary, must sit in New York at a computer, under New York law. The signer can be anywhere in the U.S. or another country. You do not leave the state — you reach them.

New York law and the exam use both names: Remote Online Notary (RON) and electronic notary. Same commission. This $78 class is the upgrade, not the starting point. Finish the $77 basic license class, pass the exam, and hold a traditional NY Notary Public commission first. Then this training walks the electronic notary registration so you can do remote online notarization and still do in-person work on the same commission.

Prerequisite: the $77 basic license class is done and you are commissioned. Need that first? Start with the basic license — $77.

Laptop set up for a New York remote online notarization session

Instructor

Mike Brown

B.S. Occupational Education, Southern Illinois University
M.S. Administration, Central Michigan University

Founder of the New York State Notary Public Association since 2001. Before the classroom he was a senior claims representative and investigator for The Hartford and Aetna in New York, then trial prep manager and investigations supervisor at a New York law firm on the 9/11 sick rescue workers class action. U.S. Navy veteran. That is why the class uses real-world examples and humor on a topic that is otherwise boring legalese. He taught live five-hour classes across the state that students rated 5, then recorded this version because people do not all learn at hotel-room speed. ESL students use the replay. Lawyers and legislators use it to save time — New York lets both hold notary as an additional public office. The recordings stay current when the law changes. The free association video newsletter covers relevant procedure changes so you do not violate the law without knowing it. When New York authorized Remote Online Notary (RON) in 2023, he added the e-notary class as the upgrade after the basic license.

What a NY electronic notary is allowed to do

Executive Law § 135-c lets a registered electronic notary perform notarial acts with software that creates an electronic record. When the signer is not in the room, that is remote online notarization: you and the principal see and hear each other in real time, you confirm identity, you apply an electronic signature and seal, and you keep an audio-visual recording. Remote ink-signed notarization ended in January 2023. The path now is electronic.

When DOS issues the electronic commission, the prior traditional number is retired. The new commission is the one you use for both kitchen-table acknowledgments and laptop sessions. You do not keep two licenses side by side.

Same commission, two channels

Ink in the room. Electronic when the signer is on a screen. One New York number.

Sit in New York. Reach the world.

You stay at a computer inside New York, under New York law. The signer can be anywhere in the U.S. or another country. The room is no longer the limit.

Higher fee, same hour

$25 per electronic act versus $2 for most paper oaths and acknowledgments.

How to become a remote online notary in New York

Hold a traditional NY Notary Public commission. Pass the 40-question exam and file the $60 application if you have not already.
Complete this RON / e-notary procedures class so the registration and the first session are not guesswork.
Apply as an Electronic Notary on NY Business Express. Upload a new oath of office and pay the $60 fee.
Submit an electronic exemplar — a digitized handwritten signature and seal, not a typed name — plus your digital-credential provider.
Pick a commercially available RON platform that meets DOS minimums. New York does not certify vendors; you are responsible for choosing one that records, identifies, and backs up the session.
Keep a journal of every notarial act for ten years. Electronic sessions also need the audio-visual file and a backup.

What the $78 class actually covers

This is not a national RON overview and not a software subscription. It is New York licensing and procedures: how the electronic commission is filed, how a compliant session is run, and how the platform looks when you are the one clicking “complete.” Quizzes will not let you skip ahead until every answer is right.

Will NY notaries be replaced by AI?

Current legal framework, including Remote Online Notary (RON), and why the human notary still matters.

01Electronic notary application path on NY Business Express — oath, $60 filing, exemplar
02Section 1 video and a 100% quiz on what the electronic commission actually authorizes
03Section 2 video and quiz: identity, credential analysis, and the three ways you may ID a remote signer
04Section 3 video and quiz: the session itself, the technology statement in the jurat, and papering out
05Software demo — building templates you will reuse
06Software demo — completing an e-notary transaction end to end
07Current New York Notary Public License Law PDF
08e-Notary desk reference and New York RON FAQ packet to keep next to the laptop

Fees you can post after you are live

An electronic notary may charge up to $25 per electronic notarial act, including each act inside a single session. A certificate of authenticity — papering out a tangible copy of the electronic record — is $2. Traditional in-person oaths and acknowledgments remain $2 unless another statute sets a different amount. The class does not collect those fees for you; it shows you where they sit in the law so you invoice without guessing.

What this class is not

It is not the Department of State, not a platform license, and not a substitute for the traditional exam. If you still need the basic New York notary public license, take the $77 online class first. Come back here after the commission arrives.