Authenticating Documents for the Chinese Work Visa

Attain a No Criminal Record Check from the relevant authority.

In the US, checks can be made at State level or Federal level. Check with your employer what their requirement is.

If a local or state level check is required you can go on your home State website or contact the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) and request a form stating evidence of no criminal history.

As an example, in Virginia the website is as follows: http://www.vsp.state.va.us/CJIS_Criminal_Record_Check.shtm

If the Federal background check is required, you will need to apply for an FBI background check. Bare in mind this can take  8-10 weeks to complete.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/background-checks

Ensure this document is signed by the issuing authority.

Have your degree certificate and TEFL certificate (if required) notorized by a public notary, in the state it was issued.

Police check and notorized true copies of your Degree Certificate and TEFL Certificate must be further authenticated to the Secretary of State in the your Home State, with an appropriate seal, signature, and easily recognised wording.

Department of State Document Authentication page:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal-considerations/judicial/authentication-of-documents/authentication-certificate-requirements.html

When you submit the document to Secretary of your State, indicate the document will be used in China, to ensure it is worded and laid out correctly.

You can find a list of State Authentication Offices here

http://www.visarite.com/authentication_sample.htm#office

Complete the Application Form of Notarization/Legalisation of the Embassy/Consulate of the People’s Republic of China- http://www.visarite.com/images/authentication/G1.pdf

This must be submitted alongside your authenticated Police Check, Degree True Copy and TEFL Certificate True Copy to the nearest Chinese Embassy or Consulate (usually in person, or by a nominated person/ agent) in addition to all notorised and legalised documents, for the final authentication seal and signature to be added.

Once all documents are returned from the Chinese Embassy or Consulate, send copies to your employer school via email. Their HR Team can then submit a work z visa application to the Provincial Visa Office. Typically, around 4 weeks later the Provincial Visa Office issue a Work Permit and Invitation Letter; this will be sent to you in your home country via courier.

Once the Invitation Letter and Work Permit are returned from China you must make a Z visa application at your nearest Embassy or Consulate. Complete the Z visa application form-http://www.china-embassy.org/chn/lszj/bgxz/P020130830121570742708.pdf

Bring the completed form, along with your Invitation Letter, Work Permit, Passport and any other specified documents to the Embassy or Consulate. The regular processing time is 4 business days with an express service, processing the documents in 2-3 business days.

Regular service cost- $140

Express service- $160

Visit he Chinese Embassy’s website for more information- http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/visas/hrsq/

Attain a Police Check Check from the relevant authority.

Find out more about the requirements and the process for attaining a criminal record background check for China on the Australian Government Page.

http://www.australia.gov.au/information-and-services/public-safety-and-law/police-and-crime-prevention/police-checks

Your Bachelors Degree, TEFL Certificate and Criminal Record Background Check must be notarized by an Australian notary public.

This can be completed in any territory or state in Australia.

Once notarized, all documents are to be authenticated (not apostilled) by the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade or its Office in States or Territories. 

This can be arranged to be done either in person or by post.

The mailing service can only be used for Melbourne or Sydney.

Finally, take your notorized and authenticated documents to the relevant Chinese Embassy or Consulate General.

You must take your documents to the Embassy or Consulate in the Jurisdiction where they were ‘notorized’, not ‘authenticated’. 

For example, if your documents are notarized in Queensland and authenticated in DFAT’s office in Sydney, they should be authenticated in the Chinese Consulate General in Brisbane but not the Consulate General in Sydney.

Once documents are returned from the Chinese Embassy, send copies to your employer school via email. Their HR Team can then submit a work z visa application to the Provincial Visa Office. Typically, around 4 weeks later the Provincial Visa Office issue a work permit and invitation letter; this will be sent to you via email.

You can now use these to apply for your Z working Visa at your nearest Chinese Embassy or Consulate.

Attain a Police Clearance Check from the Government of South Africa. Follow the link below to see how:

https://www.saps.gov.za/services/applying_clearence_certificate.php

Your Bachelor’s certificate (and in some cases TEFL/ TESOL certificate) must be certified by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and then legalized through the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

In some cases a TEFL Certificate will instead need to be notorized by a public notary and approved by the South African High Court.

Once you have received the Police Clearance Check, it will also need to be legalized by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

Once all documents have been legalized by DIRCO, they must then receive a stamp of Authentication from the Chinese Embassy.

In order to attain this a Form of Authentication should be completed:

http://capetown.chineseconsulate.org/eng/bgdy/applicationformoflegalization/P020051014108378448028.pdf

You must then bring this from, along with the legalized documents (originals and copies), residence permit and passport to the nearest Chinese Consulate or Embassy and apply for the Authentication.

Learn more here 

Once documents are returned from the Chinese Embassy, send copies to your employer school via email. Their HR Team can then submit a work z visa application to the Provincial Visa Office. Typically, around 4 weeks later the Provincial Visa Office issue a work permit and invitation letter; this will be sent to you via email.

You can now use these to apply for your Z working Visa at your nearest Chinese Embassy or Consulate.

Obtain a Criminal Record Criminal Record Check from the relevant authorities. For more information visit the Royal Canadian Mounted Police guide here: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/criminal-record-and-vulnerable-sector-checks#rc

Degree Certificate, TEFL Certificate and Criminal Record Background Check are to be separately notarized by a local notary public, lawyer or Commissioner of Oaths of Canada.

These documents must be notarized where the Chinese Embassy holds consular jurisdiction, to be authenticated by the authentication office of the Canadian Foreign Affairs Department. **For example, if you intend to have your documents authenticated at the Consulate in Toronto, the documents must be notorized by a practitioner in Toronto.

The notarized documents should then be authenticated by the Authentication and Service of Documents Section of Global Affairs Canada.

This step must be completed in the same territory or province as notorization in Step 1.

For instance, if your documents were notorized by a notary in Toronto they must be taken to the Global Affairs Canada office for Authentication in that region.

The documents will finally need to be authenticated by the appropriate Chinese Embassy or Consulate.

As with the previous steps, the documents will need to be authenticated at the Embassy or Consulate in the same province or territory, that they were Notorized and Authenticated by Global Affairs Canada in.

Once documents are returned from the Chinese Embassy, send copies to your employer school via email. Their HR Team can then submit a work z visa application to the Provincial Visa Office. Typically, around 4 weeks later the Provincial Visa Office issue a work permit and invitation letter; this will be sent to you via email.

You can now use these to apply for your Z working Visa at your nearest Chinese Embassy or Consulate.

Apply for a Police Certificate from the Gardaí, specifying that it is required as part of a Visa process for China. Find more information on how to go about this here http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/moving_abroad/leaving_ireland/police_certificate.html

Take your Degree Certificate and TEFL Certificate to a local public notary or solicitor in Ireland to have them notorized. They will make a True Copies of these documents to be officially notorized.

Post your notorized true copies of your Degree Certificate, TEFL Certificate and your Original Police Certificate to the Legalization Office of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, or visit the Cork or Dublin office in person, in order for your documents to be authenticated by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.  See more: https://www.dfa.ie/travel/our-services/authenticating-documents/

After completing receiving your authenticated documents back from the DFA, you must  submit your Authenticated True Copies of your Degree Certificate and TEFL Certificate, as well as your Authenticated Original Document Police Check, to the Chinese embassy or consulate for authentication by the Chinese authorities. Note – This must be done in person or via a service. See detailed instruction on how to do this from the embassy here http://ie.china-embassy.org/eng/qzs/legalization/   

Once documents are returned from the Chinese Embassy, send copies to your employer school via email. Their HR Team can then submit a work z visa application to the Provincial Visa Office. Typically, around 4 weeks later the Provincial Visa Office issue a work permit and invitation letter; this will be sent to you via email.

You can now use these to apply for your Z working Visa at your nearest Chinese Embassy or Consulate.