I was way more anxious about this than I needed to be. Got my approval letter last Friday after passing the online exam on my second try — missed it by 2 questions the first time, then sat again 3 days later and passed with an 88%. The whole process from application to approval took about 5 weeks total, which felt long but I know some people wait longer depending on background check timing.
What tripped me up on the first attempt was the notarial certificate language and the specific scenarios around what a notary can and can't do in Florida. I work in real estate and I thought that background would help more than it did. Knowing that notarizations happen during closings isn't the same as knowing the specific legal boundaries of notarial acts under Florida statute. Chapter 117 is the section that matters and I hadn't read it carefully enough the first time.
For the retake I went back through Chapter 117 and paid close attention to the prohibited acts — notarizing a document where you have a financial interest, the rules around incomplete documents, and the requirements around electronic and remote online notarization, which is newer Florida law and definitely showed up on my exam. That last piece caught me completely off guard on attempt one.
The exam is 40 questions and you need a 75% to pass, so 30 correct. It's not timed in a way that creates pressure and the content is genuinely narrow — which is both reassuring and a little unforgiving since there aren't many throwaway questions.
The remote online notarization questions reflect the 2020 Florida law changes and if you're using older prep materials there might be real gaps there. The platform requirements and identity proofing standards for RON are specific enough that you want to read the actual statutory language, not a summary of it.
Good call flagging Chapter 117 specifically. A lot of people don't realize how much of the exam is really just testing whether you've read that chapter carefully. It's not long but every section of it is fair game and the questions are specific enough that skimming won't cut it.
5 weeks sounds about right for the full process. I applied in January and it took 6 weeks because my background check got held up somewhere. Once everything came through and I passed the exam, the commission certificate arrived pretty quickly — about 10 days after that.
I passed first try with a 90% and what helped most was reading the statute directly instead of relying on third-party summaries. Some of the prep materials online are outdated or simplify things in ways that actually introduce wrong impressions. The Florida Department of State website has everything you need.