Document Authentication for China Work Visa

How to get a Chinese work visa?

In short, if you have decided to move to China for work purposes, the most important thing you have to obtain is a work permit.

There are 2 common scenarios:

1. At first, you and your employer sign an employment contract, then your employer goes through a number of procedures in order to obtain an Alien Employment License for you. Then you present the license to the Embassy of China in your country in order to obtain a work visa (Z-type visa). The total duration of the procedure is about 2 months. After you arrive in China, you have to apply for a residence permit within 30 days of entry to China.
2. In case your prospective employer wants to see you in China as soon as possible and to sign a contract after you arrive, the best option is to obtain a travel visa (L-type visa) or a business visa (M-type visa for commerce and trade) valid for at least 60 days. After you arrive in China, you can start the work permit application procedure together with your employer. This option is the most common since it is more time-saving.

Regardless of your scenario, the first thing you have to do is to have the following documents ready: 

• Bachelor’s or Master’s diploma 
• Criminal record certificate 
• Certificate of relevant work experience

If you want to apply for a Permit for Foreign Experts Working in China (or simply work permit), you will have to translate all of the above-mentioned documents into Chinese. But before the translation, two of them must be legalized by the Embassy or Consulate of China in your country – diploma and criminal records certificate, whilst just a simple translation of the certificate of relevant work experience is required.

If your hiring company in China is not willing to assist you in this long and bureaucratic procedure, I would advise you to find an intermediary in China, who will coordinate your steps and consult you on every relevant matter. They will check and submit your documents instead of you, they will make an appointment for a medical check-up, provide you with all necessary addresses, etc. But even specialised agencies will ask you to provide the following three documents before taking your case:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s diploma (legalized, translated) 
• Criminal record certificate (legalized, translated)
• Certificate of relevant work experience (translated)

In order to save time, make sure you have these three documents ready for further processing.

Attention! In case you’re going to obtain a travel visa first and then to apply for a work permit in China (2^nd scenario), I would advise you to legalize documents after you obtain your visa. Otherwise, your visa application for travel purposes will look quite suspicious and may even be rejected. Besides, according to Chinese law, a foreign citizen may be refused entry to China even if he/she has a valid Chinese visa. Therefore, if you have obtained a tourist L visa or a business M visa, buy a return flight ticket as well, otherwise you may even get refused to board your flight in the airport.

How to notarize documents for Chinese work visa? 

Let's consider the following 3 scenarios.

1. How to notarize a diploma in home country? How to notarize a criminal record certificate in home country?

If you live in the country of your citizenship and you have already obtained your diploma and criminal record certificate there, then you have to get them notarized/legalized by your local authorities. This procedure is different in every country. In some states, the consular department of the ministry of foreign affairs provides authentication services to citizens and foreign nationals on documents that will be used overseas. In other countries, diplomas are to be legalized by prefectures, whereas criminal record certificates are issued and have to be verified by the Ministry of Justice or by the local prosecutor's office. For example, in Italy diplomas must be legalized by so-called prefettura, whereas criminal records (Casellario Giudiziale) have to be stamped by the same procura which has issued the certificate.

2. How to notarize a foreign diploma in home country?

If you obtained your diploma in a foreign country, at first, it must be authenticated by the embassy of that country in your home country, then by the country of your citizenship (probably a notarized translation will be required), and only after that, you can submit it to the Embassy of China in your home country for final authentication. 

Another option is to authenticate the diploma in the country of origin and submit it to the Embassy or Consulate of China in that country. This option is more convenient if you live in the same country where you have earned the diploma.

3. How to notarize a diploma outside home country? How to apply for a Chinese work visa from abroad?

If you are not a citizen of a country where you have been living for more than 1 year and your diploma is issued by your home country (not by the country where you are currently located), then I would suggest you going back to your home country and notarize your diploma there and then to have it authenticated by the Consular Office of China in your home country. If this option is not convenient to you, then you must get a notarized translation of your diploma into a language of the third country (where you live), then to get legalized it by local authorities and only after that you can present it to the Consular Office of China for final legalization. In this case, the criminal certificate must also be obtained in the country of stay. However, bear in mind, that you have to present proof of your stay in a foreign country (more than 1 year). Even if you entered your home country once for one or a few days during the last year, it can be a reason for your work visa refusal. Therefore, I would highly recommend to obtain and legalize all the necessary documents in your home country and to apply for a work visa in the country of your citizenship as well.

Attention! An "apostille" is a form of authentication issued to documents for use in countries that participate in the Hague Convention of 1961. Since the People’s Republic of China does not participate in the Hague Convention, documents being sent to that country must be “authenticated”, “certified”, “notarized” or “legalized” by other governmental institutes, according to the agreement between two countries.

You might need the apostille if you live in a foreign country from where you’re going to apply for a Chinese work visa and which is a member of the Convention. However, my advice is to authenticate documents and to legalize them by the Chinese consular office located in the country, in which they were originally issued. Why? Because first of all, it will cost you less, it will save your time, and what is more important, it will be less complicated for a Chinese officer to review your case and make a decision whether to grant you a visa/permit or to refuse it.

N.B. In my country, all documents for abroad are notarized by the Consular Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was quite weird that they authenticated my criminal record certificate with an apostille, but the stamp didn't cause any problems and the document was successfully authenticated by the Chinese Consular Office. As I have mentioned, there are different agreements between countries about the documents authentication procedure.

If you don’t know how it works in your country, make a call to the Embassy of China or visit the Consular Office in order to get information. Usually, websites of embassies and consulates don’t contain such details, hence, it’s better to ask the responsible officers in person what authentication stamps are required and where to obtain them.

Once you get your documents stamped by local authorities, make a photocopy of your passport and the authenticated documents and then visit the Chinese consular office. The officer will ask you to fill in the Application Form of Consular Legalization of the Embassy of China and to pay for the service. Usually, the procedure takes 6 working days.

If the submitted documents are qualified as valid, the Chinese embassy puts a special authentication sticker on them.

After you get your documents legalized by the Chinese consular office, you have to translate them into Chinese. No certified or notarized translation is required, just make sure that the translation is done by a specialized agency and preferably by a native speaker.

What is a certificate of relevant work experience?

In order to apply for a work permit, you have to find a job beforehand. Bear in mind, the position title you’re going to take over must be absolutely the same or very similar to your previous position. Besides, your experience in that position must be equal to or exceed 2 years.

A certificate of relevant work experience is a document issued by a hiring company, which contains information about the employee’s position, job description and job duration. It is the same as a recommendation letter or a reference letter in Western countries.

Attention! The job you're applying for must be absolutely the same or very similar to your previous job, which you performed for at least 2 years.

The certificate of relevant work experience issued by a former employer must contain the following information:

•           Name and passport details of the employee;
•           Position
•           Duties
•           Duration (must be at least 2 years), starting and ending dates
•           Company name, address, director’s name
•           Contact details for further inquiries
•           Date of issuance
•           Signature and/or stamp

Attention! The signature of the employer is obligatory; however, a company stamp or seal is not obligatory, it depends on the legal requirement of the state where the letter was issued.

Once you get all of the above-mentioned documents legalized and translated, you can apply to the State Bureau of Foreign Experts for a Permit for Foreign Experts Working in China.  As I have already mentioned, either your employer or an intermediary should help you. Once you get the permit, you can apply for a work visa. Apart from the work permit, the basic documents you will have to submit are:

• Passport 
• Visa application form and photo (size: 48mm x 33mm)
• Proof of legal status (applicable for those not applying for the visa in their country of citizenship)
• Photocopy of previous Chinese visas.

Be patient and good luck!