Pa. R.A.P. 905 (2026)

Rule 905. Filing of Notice of Appeal.

 (a)  Filing with Clerk.

   (1)  Two copies of the notice of appeal, the order for transcript, if any, and the proof of service required by Pa.R.A.P. 906, shall be filed with the clerk of the trial court. If the appeal is to the Supreme Court, the jurisdictional statement required by Pa.R.A.P. 909 shall also be filed with the clerk of the trial court.

   (2)  If the appeal is a children’s fast track appeal, a concise statement of errors complained of on appeal as described in Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a)(2) shall be filed with the notice of appeal and served on the trial judge in accordance with Pa.R.A.P. 906(a)(2).

   (3)  Upon receipt of the notice of appeal, the clerk shall immediately stamp it with the date of receipt, and that date shall constitute the date when the appeal was taken, which date shall be shown on the docket.

   (4)  If a notice of appeal is mistakenly filed in an appellate court, or is otherwise filed in an incorrect office within the unified judicial system, the clerk shall immediately stamp it with the date of receipt and transmit it to the clerk of the court which entered the order appealed from, and upon payment of an additional filing fee the notice of appeal shall be deemed filed in the trial court on the date originally filed.

   (5)  A notice of appeal filed after the announcement of a determination but before the entry of an appealable order shall be treated as filed after such entry and on the day thereof.

 (b)  Transmission to Appellate Court. The clerk shall immediately transmit to the prothonotary of the appellate court named in the notice of appeal a copy of the notice of appeal and all attachments, as well as a receipt showing collection of any docketing fee in the appellate court required under subdivision (c). If the appeal is a children’s fast track appeal, the clerk shall stamp the notice of appeal with a ‘‘Children’s Fast Track’’ designation in red ink, advising the appellate court that the appeal is a children’s fast track appeal, and the clerk shall also transmit to the prothonotary of the appellate court named in the notice of appeal the concise statement of errors complained of on appeal required by subdivision (a)(2). The clerk shall also transmit with such documents:

   (1)  copies of all orders for transcripts relating to orders on appeal;

   (2)  a copy of any verified statement, application, or other document filed under Pa.R.J.A. 1990 and Pa.R.A.P. 550—554 relating to a waiver of fees and costs; and

   (3)  if the appeal is to the Supreme Court, the jurisdictional statement required by Pa.R.A.P. 909.

 (c)  Fees. The appellant upon filing the notice of appeal shall pay any fees therefor (including docketing fees in the appellate court) prescribed by Chapter 27.

   To preserve a mailing date as the filing date for an appeal as of right from an order of the Commonwealth Court, see Pa.R.A.P. 1101(b).

   To determine the number of copies to be filed, see Pa.R.A.P. 124(c) and its Official Note. The appellate court portion of the filing fee will be transmitted pursuant to regulations adopted under 42 Pa.C.S. §  3502.

   The following commentary is historical in nature and represents statements of the Committee at the time of rulemaking:

   The appellate prothonotaries have reported that on numerous occasions an appeal is taken in the lower court, the appellant fails to docket the appeal, the appellee fails to move for dismissal under Rule 1971, and a record arrives in the appellate court without prior notice to the court. Hereafter a duplicate set of appeal papers will be filed in the lower court and the clerk of the lower court will collect the appellate docketing fee and notify the appellate prothonotary of the taking of an appeal by transmitting one copy of the appeal papers. The appeal will thus be self-docketing and Rule 1971 is rescinded as obsolete. Among other things, this procedure will facilitate the sua sponte dismissal of out of time appeals, since the appellate court will immediately know the date the appeal was taken. In order to permit the appellate prothonotary to contact the parties or counsel, a new requirement is added that copies of the proof of service be furnished to the clerk of the lower court at the time the appeal is filed. A related temporary provision governing the internal transmission of the docketing fee to the appellate prothonotary is included in the Order adopting the amendments.

   The provisions of this Rule 905 amended through December 10, 1987, effective January 31, 1987, and shall govern all matters thereafter commenced and, insofar as just and practicable matters then pending, 16 Pa.B. 4951; amended September 10, 2008, effective December 1, 2008, 38 Pa.B. 5257; amended January 13, 2009, 39 Pa.B. 1094, effective as to all appeals filed 60 days or more after adoption; amended June 24, 2019, effective October 1, 2019, 49 Pa.B. 3867; amended October 28, 2021, effective April 1, 2022, 51 Pa.B. 7050; amended April 21, 2026, effective November 1, 2026, 56 Pa.B. 2515. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (426204) and (424245).