Chinese Application Form For Legalisation- Complete Step By Step Guide

Getting the information on the form wrong can end up in a wasted appointment at the Chinese Visa Centre, where you will need to submit your documents for legalisation. These appointments can be difficult to come by, especially during busy periods, so making sure all of your paperwork is correct is extremely important.

Getting the form

Firstly, you need to ensure you have the correct version of the form. These are updated regularly, and if you get an outdated copy, it could spell trouble.

There are also various versions for the different Chinese Embassies around the world, so ensure you have the one for your country of residence. You can get the latest version of the form for UK-issued documents here.

Completing the form

The form itself should be completed digitally. Any handwritten forms will not be accepted by the Chinese authorities. Our form version is an editable pdf, so you can easily complete the form on your computer before printing it off.

You will need to make sure that all text is capitalised and visible in the text boxes. Although it is set to auto-fit all text, some older Acrobat Reader versions can cause issues with font sizes and cause text to be hidden.

Do not leave any boxes blank unless the entire section is not relevant to you.

Signing the application form

Once you’ve completed the pdf, you will need to print it out and sign it in two places with a blue or black pen. This is the version you will need to submit along with your documents, as a scan or photocopy will not be accepted. It must contain a wet signature, which simply means an original signature.

Supporting documents

You will need to supply a photocopy of the photo page of your passport and a photocopy of the Apostilles applied to your documents, along with your original documents and application form. This will need to be a clear, preferably colour copy which is easily readable and not blurry.

Completing the form step by step

Choosing your section

You will only need to complete either section 1 or 2, dependent on your situation, not both. If you are an individual, please fill in section 1 with your details. If you are submitting documents on behalf of a company, you will need to complete section 2.

Section 1

Name

Complete your full name, including any middle names and ensure it matches your current official ID. If this does not match the name on the document you are submitting, for example if you were unmarried at the time you obtained your qualification, you will need to provide a relevant document to support this difference in name, such as your marriage certificate.

Should your passport mention your full name (including any middle names) and any of your certificates do not mention your middle name, you will need to pay for a notarial cover sheet. This will verify that the certificates refer to the same person named on the passport.

Gender

The Chinese authorities will only accept either Male or Female in this field.

Place of birth

Include the town and/or city, as well as the country of birth. For example “Warrington, UK”.

Date of birth

Your date of birth will need to be completed in the format year, month, day as YYYY-MM-DD. For example, for the 9th of November 1984, this will appear as 1984-11-09.

Nationality

This should match your passport or your official documentation which proves your current nationality.

Occupation

Here you can put the job title for which you’re applying, such as “teacher”.

Type and number of ID

The type of ID relates to the official document you are providing via colour photocopy with the form. This should be a valid passport. Please ensure you note the serial number from the ID in the relevant field.

Name and address of employer/School

The name of employer/school requires you give the full name of the company you will be working for once you reach China. If you are going through a recruiter but being placed in a school, always put the name and address of the school, as they will be listed on the work permit.

Home address and contact details

Give your current address and contact details, ensuring they are correct and up to date. If you only have a mobile number, you can simply write “none” in the home phone number box.

If there are any questions regarding your application once submitted, the Visa Centre will likely get in touch with you via phone, so it’s important they can speak to you if required.

Section 2

If you are submitting on behalf of a company, you must complete the information of the company you are representing as well as your personal details in the Legal Representative of company/organisation.

The person making the submission must be the highest acting director of the company, and if there are other directors within the company or organisation, you are required to provide a list of the names of all current directors with your application.

This must be printed from the Companies House website if a UK company, or the director of the company must provide this on letter headed note paper if this is a non-UK company.

The directors name on the application form must match the companies house print out exactly.

The address listed must relate to the official head office of the company as it is officially registered.

Section 3

Check the boxes relevant to the types of documents you are submitting for legalisation. If there are several types, you are able to select more than one option.

Note that any education document can be included under the title “Diploma”. For other course, including TEFL certificates, you can either include them as a Diploma or complete the “Other” option and list it there.

Section 4

Select the box which corresponds closest to your reason for legalisation. If you are going to work in China and will be apply for a Z-Visa, check the “Visa” option. If none of the options match, you can simply complete the “Other” option.

For “Destination of legalisation” you should complete this section by typing “China”. There’s no need to be more specific, and in some cases, being more general is the best option.

Section 5

Supporting documents can be covered by typing “plus passport copy plus apostille copy” into the text box. The number of copies you need to include is simply how many documents you’re submitting for legalisation, so if for example you’re having a police clearance and a TEFL certificate processed, this will be “2”.

Do not include all paperwork that is being submitted in the total, for example don’t include the passport copy and application form as documents to be processed.

Section 6

Choose the speed of service you require by ticking one of the boxes on the right. There are only options for 3 or 4 day processing, and the Express service carries additional fees and is generally only used in authorised urgent cases.

Note that currently, due to the pandemic, the only option is the standard service which is taking 1 week to process.

Section 7

You will only need to complete the Agent section if someone is submitting your documents on your behalf. You will need to complete all of their personal details here and they must present their listed ID when they attend the appointment for you.

Ensure they sign and date section 8 along with you, which gives your agent the authority to attend on your behalf, and deal with any queries regarding the documents directly.

Section 8

This is where you will sign the application first, along with your agent if you have one. Type the date into the same format as your date of birth (YYYY-MM-DD).

If you are submitting the documents personally, just complete the “signature of application” part of section 8 and leave the agent blank. You will need to make sure the signature on your form matches the one on your passport in order to be accepted.

Below, you will need to type the date into this section again, in the same format as used previously.

Once you’ve finished your Chinese application form, what’s next?

Once all of the information is filled in, it would be a good idea to save the form in case you need it again for reference. The form should be 2 pages long, but do not print it duplexed (double-sided). Print the form onto 2 individual sheets of A4 paper and do not staple them together, then sign both of the signature fields on the second page in blue or black ink.

You’re now ready to gather your documents for your appointment! You can’t attend the Chinese Visa Centre without one, so you will need to go onto their site beforehand and book a slot to drop off your application.

Legalisation requests usually take a few days to be completed. You will be given a receipt and then, if they’d been successfully processed, can be collected from the same centre.

Why does it take a few days? Well the Visa Centre is merely a drop-off point for the documents. They will complete a basic check when you submit the documents to check that the form has been completed correctly and your paperwork is present, but they are then passed to the Chinese Consulate in London for authorisation.

The Consulate will make the decision on whether to legalise the documents and will apply an official stamp to the back of your paperwork if they are accepted.

Getting help with the legalisation process for China

If you’d like help getting your UK documents legalised for use in China, we can help, wherever you are in the world. As documents need to be submitted in person, it can be costly and time consuming travelling to a Visa Centre to have this done yourself, especially if you’re outside of the UK!

Not only can we submit them on your behalf and collect them once completed, we can pre-check all of your documentation and application forms to ensure that everything meets the guidelines. This will give you peace of mind that there won’t be any mistakes with your paperwork which could cause you delays.

You can speak with our team of specialists via our live chat system, give us a call on 0330 088 1142 or send us a text message via WhatsApp. You can also request a quotation through our form here.