When you’re applying for a Chinese Z visa (working visa), the first requirement is to notarise and legalise your documents. Once this is complete, you send scans to your Chinese employer who then applies to their provincial government for your work permit.
But how do you legalise your documents?
The documents you will need legalising include your degree certificate, professional qualification certificate, and a new DBS criminal check (https://www.gov.uk/request-copy-criminal-record).
1: Notarise
This means an official Notary Public deems your documents to be official – Find a Notary Public here: https://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk/
Use colour copies of your degree of professional qualifications. Send the original DBS check.
After agreeing on a price with your Notary Public, post your documents to them. Although only the DBS will be an original, costing over £20 it’s worth considering using signed-for delivery.
The Notary Public then liaises with all awarding bodies and confirms the authenticity of your documents. They then attach a signed letter to each document and stamp and seal each document.
You will be required to arrange for Special Delivery for the return of your documents.
Notary Public’s are sometimes freelance but can be part of a large law firm. Therefore notarisation of documents tends to range from £30-£100 per document.
Factor in one-to-two weeks for this.
2: Legalised by UK Government – Apostille
The second step is to have your documents legalised by the UK government.
Order and pay for the service here: https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised
Attach a printout to your documents and send via Special Delivery.
The UK government check whether the document, the signature, stamp or seal are genuine. They’ll legalise the document by attaching a stamped official certificate (an ‘apostille’).
They will return your documents in around one week via Special Delivery.
This service costs £30 per document and then the Special Delivery costs.
3: Legalised by the Chinese Government
To achieve this, you need to book a legalisation appointment at your nearest Chinese Embassy or Consulate here: https://bio.visaforchina.org/#/nav/quickSelection?visacenterCode=MAN2&request_locale=en_US&site_alias=MAN2_EN&isAuthentication=Y
Simply take your documents to a short appointment. Staff will take your documents, and charge you circa £30-per-document, then issue you with a receipt.
You’ll need to either collect your documents one week later or cover an admin and postage fee to have them returned via post.
