Free Pennsylvania Notary Acknowledgment Template

A Pennsylvania notary acknowledgment is a notarial certificate confirming that you personally appeared and acknowledged signing a record. The Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts, 57 Pa.C.S. Chapter 3, governs it, along with Department of State regulations that took effect March 28, 2026.

The Pennsylvania Department of State’s Office of Notaries, Commissions and Legislation oversees notaries.

New Stamp Format

Notaries appointed or reappointed on or after March 28, 2026 must use a stamp showing, in order:

• “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” and “Notary Seal”
• The notary’s name as commissioned and “Notary Public”
• The county where the notary keeps an office
• The commission expiration date
• The seven-digit commission number

The stamp can be up to 1 inch high and 3½ inches wide with a plain border. However, notaries commissioned before that date may keep using their existing seal until their commission expires.

Journal

Every notary keeps a journal. However, it can’t contain personal identifiers such as any part of a Social Security number or a full driver’s license number. Also, anyone may ask to inspect it, and the notary must provide certified copies within 15 days of a request.

Fees

In Pennsylvania, the Department of State fixes notary fees by regulation. Electronic and remote notaries may add up to $20 per act, and the notary must give you an itemized receipt. Similarly, the notary must disclose clerical fees such as travel or postage beforehand and itemize them. Because fees can change, ask for the current amounts.

Identification

Notably, the 2026 rules expand the government IDs a notary may accept if current and bearing your signature or photo. Examples include a military ID, a Department of Homeland Security card, a Social Security card, and a Pennsylvania state university ID.

Yes. Under the Department of State’s 2026 regulations, the notarial certificate must always be in English.

Still, you can add a second language alongside it. The notary may complete a matching certificate in another language they read, write, and understand. That foreign-language version must sit immediately next to the English one.

Meanwhile, the document itself can be in another language if you and the notary can communicate directly or through an interpreter. For a translation the notary can’t read, however, the translator must swear to its accuracy. That notarized verification then gets attached to the record.

Here’s the usual sequence.

1. Prepare an English-language acknowledgment certificate, adding a second language only if the notary can read it.
2. Fill in the venue, date, and each signer’s name.
3. Bring a current government ID with your signature or photo.
4. Appear in person and acknowledge that you signed the record.
5. The notary records the act in their journal and stamps the certificate.
6. Ask for the itemized receipt the regulations require.

A Pennsylvania notary acknowledgment should include:

• The venue, naming the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county
• An acknowledgment statement naming each signer and the date
• The signature of the notary
• The official stamp in the 2026 format, or the notary’s existing seal if commissioned before March 28, 2026

Also, the Department of State lists stamping or signing a certificate before the act, or predating or postdating one, as grounds for discipline. So leave the notary’s portion blank until the appointment. Create your Pennsylvania notary acknowledgment with Document Genius so the English wording is ready.