How to become a remote notary in Texas

The kit before the application

The Secretary of State's page lists four prerequisites, and the application will not let you finish without them. Gather the kit first; the application itself takes minutes.

SOS, Getting Started as an Online Notary read 2026-10-23

The certificate, check by check

The certificate is the item to check line by line: it must be issued to you, not only to the platform you sign on. The SOS sets out what it must be:

1. 01Must be issued to the notary
2. 02Must be issued by a third-party provider
3. 03Must not be expired
4. 04Must be signed by a trusted source
5. 05Must use public key infrastructure (PKI) technology
6. 06Must be x.509 compliant
7. 07Must contain the certificate chain including the CA certificate
8. 08Must include an image of your electronic signature (preferably an image that resembles your wet ink signature)

The SOS will not name a provider: “The secretary of state cannot recommend any third party providers to you.” The providers notaries use, and which platforms take a certificate from elsewhere, are compared in notary digital certificate providers; the seal image, and who makes one, in electronic notary seal requirements. Texas keeps no approved list for identity proofing either (SOS identity proofing FAQ).

SOS, Digital Certificates Tex. Gov't Code § 406.109(d); 1 TAC §§ 87.4(b)(7)(B), 87.41(j) read 2026-10-23

The application, screen by screen

1. 01

   Identify yourself

   Notary ID number, date of birth, last four digits of your SSN, last name and an email. If they do not match the notary database you cannot continue.

2. 02

   Acknowledge the requirements

   Tick each statement, including that you use a third-party provider for identity proofing and credential analysis.

3. 03

   Sign the Statement of Officer

   Download it, sign it with your digital certificate, upload it.

4. 04

   Upload the electronic seal

   As an image file in an accepted format.

5. 05

   Pay the fee

   The application fee, plus a card convenience fee.

6. 06

   Review and submit

   Check the summary, then submit.

7. 07

   Wait for the email

   A reference number and an email, typically within three business days, says the SOS.

A separate online notary commission from the Secretary of State. You must already hold a current traditional Texas commission, then apply electronically with your digital certificate, an image of your electronic seal and a statement of officer signed with that certificate. The application fee is $50 plus a 2.7% convenience fee, and the online commission expires on the same day as your traditional commission. Tex. Gov't Code § 406.105; 1 TAC §§ 87.4, 87.11; SOS 'Getting Started as an Online Notary' How the Texas path sits beside the other states' is in how to become a remote online notary.

The course question

Many guides still say Texas has no training requirement. That changed for new applicants this year. Since January 1, 2026, applicants for a Texas notary commission must complete the Secretary of State's education course (no more than two hours, 70% of questions answered correctly); an applicant also applying for an online commission answers questions on online notary subject matter. The statute bars requiring the initial-appointment course of a person appointed before September 1, 2025.

Tex. Gov't Code §§ 406.006(6), 406.023(d); 1 TAC § 87.8 read 2026-10-22

Five years of records

Keep a secure electronic record of every online notarization, maintained electronically in computers or storage devices, with a backup protected from unauthorized use and under your exclusive control. Keep the recording of the video and audio conference, with a backup, for five years after the date of the notarization. Storage may be contracted to a third party that gives you complete access for the whole retention period. What the recording must show, and what stays out of it (the quiz, the ID images), is in RON session recording requirements.

Texas keeps the clock short: 5 years. Of the 12 states whose rules we have read, 9 ask for ten years; Texas and Virginia are the exception. If you also hold a commission elsewhere, or your platform keeps everything on a single ten-year schedule, the result is a longer keep than Texas asks. The calculator in RON recording retention date gives the date for one session, whichever state's period applies.

You may contract the storage to a third party, provided you keep complete access for the whole period; if that contract ends, the records come back to you (SOS, record-keeping for online notaries). Ask any platform how you would take the records with you before you sign up; the answers are read in RON platforms for Texas notaries.

After approval

The online commission is not set-and-forget. A new certificate at renewal, a new seal image, a move to a platform that issues its own certificate: each is a change the Secretary of State must hear about, and the SOS page warns that failing to report one can cost you the commission.

The principal may be anywhere; the online notary must be physically in Texas at the time of the notarization. Up to $25 for an online notarization, on top of the regular notary fees in § 406.024 (for example $10 for an acknowledgment's first signature). The § 406.024 fees are adjusted for inflation by the SOS every five years. The regular schedule under that fee, copies included, is in remote notarization fees by state.

A signer who would rather sign paper can do it on camera under § 406.1103 and mail it to you (remote ink notarization); either way the certificate notes the act was online, in the words set out in remote certificate wording by state.