How to Get Your China Degree Certificate Apostilled or Authenticated

For purposes of work abroad, immigration or international education, many Chinese or international students who have earned a degree certificate issued by a Chinese university need to get the degree apostilled by China’s Foreign Affairs Office or authenticated by a foreign embassy/consulate in China. In this post, we will explain the relevant procedures and requirements.

The same procedures to be described in this guide also apply to other Chinese academic credentials such as graduation certificates[1] and transcripts.

Authentication or apostille only needs to be done when an official in another country has asked for it. You should confirm with the official who requests your academic documents whether there is a need to do authentication or apostille.

STEP 1: Notarization

Notarization of your degree certificate is a prerequisite step to apostille or consular authentication. When notarizing a degree certificate, a notary officer in China not only issues a certified true copy of the original certificate but also certifies that the degree certificate is genuine. 

A China academic credential issued to a foreign student may show the holder’s name in Chinese, even though the student has never used the Chinese name. The Chinese name may be considered by foreign governments as an “other name used”, causing unnecessary legal issues. Some notary offices allow an applicant to choose whether to show the Chinese name on a notarial certificate, but the other notary officers may require that both the Chinese and English names be written on a notarial certificate.

WHERE TO APPLY?

There is at least one notary office in each city of China. In major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, there can be more than a dozen different notary offices. The contact information of the notary offices is mostly available online by using a search engine or map App. Please note that notary offices have their own geographical jurisdiction so they may only agree to notarize the academic documents issued within their jurisdiction.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS?

The following documents are commonly required for getting a degree certificate notarized for use abroad:

• Original degree certificate in Chinese
• Passport
• Power of attorney, if a third-party is appointed to handle the application.

The original degree certificate in Chinese is required in most cases. In other words, a copy of the degree is not acceptable. If you were issued both a degree certificate in Chinese and a degree certificate in English, preferably provide both. The English version alone is not considered sufficient by many notary offices. Also, some notary offices such as those in Shenzhen require the CSSD/CHSI verification reports of the academic documents.

PROCESSING TIME?

1 to 2 weeks.

TRANSLATION?

For use abroad in a country where Chinese is not its official language, the notarial degree certificate needs to come with translation acceptable to the country of destination. Typically, the translation is arranged by the notary office. It will be part of the completed notarial document as shown in the below sample.

SAMPLE NOTARIAL DEGREE CERTIFICATE

STEP 2: Authentication or Apostille

Depending on the country where the document is to be used, you need to choose either consular authentication or apostille. An Apostille is applicable when both the country where the document is issued and the country where the document is to be used are parties to the Apostille Convention. If either country has not joined the convention, the consular authentication applies. For instructions on Step 2, please check our previous blog posts on the topics of How to Get Documents Authenticated by Foreign Embassy/Consulate in China and How to Apply for an Apostille in China.

[1] Chinese higher education awards 2 types of credentials: degree certificates and graduation certificates. Most students who completed an undergraduate, master’s or doctoral program have both certificates.