| Authentication |
| 2009/02/07 |
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Documents issued in the United States to be used in China should be authenticated by the Chinese Embassy or a Chinese Consulate in the United States before they are sent to China. Our Consulate only accepts those authenticated documents with the Seals & Signatures of the Secretaries of the following 9 States: Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas and Colorado.
Procedures are as follows:
1. Documents should first be notarized by a local Notary Public.
2. The notarized documents should be authenticated separately by the Secretary of State where the Notary Public registers himself.
3. The Chinese Consulate General authenticates the signature of the Secretary of State and the seal of the relevant State.
How to apply
Authentication applications could be submitted either by the applicant or someone else entrusted in person or by mail. No appointment is required.
Documents required:
1. One completely filled out Application Form for Authentication or Notarization.
2. Original documents which have already been authenticated by the Secretary of State and a photocopy of the complete documents.
3. A photocopy of the applicant's passport or driver license. In case of business authentication, photocopies of the company's business license and the company's legal person's passport or driver license are required. If the application is turned in by another person on behalf of the applicant or the legal person of the company, a photocopy of the passport or driver license of the person turned in the application is also required.
Reminders:
1. Authentication application of Affidavit of Single Status should be turned in to our Consulate within 3 months from the date of notarization by the notary public.
2. Authentication application of Marital Status Certificate, Income & Financial Status Certificate, Physical Examination Certificate and Certificate of Criminal/Non-criminal Record for adoption purpose should be turned in to our Consulate within 6 months from the date of notarization by the notary public.
3. Our Consulate has the right to request supplementary supporting documents.
4. Please be noticed that documents should be stapled properly and in original shape when submitted. Applicants should not take apart the original documents (including the page notarized by the notary public and the page authenticated by the Secretary of State) or stitch some other pages to the original documents, and should bear all responsibility aroused. Our Consulate will reject those applications which do not comply with our requirements and standards.
5. Please be noticed that no one can change, add, delete or rearrange the documents that have been authenticated by our Consulate. The applicant will take full responsibility of any consequence that come after.
Fees
Civil documents: $20/Great Seal
Business documents: $40/Great Seal
Cash, money order and cashier's check are accepted for personal pickup.
Money order and cashier's check are accepted for mail back service.
Please make the money order or cashier's check payable to Chinese Consulate in Chicago.
Processing Time
1. Application submitted in person
Applicant will be given a pickup form when submitting the application. Applicant or someone else can pick up the authentication by submitting the pickup form. No documents can be released without this form.
Regular service: 5 working days from the date of submitting the application.
Expedited Service: 3-4 working days from the date of submitting the application and the extra $20/Great Seal will be charged.
Rush Service: 1-2 working days from the date of submitting the application and the extra $30/Great Seal will be charged. If the application is submitted to our window before 11am, it could be picked up at 2:00pm on the same day.
Applicants who cannot come to pick up could use mail back service. Please prepare a self-addressed pre-paid return envelope with sufficient postage. Only the following return envelopes with tracking number/bar code are accepted: UPS (air only), FedEx (air only), USPS Express Mail. Certified or registered return envelopes are not accepted. The applicant should fill in his/her name and US address as both SENDER and RECIPIENT on the return envelope. In addition to authentication fee, handling fee of $5/envelope shall be charged. Please pay by money order or cashier's check. If you have more than one applications, you could use only one envelope and one money order or cashier's check.
2. Application by mail
The processing time is 10 working days from the receiving date of the mail. No rush service is available.
Please mail all documents required according to the instructions. Beside, please prepare a self-addressed pre-paid return envelope with sufficient postage. Only the following return envelopes with tracking number/bar code are accepted: UPS (air only), FedEx (air only), USPS Express Mail. Certified or registered return envelopes are not accepted. The applicant should fill in his/her name and US address as both SENDER and RECIPIENT on the return envelope. In addition to authentication fee, handling fee of $5/envelope shall be charged. Please pay by money order or cashier's check.
Please send the above-mentioned documents, return envelope and payment to the following address:
Passport and Visa Office
1 East Erie Street, Suite 500
Chicago IL 60611
Applicants are required to mark Authentication clearly on the envelope and designate Passport and Visa Office as the addressee. Mail that fails to meet these requirements will be returned immediately.
If all must-submitted materials are mailed to the Passport and Visa Office and your application meets our requirements, usually, it takes 10 working days to process applications from the receiving date of the mail. Please do not make any inquires regarding the status of your application until at least 15 days from the date of submission. In case of emergency, please fax (312-453-0211) us your name, date of birth, contact information, etc. We'll answer you as soon as possible.
Please be noticed that the Consulate is not responsible for any loss due to your failure to provide must-submitted materials, any loss or damage to your documents due to mishandling by mail services, or for the postponement of travel due to your failure to follow our instructions.
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region follow the Convention on Abolishing the Requirements of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, therefore, authentication by the Chinese Embassy or a Chinese Consulate in the United States is not required for those documents to be used in Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR. Instead the Apostille is needed.
All regulations are subject to change without notice.
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