1,645 commissions registered in Albany County expire within the next twelve months. Renewal is $60 and requires no exam if you file in time.
Type your name as it appears on your commission. This searches New York State's own public register of commissioned notaries, live.
Tip: the State stores names as they appear on your application, usually First Middle Last. If nothing comes back, try your surname on its own.
Your New York commission runs four years and then simply stops. Reappointment is filed with the Albany County Clerk, and the State’s fee is $60. The single thing that decides whether renewal is a form or a fresh start is timing: apply before your term ends, or within six months of it ending, and the qualifying requirements — the written exam included — can be waived.
“… where a notary public applies, before the expiration of his or her term, for reappointment with the county clerk or where a person whose term as notary public shall have expired applies within 6 months thereafter for reappointment as a notary public with the county clerk, such qualifying requirements may be waived by the Secretary of State…”
That single sentence is the whole game. Renew before your term ends — or within six months after it ends — and the Secretary of State can waive the qualifying requirements, which is what spares you the written exam. Let the six months run out and there is no waiver available: you re-qualify like a first-time applicant.
Executive Law § 130, as published in the Department of State's Notary Public License Law (March 2026 edition). Note the statute says may be waived, not must — the decision rests with the Secretary of State. This page is information, not legal advice.
| Renewal (reappointment) | $60 |
| Initial application | $60 |
| Written exam (each attempt) | $15 |
| Change of name or address | $10 |
| Returned check | $20 |
Source: New York Department of State published fee schedule, dos.ny.gov. Do not send cash; fees are nonrefundable.
Across New York State, 82,676 commissions expire in the same twelve-month period, out of 228,042 active commissions on the register. Albany County accounts for 2.0% of them.
New York does not reliably remind you. Miss the window by more than six months and you sit the written exam again — that is the whole reason this page exists. One email, then one more at 30 days. Nothing else.
1,645 active commissions registered in Albany County reach their expiry date in the twelve months from August 2026, according to the State's published register of commissioned notaries.
With the Albany County Clerk. Executive Law 130 provides for reappointment through the county clerk, whose office holds your oath and signature on file. The State fee is $60.
Not if you apply before your term expires, or within six months after it expires. Inside that window the Secretary of State may waive the qualifying requirements. Outside it, you take the written exam again at $15 per attempt.
$60 to the New York Department of State, the same as an initial application. Do not send cash and note the fee is nonrefundable.
Then you sit the written exam again, same as a first-time applicant. 101 practice questions, full study guide and exam-day cheat sheet — English, Russian and Uzbek.
Get the prep package — $20