Last updated 2026-08-19
TL;DR
To start remote online notarization in Florida you get a regular Florida notary commission first, then register as an online notary with the Department of State. You finish the required course, pay the statutory registration fee, name your RON service provider, and keep the electronic journal and session recording for 10 years. You must be physically in Florida during each act. Confirm current bond, fee, and form details with the Department of State before you pay a vendor.
Do you need a license for remote online notarization in Florida?
Yes. A platform login does not make you an online notary in Florida. You need a current Florida notary public commission, then a separate online notary public registration with the Department of State. No national RON license exists.
The base commission lives in s. 117.01. You apply, you pay the $39 application fee set in that section, you file the required bond, and you take the oath. The commission runs 4 years. You have to be at least 18, a legal resident of Florida, and able to read and write English. A felony conviction blocks the commission unless your civil rights are restored.[1]
Online work is a second layer, not a sticker on the same card. Section 117.225 says a notary public, a civil-law notary, or a commissioner of deeds may complete registration as an online notary public with the Department of State only after holding that current commission, submitting a sworn registration, paying the registration fee required by s. 113.01, confirming completion of the required course, and identifying the RON service provider you will use.[2][13]
This is not a casual side hustle license you can skim and forget. The paper the state actually checks is the commission plus the online registration. Miss either one and the session is not an authorized online notarization under Chapter 117.
People coming in on the national myth skip two Florida-only facts. You have to be a legal resident to get the commission. You have to be physically located in Florida when you perform the online act. Another state's commission does not punch that ticket.[1][3]
Civil-law notaries under chapter 118 and commissioners of deeds can register too. Most readers of this page are regular notaries. Stay in that lane unless you already hold one of those other appointments.
What is the real paper path to start RON in Florida?
Commission first. Online registration second. Technology contract third. That order is not a suggestion, and it is the whole Florida RON path in one line.
Step one is the regular Florida notary public commission under s. 117.01. Use the current application packet from the Governor's notary instructions and the Department of State. Pay the $39 fee. File the $7,500 bond. Complete whatever education the Department is requiring for first-time applicants on the day you apply. I am not going to invent a course length or a processing calendar. Those details move. Confirm them on the live instructions.[1]
Step two is the online notary course required by s. 117.225. The statute asks for a course covering the duties, obligations, and technology requirements for serving as an online notary public. Finish it before you file the registration. Keep the completion record with the rest of the commission file.[2]
Step three is the sworn registration with the Department of State, the s. 113.01 registration fee, and the identification of your RON service provider. Confirm the current fee figure on the statute or the Department's fee language. I am not going to lock a dollar amount for 113.01 in this article when the live page is what the clerk will check.[2][13]
Step four is the provider. Florida does not let you rig a video call and call it RON. Identity proofing, credential analysis, the electronic journal, the electronic seal, and the audio-video recording have to meet s. 117.265 and the standards authority in s. 117.295.[5][9]
Step five is first-year operations. Journal backups. Recording retention. Bond continuation. Commission expiration on the 4-year mark. A written fee disclosure before the session, because s. 117.275 says fees for extras must be reasonable and specified in advance.[6]
Get the commission paper in hand before you pay a platform a dime. A sales demo is not authority.
| Requirement | Regular commission | Online registration |
|---|---|---|
| Already a FL notary | That is the goal | Required first |
| Application fee | $39 under s. 117.01 | Separate fee under s. 113.01 |
| Bond | $7,500 under s. 117.01 | Confirm any added bond with DOS |
| Course | Confirm first-time rules with DOS | Required, duties and technology |
| Provider named | No | Yes |
| Audio-video recording | No | Yes |
Want a comparison from a nearby state path? Read how to start remote online notarization in Alabama. Alabama is not Florida. Do not mix the packets.
How much does remote online notarization cost in Florida?
Your state-side costs are the $39 commission application, the premium on the $7,500 bond, the online registration fee in s. 113.01, the course price your vendor charges, and whatever a registered RON platform bills you. I do not have an honest statewide average for platform or bond-premium pricing. Those are private invoices. Confirm the s. 113.01 amount on the current statute or the Department's fee language before you write a check.[1][13]
The fee you may charge a signer is a different number. Florida Statute 117.275 states: "An online notary public or the employer of such online notary public may charge a fee, not to exceed $25, for performing an online notarial act."[6]
Paper notarial acts sit under a different cap. Section 117.05 lets a notary charge up to $10 for a notarial act, with stated exceptions.[7]
Platform convenience charges are not the $25 notarial fee. The same section says fees for services other than performing online notarial acts, including remote presentation, must be reasonable and specified in advance. Put that extra number in writing before the camera goes live.[6]
Waste of money: a polished marketing site before you have a commission number. Also a waste: buying a physical embosser for online-only work. You need the electronic seal and tamper-evident technology in s. 117.255, not more desk hardware.[10]
Errors and omissions insurance is not a statutory condition I can point to in Chapter 117 the way the $7,500 bond is. Title companies and platforms often want a policy anyway. That is a business choice. Price it after you know your volume, not before you can legally start a session.
Nobody publishes a clean public dataset of what Florida online notaries actually net after platform cuts. The closest hard numbers are the statutory caps and the $39 application fee. Treat vendor "average income" slides as advertising.
How long does remote online notarization take in Florida?
There is no published statewide clock for how long a first commission or an online registration sits in Tallahassee. I will not invent one. Confirm current processing with the Governor's notary instructions and the Department of State. Build slack. Do not promise a signer a go-live date you do not control.
The notarial act itself is short once you are live. Identity proofing, credential analysis, and the recorded session add time that a lobby notarization does not. How long that takes depends on the provider's workflow and whether the signer has a current government ID that credential analysis will accept. Nobody has good public data on median Florida session length. The closest honest statement is this. Budget more time than a stamp-and-go paper act, and do not start the official recording until the identity processes in s. 117.265 are actually done.[5]
Your commission lasts 4 years from appointment.[1] Online registration is not a way around that calendar. When the commission dies, the online authority sitting on top of it dies with it. Start the renewal paper early.
Course time varies by vendor. The statute requires completion. It does not print a mandatory hour count in s. 117.225. Confirm what the Department will accept the week you enroll.[2]
If someone quotes you approved in 48 hours, treat that as marketing. The state did not write that sentence.
What bond does Florida require for an online notary?
Section 117.01 requires a $7,500 bond for the notary public commission. That number is in the statute. Pay the premium to a surety that actually knows how to file in Florida. Keep the proof with the commission packet.[1]
Online registration sits on that commission. Some 2019 bill materials and a lot of vendor checklists talk about a higher online-notary bond figure. I am not going to lock a second face amount here, because the number you need is the one in the current Chapter 117 text and on the Department of State's current registration instructions. Read both the week you buy coverage.
Bond is not insurance for you. It is security for a person harmed by a breach of duty. If you want your own defense costs covered, that is a separate E&O policy. Chapter 117 does not make E&O a registration condition the way it makes the commission bond a condition.
Buy the statutory bond from a surety that already files Florida notary bonds every week. Skip the bundled business surety from a website that cannot name s. 117.01.
Confirm continuation and cancellation notice rules with the surety. A lapsed bond is an ugly surprise in month eleven, not a paperwork footnote.
What course do you have to take before you register?
Section 117.225 requires you to confirm that you have completed a course covering the duties, obligations, and technology requirements for serving as an online notary public. That is the statutory gate. Use a course the Department of State will actually accept.[2]
I will not name a private school as official. The Department's current notary education materials are the source of truth for who is accepted this month.
First-time paper notaries may also face a separate education rule on the commission side. Confirm that with the Department when you apply under s. 117.01. Do not assume the online course and the first-commission course are the same product. They might be sold together. The statute treats them as different gates.[1][2]
Keep the certificate. The registration is sworn. If you cannot prove completion, you do not have a clean file.
A weekend notary entrepreneur seminar that never mentions s. 117.265 identity proofing is a waste of money. So is any class that teaches you to "just use FaceTime" and skip credential analysis.
Which RON platforms can you use in Florida?
Only a RON service provider that meets Florida's standards. Section 117.225 makes you identify the provider or providers you will use. Section 117.295 gives the Department of State rulemaking authority over standards for electronic and online notarization, including identity proofing and credential analysis.[2][9]
Confirm the current registered-provider list with the Department of State. I am not going to paste a vendor roster that will rot.
In-person electronic notarization under s. 117.021 is not remote online notarization. Different statute. Different setup. If a salesperson blurs IPEN and RON, walk away.[14]
You still perform the notarial act. The platform is the room, the ID machinery, the recorder, and often the journal host. Section 117.255 covers use of the electronic journal, signature, and seal. The duty stays with you even if the software holds the file.[10]
Pick a provider after you have the commission paper, not during a webinar. Contract term, recording export, and who holds the 10-year file matter more than a free month.
For another state's provider rules, how to start remote online notarization in Arizona is a useful contrast. Do not import Arizona's packet into Tallahassee.
What records do you have to keep after a Florida RON session?
An electronic journal and an audio-video recording of the session. Section 117.245 requires the journal. Section 117.265 requires the recording. Florida requires both to be kept for at least 10 years after the date of the notarial act.[4][5]
Ten years is a long file. Most people let the RON service provider store it. Read the contract. If the provider folds, you still need the records. Export rights are not a luxury.
Journal contents are not a vibe. Follow s. 117.245. Use the statute's list when you set up the template, not a blog paraphrase. Typical fields include date and time, type of notarial act, type of notarial certificate, the principal's name and address, how identity was verified, and the fee charged. If the statute lists it, your software should capture it.[4]
Identity at the time of the signature uses two or more different types of identity proofing processes or services as described in s. 117.295, working with the remote presentation and credential analysis process in s. 117.265. Do not skip a factor because the signer is a regular.[5][9]
Wills and other estate documents can carry extra witnessing formalities. Section 117.285 covers supervising the witnessing of electronic records. That is not a blanket green light for every estate package. If the document is a will, get Florida legal advice before you touch it online.[11]
Test a dummy workflow on day one, then actually download a sample journal export. If you cannot get a file out, you do not have a retention plan. You have a login.
What can you charge for a Florida online notarization?
Up to $25 for the online notarial act itself. Florida Statute 117.275 caps the fee for performing an online notarial act at $25.[6]
That $25 is the notarial act. It is not a permission slip to hide platform costs inside a silent invoice. Fees for other services have to be reasonable and specified in advance.[6]
Paper acts remain under the s. 117.05 cap of $10 unless an exception applies. Do not charge the online number for a lobby stamp.[7]
Employers can collect the fee. The statute says or the employer. If you work in a title shop, read your employment terms. The cap still applies.
Put a one-page fee sheet in the appointment confirmation. Date it. Keep it. When a signer argues later, you have the specified-in-advance paper.
Charging a blended $75 and calling the whole thing RON, without breaking out the $25 act and the extra services, is how you pick a fight you do not need. Write the split down.
Can you notarize a signer who is not in Florida?
Yes, if you are physically in Florida and you are a registered online notary. Section 117.209 says a notary public physically located in this state who has registered as an online notary public may perform an online notarization, "regardless of whether the principal or any witnesses are physically located in this state at the time of the notarial act."[3]
Read that again. You stay in Florida. The signer can be elsewhere. A Florida online notary must be physically located in Florida during the notarial act. Take the laptop to a vacation rental in another state and click record, and you have left the statutory lane.
The receiving state's courts and recorders decide what they will accept. Florida authorization is not a magic stamp on a California deed. If your volume is interstate real estate, learn the destination rule before you advertise nationwide service.
A Florida commission also does not make you a notary of the signer's home state. Compare how to start remote online notarization in California if you are actually trying to hold California authority.
Definitions for principal, remote presentation, and RON service provider sit in s. 117.201. Use those words the way the statute uses them.[8]
What first-year paperwork actually matters?
The commission certificate. The online registration confirmation. The bond continuation. The course completion record. The provider contract, including who keeps the 10-year journal and recording. A written fee sheet. A backup plan if the provider disappears.
That is the file I would keep in one folder, paper and PDF.
You will also want a calendar for the 4-year commission end date. Online registration does not extend the commission.[1]
If you like a prebuilt checklist, RONPath sells a $99 one-time State RON Add-On Kit. You can finish this path without it. The state's statutes and the Department of State's current instructions are the controlling paper.
Skip the engraved sign and the car magnet in month one. Get two clean recorded sessions under your belt, then decide if you even want walk-in work.
Compare renewal culture in other states when you get close to year four. Remote online notarization renewal in Colorado is a different machine. So is how to start remote online notarization in Colorado.
Keep copies of identity-proofing results the platform returns. If a later challenge asks how you identified the principal, "the software was green" is a weak file. Tie the result to the journal line required by s. 117.245.[4]
How is Florida's RON path different from other states?
Florida wrote its own Part II of Chapter 117. It is not a photocopy of the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts. The 2019 bill, CS/CS/HB 409, put the structure in place effective January 1, 2020.[12]
Other states split commissioning and RON registration differently, use different fee caps, and treat out-of-state signers differently. How to start remote online notarization in Arkansas and how to start remote online notarization in Delaware help if you are choosing a home state, not if you already live in Florida and just want a shortcut. Residence is a Florida commission condition.[1]
Stay in one state's system until you understand that state's journal and recording duties cold. Two commissions sound flexible. They usually mean two retention clocks and two bond desks.
Florida's $25 online fee cap is its own number. Do not import another state's price list.[6]
Florida also separates IPEN in s. 117.021 from RON in Part II. Some states mash those ideas together in marketing. The Florida paper does not.[14]
What should you confirm with the Department of State before you spend money?
Confirm the live application packet for the commission. Confirm first-time education. Confirm the current s. 113.01 registration fee. Confirm whether any bond beyond the $7,500 face amount is required for online registration. Confirm the accepted course list. Confirm the registered RON service provider list. Confirm where to send the sworn online registration.
None of those answers should come from a Facebook group.
Print or save the statute sections you relied on, with the year on the page. Boards change forms. Vendors change decks. Your file should show what the law said the week you registered.
RONPath is an independent publisher, not a law firm and not a service company. If you want the add-on kit after you have read the statute, it is at /start. The article you just read is the reference. The board's paper is still the board's paper.
No approval or timing guarantees exist in this process. Anyone who sells you a guaranteed commission date is selling something the state did not put in writing.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a license for remote online notarization in Florida?
Yes. You need a current Florida notary public commission under s. 117.01, then a separate online notary registration with the Department of State under s. 117.225. Another state's commission does not replace that paper. There is no national RON license. Confirm the live registration packet with the Department of State before you file.
How much does remote online notarization cost in Florida?
State-side, budget the $39 commission application, the premium on the $7,500 bond, the s. 113.01 online registration fee, a course invoice, and your platform bill. Platform and surety premiums are private prices with no honest public average. The statute caps what you may charge for the online notarial act at $25. Confirm the live 113.01 fee with the Department of State.
How long does remote online notarization take in Florida?
The state does not publish a processing SLA for a first commission or an online registration. Confirm current timing with the Governor's notary instructions and the Department of State. The commission itself lasts 4 years. A live session is usually short once identity proofing works, but nobody has good public data on median Florida session length.
Can I start Florida RON without becoming a regular notary first?
No. Section 117.225 only lets you register as an online notary if you already hold a current commission as a notary public, or one of the narrower civil-law notary or commissioner of deeds appointments. Get the s. 117.01 commission paper first. Then take the online course and file the online registration.
Do I have to live in Florida to be an online notary?
Yes for the regular commission path most people use. Section 117.01 requires a legal resident of the state, among other qualifications. You also must be physically located in Florida when you perform the online notarial act under s. 117.209. Residency for the commission and physical location for the act are related, but they are not the same question.
Can I perform a Florida RON session while I am traveling out of state?
No. Section 117.209 ties the authority to a notary public physically located in Florida who has registered as an online notary. The principal may be elsewhere. You may not. If you are outside Florida, wait until you are back, or do not take the session.
Is errors and omissions insurance required for Florida online notaries?
Chapter 117 makes the notary bond a statutory condition. I cannot point to an E&O mandate in that chapter the way I can point to the $7,500 bond in s. 117.01. Platforms and title companies often still ask for E&O. Treat that as a contract term, not as a substitute for the statutory bond. Confirm any added bond for online registration with DOS.
How long do I keep the video of a Florida online notarization?
At least 10 years after the date of the notarial act, along with the electronic journal. That retention duty comes from ss. 117.245 and 117.265. Most notaries let the RON service provider store the file. Read the export and shutdown terms. If the vendor disappears, you still need the recording.
What is the maximum fee for a Florida online notarization?
Florida Statute 117.275 caps the fee for performing an online notarial act at $25. The notary or the employer may collect it. Fees for other services, including remote presentation, must be reasonable and specified in advance. Paper notarial acts stay under the separate $10 cap in s. 117.05 unless an exception applies.
Do I need a separate seal for online acts in Florida?
You need the electronic seal and tamper-evident technology described in s. 117.255, used through a qualifying RON service provider. A metal embosser does not perform an online notarization. Confirm how your chosen provider applies the electronic seal before you take a paid session. Keep sample outputs in your compliance folder.
Can my employer or platform hold the electronic journal?
The technology may hold the electronic journal, signature, and seal under s. 117.255, and employers can be involved in fee collection under s. 117.275. The notary's duty does not vanish because someone else hosts the file. Read who retains the 10-year journal and recording, and how you export a copy if you leave the job or the vendor.
What happens to my Florida RON registration when the 4-year commission expires?
Online registration sits on the commission. Section 117.01 sets a 4-year term. When that commission ends, you do not keep online authority by inertia. Start renewal paper early, keep the bond continuous, and confirm with the Department of State what you must refile for the online registration after the new commission issues.
Sources
- Florida Statutes s. 117.01 (appointment, $39 fee, $7,500 bond, 4-year term): Florida notary appointment requires a $39 application fee and a $7,500 bond, runs 4 years, and requires Florida residency and other statutory qualifications.
- Florida Statutes s. 117.225 (online notary registration): Online notary registration with the Department of State requires a current commission, a sworn registration, the s. 113.01 fee, a course on duties and technology, and identification of the RON service provider.
- Florida Statutes s. 117.209 (authority to perform online notarizations): A registered online notary physically located in Florida may perform an online notarization even if the principal or witnesses are outside Florida.
- Florida Statutes s. 117.245 (electronic journal): An online notary public must keep an electronic journal of online notarizations and retain required records for at least 10 years.
- Florida Statutes s. 117.265 (online notarization procedures): Online notarization procedures require identity verification through specified proofing and an audio-video recording of the session.
- Florida Statutes s. 117.275 (fees for online notarization): The fee for performing an online notarial act may not exceed $25, and other service fees must be reasonable and specified in advance.
- Florida Statutes s. 117.05 (notary fee and duties): A Florida notary may charge up to $10 for a notarial act under chapter 117 except where another section sets a different rule.
- Florida Statutes s. 117.201 (online notarization definitions): Chapter 117 Part II defines principal, RON service provider, remote presentation, and related online notarization terms.
- Florida Statutes s. 117.295 (standards and rulemaking): The Department of State has standards and rulemaking authority for electronic and online notarization, including identity proofing.
- Florida Statutes s. 117.255 (electronic journal, signature, and seal): Online notarization uses an electronic journal, electronic signature, and electronic seal through qualifying technology.
- Florida Statutes s. 117.285 (supervising witnessing of electronic records): Florida has a separate statutory section for an online notary supervising the witnessing of electronic records.
- Florida Senate, CS/CS/HB 409 (2019) bill page: Florida enacted its remote online notarization structure in 2019 through CS/CS/HB 409, effective January 1, 2020.
- Florida Statutes s. 113.01 (commission fees): Section 117.225 requires payment of the notary public registration fee set by s. 113.01.
- Florida Statutes s. 117.021 (electronic notarization): In-person electronic notarization is a separate statutory setup from remote online notarization in Chapter 117 Part II.