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mdickun83 · Joined: 07 Sep 2010 Posts: 41

Hi. This might already be on here somewhere and is somewhere on the Chinese Embassy's terrible, java-looking website, but I have had some real issues with this and, according to the embassy people, others have too. So, here are the steps for the US, as I know them, just for reference:

1. Get your document notarized.
2. Get your document certified, not apositlled, by the your home state. It is important that you make this distinction. China is not part of the Hague convention and Apostilles mean nothing.
3. Get your document certified by the US State Dept in Washington DC. You can do this by mail or in person, but if you are doing it in person you need an appointment and it is usually booked up at least a week in advance.
4. Get your authentication from the embassy.

Hopefully this helps someone.

natsume · Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 409 Location: Chongqing, China

I just did this in California. I think your 2 and 3 are either/or. You shouldn't have to do both.

mdickun83 · Joined: 07 Sep 2010 Posts: 41

Haha. This is why it would be helpful if they answered the phone. I was at the embassy today and they sent me home because I had to do both and I only had one done.

OhBudPowellWhereArtThou · Joined: 02 Jun 2015 Posts: 1168 Location: Since 2003

mdickun83 · Joined: 07 Sep 2010 Posts: 41

It says on the document I have
"Step 3 the document is to be authenticated by the Authentication office of the Dept of State."

"Step 4- The document is to be authenticated by the CHinese embassy (For the document to be authenticated by the Chinese Consulate General, the step 3 is not necessary. If you go through Step 3, you will have to submit such a document to the Chinese Embassy in DC for authentication.)

This seems unclear to me. Perhaps someone can help. If I go to a consulate general, I can get it authenticated without the state dept? But if I go to the embassy in DC I need the state dept authentication? Am I understanding this correctly?

nimadecaomei · Joined: 22 Sep 2016 Posts: 605

It would make sense that you need federal level clearance on docs going through DC. I can attest that NY does not require it (never been anywhere near there but my documents made it through). I believe it is because NY will authenticate documents from other states, but some states will not do this (like California, they take a loophole on the whole recognizing legal documents from other states).

OhBudPowellWhereArtThou · Joined: 02 Jun 2015 Posts: 1168 Location: Since 2003

If I go to a consulate general, I can get it authenticated without the state dept?

What does the Consulate of your jurisdiction tell you to do? Follow those instructions.

It would make sense that you need federal level clearance on docs going through DC. I can attest that NY does not require it (never been anywhere near there but my documents made it through).

Applicants from some states are required to to pass their paperwork through the local state department as well as the federal Department of State. Others are required only to pass it through the Federal Department of State. I am not aware that one may bypass the Federal Department of State, though I would not be surprised.

The following may clear this up:

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/ywzn/lsyw/vpna/t907716.htm

No matter what is required, the applicant should get going FAST. Time is running out.

nimadecaomei · Joined: 22 Sep 2016 Posts: 605

All I can say is my document never hit the federal level, only NY state level. My document is also from California, and no registrar or anything from California touched it.

wawaguagua · Joined: 10 Feb 2013 Posts: 190 Location: China

It depends on whether the affairs of your state are under the jurisdiction of the main Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., or one of the regional Chinese consulates:

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zmzlglj/t84229.htm

Most states are covered by one of the consulates - For example, as a resident of Pennsylvania, I was able to get my degree authenticated on the state level and then directly authenticated by the consulate in New York City, which deals with all of the Northeast region as well as Ohio. There was no need for any federal authentification.

If, however, your state doesn't have a consulate, you must have a state and a federal authentication. This applies to all those green states in the map - the ones in the Tidewater/ Upper South region that are close enough to Washington, D.C., and also the less-populated states of the Upper Midwest that don't have a local consulate. They're all under the direct responsibility of the main Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C.

rocket man · Joined: 19 Dec 2015 Posts: 110 Location: Raleigh NC USA

My graduate degree was in from a school in Texas so I didn't have to send it to the US Dept of State as per the Houston Consulate just got it notarized, took it to the Texas Sec of State office in Austin where I lived at the time, got their seal on it, then took it to an agent in Austin who sent it off to the consulate in Houston, cost me $100 for that service but it saved 2 trips to Houston the gas spent and the wear and tear on the car plus having to take off 2 days from work worth it