How to Become a Notary

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Stacie Royer, and I'm a career specialist from Austin, Texas. I'm going to talk to you today about how to become a notary. The first thing that you'll need to be is 18 years of age. From that point, if you decide that you want to be a notary, you'll need to obtain an application from the notary commission of your state or the National Notary Association. I know, for the state of Texas, you can obtain this application through the Secretary of State, so you might want to check with your different state requirements to find out if you can go through the Secretary of State or if you have to go through a completely other different department. From that point, you'll need to find out if you'll need to attend any different classes that your state requires. Some states require that you take a class and pass an exam, and other states don't. So those are two different requirements that you'll need to check up on before you turn in your application. Once you've taken the class and pass the exam, then you can turn in your application. And when you receive that information -- the acceptance letter -- from the...from the governing agent that provides those, then you can take your oath in front of sometimes your county clerk's office or another notary official that your state has set out for that. You'll want to pay for your bond through various different insurance brokers, and from that point, you can start by purchasing your official seals and different notary supplies. Then the fun part begins. You can order your business cards and all of the other necessary marketing supplies to put yourself out on the market."