How to Choose an Online Notary Course in California

A first California notary commission requires a six-hour course of study approved by the Secretary of State (Government Code section 8201(a)(3)). Every approved course is held to the same regulations. Where courses can differ is in how they teach and what they include, and you find that out by asking.

If you already hold a commission, Six-Hour vs. Three-Hour California Notary Course works out which course you need.

In this guide, online describes how a course is delivered. Online notarization is a different subject, covered in What California Will Require of Online Notaries.

Every rule below is quoted or cited from the notary education regulations (California Code of Regulations, Title 2, sections 20800 through 20801.3, as the Secretary of State publishes them), from the California Notary Public Handbook, January 2026 edition, and from the Secretary of State's approved-vendor page as it read on September 14, 2026.

This guide is not the course. Reading it does not count toward the six hours a first commission requires, and cannot. The statutory education requirement is satisfied only by completing a course of study the Secretary of State has approved and receiving that vendor's Proof of Completion certificate. This page is general information about California notary law, not legal advice.

What every approved course has in common

A vendor needs a certificate of approval for each course of study before offering it (section 20800(a)), and the same rules then bind every approved course. Among other things, each one must:

Establish who you are. Its lesson plan must contain procedures to establish the identity of the people it may issue a Proof of Completion to (section 20800.1(d)). The certificate records the type, number, expiration date and issuing state or country of the photo identification that established yours (section 20800.5(c)(3)).
Make sure you attend all of it. The lesson plan must also contain procedures to ensure that a person attending is present for the required time (section 20800.1(e)). If you miss any portion, the vendor must not issue you a Proof of Completion, and you receive no credit for the time you did attend (section 20800.5(b)).
Issue a certificate with the same required contents. Section 20800.5(c) lists what every Proof of Completion must contain, including a statement that it "must be attached to the notary public application when submitted to the Secretary of State." A Proof of Completion is valid for two years from the date of issuance. One submitted later is not valid, and the Secretary of State instructs the applicant to complete an approved course again (section 20800.5(d)).
Disclose its refund policy before charging you (section 20800.9(a)).
Not collect your Social Security number. "An approved vendor shall not collect the social security numbers of any attendees." (section 20800.6(b))

Every approved course carries these obligations, so none of them sets one approved course apart from another. The Secretary of State's vendor page says one more thing about approval: "Approval of a course of study is not an endorsement or recommendation."

Check the course against the state's list

The Secretary of State's online list of approved vendors is at notaryeducation.sos.ca.gov. You search it by county, and it lists the vendors approved to provide a course in the county you choose.

The order is random. The page says "the results of the vendor search will be displayed in random order", and section 20801(d) requires the online list to be in random order, so a vendor near the top has not been ranked there.

Each result has five columns. A Los Angeles County search on September 14, 2026 returned a table of Name, Course Type, Effective Date, Web Address and Phone. Check that the course you are considering is listed with the six-hour course type, which is what a first commission needs, and, where the list gives a web address, that it matches the vendor's website.

Questions to ask any course

The answers can differ from one approved course to the next. Which ones suit you depends on how you learn and what your schedule allows.

How is it taught?

Is it self-paced, or taught at scheduled times by an instructor, and where does it take place?

How will six hours fit your schedule?

Can you split the hours across days, and does the course keep your place between sessions? For a live course, when do the sessions run, and what happens if you miss one? For any course, ask how it confirms you are present and what happens when you step away. Missing any portion of an approved course means you receive no Proof of Completion (section 20800.5(b)).

How does it prepare you for the exam?

The handbook says approved courses "include all the material that a person is expected to know to pass the written examination." What can differ is how you practice with that material. Does the course include practice questions or a practice test, and what feedback do you get on your answers?

Who answers your questions?

If a question about the material comes up partway through the course, can you ask someone, how do you reach them, and how soon do you hear back?

Can you go back to the material after you finish?

You finish the course before the exam: for the six-hour course, the handbook's instruction is to "staple your proof of completion certificate to the application and take both items with you to the exam." If time will pass between finishing and your exam, ask whether you can still review the course material, and for how long.

How does the Proof of Completion reach you?

You need the certificate in hand to staple to your application. Do you download and print it, or is it mailed to you, and how soon after you finish do you have it?

What does the refund policy say?

An approved vendor must disclose its refund policy before charging you, so you can read it before you pay. Look for what it says about changing your mind before you start, or stopping partway through.

If you register for a course with a scheduled date, section 20800.9(b) requires the vendor to refund all fees within 30 business days of that date in either of two situations: an instructor fails to appear at the scheduled time, date and place; or the course is delayed in starting more than 15 minutes after the scheduled time, you immediately tell the vendor you want a refund, and you leave before it starts.

What does the price include?

Does the price cover everything the course will charge you for? The state's own requirements have costs too, including the examination and application fees, Live Scan fingerprinting and the surety bond. What it costs lists every cost item the handbook names, and which of them it gives an amount for.

What the state's list can't tell you

A search result names an approved vendor and says how to reach it. It does not rate the course: the results table on September 14, 2026 had no column for pass rates, rankings or reviews, and nothing in it describes how a course is taught.

The vendor page closes with a suggestion: "Before selecting a notary public education vendor, you may wish to research the vendor." It links to the California Attorney General's tips on checking a company's background, which include looking for reviews and complaints beyond what a company says about itself, and getting its cancellation and refund policies in writing.

Official sources

Do not take an article's word for which courses are approved.

Approved education vendors — notaryeducation.sos.ca.gov
Notary public education regulations, California Code of Regulations, Title 2, sections 20800–20801.3 — on the Secretary of State's current regulations page
California Notary Public Handbook, plus a checklist of the required steps to become a notary public — www.sos.ca.gov/notary
Checking a company's background, from the California Attorney General — oag.ca.gov
Secretary of State, Notary Public Section — Business Programs Division, P.O. Box 942877, Sacramento, California 94277-0001; (916) 653-3595

Where notrai fits

notrai is a California Secretary of State–approved notary public education vendor. The Secretary of State approved two notrai courses of study on August 26, 2026 — the six-hour course for first-time applicants and the three-hour refresher for renewing notaries who meet all three of its conditions — each under its own certificate of approval. That approval covers those two courses of study and nothing else. It is not an endorsement or recommendation of the courses, of notrai or of this website, and nothing on this page is legal advice.

Both courses are online and self-paced. Neither is taught live or in a classroom.

See the courses →