You looked up the Texas notary fee, saw $10, got quoted $95, and now you're wondering who's lying. Probably nobody. Texas caps part of your bill, prices part of it on a tier, and leaves the rest to whatever you agreed to. Here's how the number happens.
The tier nobody mentions
Texas doesn't charge a flat rate per signature. The fee runs per notarial certificate: one rate for the first signature acknowledged, a lower one for each additional signature on the same certificate. Two people named in the same certificate is $11, not $20.
Fees
$10 for the first signature on an acknowledgment, then $1 for each additional signature.
A ceiling, not a set price. Administering an oath or affirmation is a separate $10. These amounts are inflation-adjusted by the Secretary of State every five years.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.024(a)(5)Cross-checked · Texas SOS published fee schedule
Oaths and affirmations are their own line, separate from the acknowledgment math — and they don't tier.
Fees · Oaths
Administering an oath or affirmation is its own $10 fee, separate from the acknowledgment tiers.
No first/additional structure here — every oath is $10, however many are administered. The same §406.024 schedule is CPI-adjustable every five years, so re-check these figures after 2028.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.024(a)(6)Cross-checked · Texas SOS published fee schedule
So a refinance package with several certificates and a sworn statement adds up in steps the fee table describes exactly, and the total for the notarial work itself usually lands well under what surprised you.
Where the rest of your bill comes from
Travel. A mobile notary driving to your kitchen table, office, or hospital room is charging for the trip — and Texas's fee statute prices the notarial acts and doesn't address travel at all. Neither do the Secretary of State's published fee materials. That number is between you and the notary.
Fees · Travel
Texas caps what a notary may charge for the notarial act itself, and neither the fee statute nor the Secretary of State's published fee materials address travel.
The statute prices the acts and says a notary may charge a fee only for them. It does not set a travel rate, and the state's own fee page doesn't mention travel at all — so anything charged for a trip is between you and the notary, and worth agreeing in writing before the appointment.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.024(b)Cross-checked · Texas SOS Notary Public Educational Information (fee schedule)
Our rule at NotaryOT is that the travel quote comes first and in writing, so nothing on the final bill is a surprise. That's our policy, not a Texas statute.
Run your own appointment through the Texas fee calculator and you'll see the split: the tiered portion the law prices, and the travel line you agreed to.
Signing online instead
If your notarization happens as an online notarization, Texas allows an additional fee on top of the base fee. Added, not swapped: the tier math runs the same, then the online fee stacks.
Fees · Online
An online notarization may add up to $25 on top of the regular fee.
The $25 stacks rather than replaces: the Secretary of State's own example puts a one-signature online notarization at $35. Online notaries need not charge it at all.
§Tex. Gov't Code §406.111Cross-checked · Texas SOS online notary materials
One number to remember
The fees above can change on a schedule. Texas law lets the fee table adjust for inflation every five years, and no adjustment has taken effect as of August 2026. If you're reading this years from now, check the Secretary of State's current table.
The short version: the law prices the stamp work in tiers, travel is a deal you make, and knowing which is which is the whole game. Every rule behind these numbers is cited in the state guide.
NotaryOT is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. Notaries public are not attorneys and cannot advise on immigration or other legal matters. Each Texas legal claim in this post carries its citation and was cross-checked against the source named on its card: Texas SOS published fee schedule; Texas SOS Notary Public Educational Information (fee schedule); Texas SOS online notary materials.