What Can Go Wrong With Chinese Legalisation?
In this final part in our Legalisation Fixers series, we are focusing on the complex process of Chinese document legalisation. As a destination with one of the most exacting list of requirements, it’s not surprising that we offer a lot of support to customers travelling to China. Each case is different and depends on various factors as to how the documents are handled. Here we look at a recent case which is very similar to a lot of people’s experience during this process.
Chinese Legalisation
James M. had a Degree certificate and an extended Police Clearance certificate for his Chinese legalisation. He also required his transcript legalising alongside his Degree. James had the documents certified by his solicitor, Apostilled and then travelled to London to the Chinese Embassy for the Consular stamp.
Unfortunately, James’ documents were rejected as he had not completed the forms correctly, by not giving detailed enough information regarding his destination in China. His Police Clearance and degree transcript were also 2 pages long.
For China, if a document runs for more than a single page, it must be bound, ribboned and sealed by a Notary Public in order to be accepted. If this stage has not been completed, the documents will not be accepted and the Apostille stage must be re-processed. This is because the Apostille bears the name of the solicitor or Notary who has completed the authentication on the documents.
How did Vital Consular help?
When he had returned home, James emailed a scan of his documents to us so we were able to identify the issues. It’s imperative to act quickly with documents for China as the Police Clearance certificates and any valid Apostilles are only valid for 6 months before your visa must be completed.
We were able to use the Degree certificate with the Apostille for the Chinese Consular stamp, but the transcript of results and Police Clearance had to have a new Apostille applied after being bound and ribboned by our Notary Public if it was to be accepted. We advised the customer that he should check with his employer that the transcript was definitely required, as this is not always the case in China. He discovered it was not a requirement so was able to save money by not having this re-processed.
We provided a help sheet to assist James in completing his application forms correctly, before checking them for him via e-mail. All of the remaining documents were completed on behalf of the customer quickly from our London office, and securely delivered back to him in the UK ready for his trip to China.
When does a document need to be notarised for China?
If a document is more than a single page long, it must be bound by a Notary Public. If you have several documents, this doesn’t mean they can be bound together as one. It simply means that if for example you have a transcript of results which states “Page 1 of 2” and “Page 2 of 2” they must both be present and processed together in a bundle.
The most common occurrences of this being required is either university transcript or Police Clearance documents which can often run on to 2 pages.
If you require legalisation and you aren’t confident in the process you require, just give us a call today. You can get in touch directly on +44 (0) 330 088 1142, request a personalised quote, send us a message via WhatsApp on mobile, use our live chat system, or e-mail us at sales@vitalconsular.com. Our friendly team of specialists are on hand to answer all of your queries.
