How much does the notary charge for an opción de compra-venta?

SAREN's Providencia No. 004 sets 1 PTR for executing an opción de compra-venta for a property (art. 5 num. 18). The Ley de Registros y Notarías allows up to 2 PTR (art. 86 num. 18).

How much does it cost to notarize a power of attorney?

SAREN's fee to grant a power of attorney, or to revoke, renounce or substitute it, is 0.02 PTR (Providencia 004, art. 5 num. 5); the legal cap for granting powers of attorney is 2 PTR. The providencia lists the document processing fee separately (0.10 PTR), and the fee of the lawyer who drafts and signs off on it is not a SAREN fee.

How much does it cost to notarize a residential lease contract?

Neither the law nor the providencia has a line of its own for residential leases; the 0.50 PTR line is only for commercial use. No rule says how it is charged. Our reading is that it counts as an authenticated document (0.20 PTR for the first page and 0.02 PTR for each additional page); confirm it on SAREN's planilla.

What is the amount in bolívares?

Fees are paid in bolívares at the value of the petro in force on the day of the request, and there is no published unit that replaces the petro. The valid amount is the one shown on SAREN's payment planilla that day.

How much does an urgent procedure at the notary cost?

Providencia 004 (art. 4) charges 1 additional PTR for urgent service in the cases it lists (the law allows up to 6 PTR), except for travel authorizations for minors, labor claims and powers of attorney, and the appointment of guardians or curators, which pay no surcharge and are processed the same business day.

Are the areas affected by the 2026 earthquakes exempt?

On July 4, 2026 an exoneration of fees and taxes on registrations of rentals and purchases in the affected areas was announced. As of October 27, 2026 we have not found the decree or providencia that implements it, so it is best to ask at the notary office.

How much a notary costs in Venezuela

Notary fees are set by the Servicio Autónomo de Registros y Notarías (SAREN, the national registries and notaries service) in petros (PTR, Venezuela's state cryptocurrency), within the caps of the Ley de Registros y Notarías (Registries and Notaries Law). Separate from these are the fee of the lawyer who drafts and signs off on the document and, depending on the state or the Distrito Capital (Capital District), the timbres fiscales (revenue stamps).

What the law sets and what SAREN charges

These are two different rules:

The Ley de Registros y Notarías (Gaceta Oficial No. 6.668 Extraordinario, December 16, 2021), in its art. 86, sets the maximum for each act and orders SAREN's director general to set the amount by providencia "within the limits provided".

Providencia Administrativa No. 004 (administrative order) of SAREN (Gaceta Oficial No. 42.301, January 20, 2022), in its art. 5, sets the amount actually charged. For almost every act it is lower than the legal cap.

In September 2023 SAREN reported that it had not increased its fees and that those published in Gaceta Oficial No. 42.301 were still in force. We did not find a later providencia that changes them.

Notary fee table

Act	Legal cap (art. 86)	SAREN amount (Prov. 004)	Source
Processing fee for the original document	Up to 1 PTR	0.10 PTR	Law art. 86 num. 1; Prov. art. 5 num. 1
Certified copies when authenticating	Up to 0.10 PTR	0.04 PTR	Law art. 86 num. 1; Prov. art. 5 num. 1
Opción de compra-venta (purchase option agreement) for a property	Up to 2 PTR	1 PTR	Law art. 86 num. 18; Prov. art. 5 num. 18
Power of attorney	Up to 2 PTR to grant it	0.02 PTR to grant, revoke, renounce or substitute it	Law art. 86 num. 5; Prov. art. 5 num. 5
Authenticated document	Up to 0.40 PTR for the first page and 0.05 PTR for each additional page	0.20 PTR for the first page and 0.02 PTR for each additional page	Law art. 86 num. 6; Prov. art. 5 num. 6
Additional counterpart (ejemplar a un solo efecto)	Up to 0.10 PTR each	0.08 PTR each	Law art. 86 num. 6; Prov. art. 5 num. 6
Commercial lease	Up to 5 PTR	0.50 PTR	Law art. 86 num. 17; Prov. art. 5 num. 17
Giving a document fecha cierta (a certain date)	Up to 2 PTR	1 PTR	Law art. 86 num. 7; Prov. art. 5 num. 7
Custody of private documents (art. 1.369 of the Código Civil, the Civil Code)	Up to 1 PTR per year	1 PTR per year	Law art. 86 num. 14; Prov. art. 5 num. 14
Certified copy of an already authenticated document	Up to 0.20 PTR for the first page and 0.05 PTR for each additional page	0.10 PTR for the first page and 0.01 PTR for each additional page	Law art. 86 num. 10; Prov. art. 5 num. 10

Three details:

The providencia separates the processing fee (num. 1) from the fee for each act, so a planilla (payment form) can add up several lines. Ask for the breakdown.

A residential lease contract has no line of its own. Num. 17 is only for commercial use. No rule says how it is charged; our reading (not a written rule) is that it counts as an authenticated document (num. 6), by page. Confirm it on the planilla. In addition, the Ley del Régimen Especial de Arrendamiento de Inmuebles Destinados a Vivienda (Special Regime Law for Residential Leases; Gaceta Oficial No. 7.065 Extraordinario, August 7, 2026), art. 9, says the contract "may be authenticated" before any notary office, without preventing the parties from signing it privately.

The option pays half the legal cap. What it must say is in the guide to the opción de compra-venta.

Urgency surcharge and travel

The law (art. 29) only allows opening outside business hours in case of urgency "sworn and proven", and the document must be authenticated in less than three days; the surcharge is capped at 6 PTR. Providencia 004 (art. 4) lists the cases in which it applies at notary offices, among them powers of attorney and their substitutions, renunciations and revocations, and documents that declare limitations, transfers, derecho de retracto (right of repurchase), renunciations or encumbrances on the property.

The surcharge set by the providencia works like this:

No additional cost, and processed the same business day: travel authorizations for children and adolescents; claims and powers of attorney in labor matters; and appointment of guardians, curators or tutelage advisers.

In the other cases on the list: 1 additional PTR.

If the notary must travel, the providencia (art. 7) charges 0.40 PTR per trip between six in the morning and six in the evening, depending on distance, and 1 PTR at night, on holidays or on non-working days. The law (art. 88) sets the cap at 4 PTR at night and 6 PTR on holidays or non-working days.

How it is paid: bolívares and the petro problem

The law (art. 86) and the providencia (art. 3) say the same thing: fees are paid in bolívares at the value of the petro in force on the date of the request. The notary office must display a copy of the providencia, in letters no smaller than one centimeter, and the petro's value in bolívares for the day; if it does not, the notary is fined 10 PTR.

The Plataforma Patria (the government's Patria platform) announced the closure, from January 15, 2024, of its cryptocurrency wallets, and the press spoke of the disappearance of the petro; according to Voz de América, there was no official confirmation. As of October 27, 2026, neither the law nor SAREN has published a unit that replaces the petro for these fees.

In practice, there is no official published figure in bolívares that we can give you with certainty. The valid amount is the one on SAREN's payment planilla on the day of your procedure; compare it with what the notary office displays.

What is not a SAREN fee

The lawyer. The law (art. 23) requires every document presented to a notary office to be "drafted and signed off" by a lawyer registered with the Instituto de Previsión Social del Abogado (lawyers' social welfare institute). There is no official state rate for that fee. On November 13, 2020 the Federación de Colegios de Abogados (national federation of bar associations) approved a Reglamento Interno Nacional de Honorarios Mínimos (national internal regulation on minimum fees) that declares itself binding on lawyers. We found it only in a transcription on the Pandectas Digital site, not in an official publication of the Federación. According to that transcription, it sets minimums in dollars, payable in bolívares at the BCV (Central Bank of Venezuela) rate: for sales and options it uses a tiered percentage of the transaction amount, and for a lease contract, one month's rent. It is a rule of the profession, not a public fee. Ask for the quote in writing.

The timbres fiscales. The law (art. 96) says that in the states that took over powers over stamped paper and stamps, notary offices must require them. In 2023 SAREN pointed out that in the municipio Libertador of the Distrito Capital, the Ley Especial de Timbre Fiscal para el Distrito Capital (Capital District revenue stamp law) applies to the execution of documents.

The registry. The notary office authenticates; the sale is recorded at the Registro Público (Public Registry), with other fees. The difference is explained in notary or registry and the total for the purchase in closing costs.

Exonerations

Providencia 004 (art. 8) declares exempt, among others, travel authorizations for minors, special powers of attorney in criminal, labor and Seguro Social (social security) pension matters, the sworn statement of not owning a home (also exempt under the law, art. 98) and certificates of single status for marriage purposes. None of the listed cases refers to the option, the lease or a power of attorney to sell.

On July 4, 2026 SAREN published a note from Prensa Presidencial (the presidential press office) according to which the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, announced the exoneration (waiver) of the fees and taxes linked to registrations of rentals and property purchases, for the areas affected by the earthquakes. El Universal wrote that it "was decreed" and that it is a national measure. As of October 27, 2026 we did not find a decree or a providencia in the Gaceta Oficial that implements it, or that says whether it covers notary offices or only registries. Ask at the notary office before counting on it.

How much does a notary cost in Venezuela? Option, power of attorney and lease