How to Legalise an Education Document for China

The process of Chinese Embassy legalisation for your document, so that it’s ready for use in China can be a tricky one, since the Chinese Embassy has a number of requirements that may not be of common knowledge to you. Below we’ll list the documents you’ll need to start your legalisation, what processes they’ll have to go through, and what kind of time frame you can expect to get them back in.

Document Requirements

The documents that you’ll need to legalise your educational document for use in China are:

• The original education document
• A valid passport
• A photocopy of the passport
• A completed Application form (which can be found here)
• If someone is completing this on your behalf, a completed letter of authorisation (which can be found here)

It may be that your employer has asked you to legalise your Degree Transcript as well. This must be legalised as a separate document and will incur an extra fee.

If you want us to complete the process on your behalf, the requirements are slightly different. All we’ll need is the original educational document and a photocopy of your passport to start. Once you’ve placed your order with us, we’ll send you the application form to fill in, as well as a template for a letter of authorisation, telling the Chinese Embassy that you’ve given us permission to perform the procedure on your behalf.

If you are legalising a Police Clearance certificate, this can be no older than 6 months. If you do not complete the legalisation and visa application within this 6 month window, you will need to submit a new request for clearance and start the process again.

Please note that any blank pages within your educational document must be marked with the words “This page has no contents.”

The Legalisation Procedure

STEP ONE – Your educational document will need to be certified by a solicitor to confirm that the signature on the document is genuine. If your document consists of more than one page, it will need to be notarised and bound by a ribbon instead, which will cost more. The notary will have to tie the documents together with a silk ribbon and seal them properly before you can proceed.

STEP TWO – The document must be legalised at the Foreign Affairs Office in whichever country it was issued. This is known as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in the UK, though in your country it may have a different name. This will result in the application of an Apostille. The public are no longer able to attend the FCO in person and must submit via post only.

STEP THREE – The document needs to be presented for Chinese Consular legalisation in your country. You can either do this yourself or have somebody else do this for you. For the Chinese Embassy to legalise your document, the Apostille must be no more than six months old. In the UK, you must submit your documents at the Chinese Visa Processing Centre, as opposed to the Embassy as of November 2019.

As of June 2019, the Chinese Embassy will no longer accept an application form or authorisation letter which is not an original copy. Previously, you could supply these documents to us via a scan, but since the changes in regulation we now require a typed hard copy with a wet signature.

The process for legalising a document for use in China can differ depending on where the document was issued. While we have detailed the general process above, keep in mind there may be additional steps to be completed before your particular document is ready for use in China. Feel free to get in touch with us to discuss your requirements. We can process documents from over 150 countries, so wherever you’re based, we can help.

Ready to Legalise your Documents for China?

We’ve estimated that attempting to legalise your documents for China on your own could cost you at least £845.00, and over 2 weeks in time. This can also increase dramatically during peak times. Then there’s all the other little things you have to worry about, like making sure the solicitor certifying the documents is registered with the FCO. Or even that the document will be recognised by the FCO at all, which when to comes to TEFL certificates can be a minefield.

Vital Consular can help you with this procedure from start to finish, including Chinese Embassy legalisation no matter where you’re from. We can process your documents quickly and, if you’re in the UK, we can also assist you with your Z-Visa application once you have your work permit issued.

With over twelve years of experience in legalisation, contacts with embassies in various countries, and an extensive network spanning over 60 countries, you can be sure your documents will be legalised and ready for use in China without any hitches. Then you can focus on what really matters – preparing for your new life in a new country.

If you’d like help with your legalisation, get in touch. You can request a quotation here,  give our team of specialists a call on +44 (0) 330 088 1142, send us a message via WhatsApp on mobile, use our live chat system, or e-mail us at sales@vitalconsular.com.