Nevada Notary Exam

The Nevada notary exam is one of the easier licensing exams you will encounter, but its logistics confuse a lot of applicants — especially the way the state handles payment. The exam fee does not appear at the point you would expect, the course and exam are on a separate portal from the application, and there is a mandatory waiting period if you fail.

The Mandatory Training Course

Before you can take the exam, you must complete a roughly three-hour online course called "(Commission Course) State of Nevada - Notary Public Course" on the official training portal at training.nvsos-training.com. This is not optional — the Secretary of State will not process your application without a training completion certificate.

The course covers NRS Chapter 240 (Notaries Public), notarial procedures, the types of notarial acts you can perform, journal requirements, identification rules, and common compliance mistakes. You complete it at your own pace through a web browser.

One thing that catches people off guard: the portal does not collect payment when you enroll in the course. The $45 training fee is deferred and collected later — you pay it bundled with the $35 application fee when you submit your commission application on the state business portal (SilverFlume during the transition to Project ORION). This makes the course look free at enrollment, which leads to sticker shock when you encounter the $80 charge at application time.

Exam Format and Passing Score

Once you finish the course, you manually register for the "(Commission Course) State of Nevada - Notary Public Exam" on the same training portal. The exam is:

• Multiple-choice format
• Open-book — you can reference the course materials during the exam
• 80% passing score required

The open-book format means the exam tests your ability to find and apply the rules, not memorize them. Most applicants who completed the course material pass on the first attempt.

What Happens If You Fail

If you do not reach 80%, you must wait a mandatory 24 hours before another exam attempt.

After passing, the portal generates a certificate of completion. If the certificate does not appear, email a screenshot or PDF of your passing score page to [email protected] for assistance.

Total Cost

The training and exam together cost $45, but you will not pay that amount on the training portal. It is collected as part of the $80 state fee ($35 application + $45 training) when you submit your application on the state business portal. There is no separate exam registration fee.

Renewal Means Retaking Everything

Unlike some states that waive continuing education for renewals, Nevada requires renewing notaries to retake the full three-hour course and pass the exam again every four years. The renewal process is identical to the initial commissioning process.

For the complete step-by-step sequence — including what to do between passing the exam and submitting your state application — see our Nevada Notary Commission Guide.

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