Getting a document notarized in China may seem like a complicated matter…but thankfully it isn’t as bad as you think! Once you understand exactly what you need (which I’ll explain), your frantic search for a notary public China may not even be necessary. In this guide to notarizing a document in China, you’ll get all the information you need to get a notarization done in 24 hours or less.
Over the years, I’ve had to notarize a number of official documents in China: my university diploma, my marriage certificate and even my kids’ birth certificates. I even had to notarize my US driver’s license in order to apply for a Chinese driver’s license.
The subject of official notarization of documents in China brings a lot of confusion. I think it’s important that before we talk about how to get a document notarized, we cover the different kinds of notarization and why you would need them.
We’ll start with why you may need a notary public in China and then, based on how you answer that, how to go about getting the notarization.
There are a number of different reasons you may need a document notarization in China. This may seem like a trivial matter, but the truth is that the purpose of the notarization will have a big impact on determining exactly what you need.
NOTE: The purpose of the notarization will have a big impact on determining exactly what you need.
Let’s take a few different examples:
As you can see, not every case of getting a document notarized in China requires the same solution. The first step to getting what you need is (drumroll please)…
…determining what you really need in the first place. 🙂
The word “notarize” can refer to a number of different things, so make sure you understand whether you need:
Now that you know what you need, let’s quickly dive into how to get what you need while you’re in China.
This is much easier to do I’ll go down the list of the different solutions and you can choose what’s best for you.
There are times when you’re in China and you need a document notarized that will be used back in your home country. A lot of what I am about to share here applies to any country, but there are bits that are specifically focused on the U.S. (since that’s what I know best!).
Your options are:
When it comes to notarizing a document from one country that will be used in another country, most of the time you’re going to be “Authenticating” your document. However, there are two types of Authentication:
This is IMPORTANT
If your spouse or children are going to be joining you in China as dependents on your visa, then China will require an authenticated marriage certificate and birth certificates to prove that they are, in fact, your wife and children.
If you don’t arrive in China with these documents authenticated, I can tell you from experience that it is a pain (not to mention expensive) to do this process while in China.
So what does the authentication process entail?
Let’s take my marriage certificate as an example.
Of course, as with any government bureaucracy, the whole process is a huge hassle. That’s why I always recommend people use a service to get everything done for you.
There are a number of companies that help with document authentications. When I used one, I sent them the document I needed and a couple weeks later the authenticated version was ready for me to use.
Finally, I’ll cover the last kind of notarization you might need in China – a Chinese document that will be used within China.
In this case, what you’re looking for is a 公证处 (gōng zhèng chù), known in English as the Public Notary Office of the People’s Republic of China.
Chinese Notary = 公证处 /Gōngzhèngchù
No matter which city you live in China, there is a Notary Office. In most cases, it only takes less than an hour to arrive with the document, identification and money to pay the fee equivalent to about US$50.
What you receive is this very odd, stamped, glued together collection of papers that is recognized as a “notarization” in China.
I wish I could say there was some sort of service that could help you do this process…but to my knowledge there isn’t. You just need to do it yourself.
Whether you’re notarizing a translated document, a public deed, a contract or even your driver’s license to be used within China, this is what you’ll be doing.
As you can see, getting a document notarized while in China isn’t a terribly complicated process…as long as you recognize what kind of notarization you need. It may not be a notary public China that you need, it could be:
Best of luck getting your document authenticated for whatever purpose you need it in China!
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