Starting from November 7, 2023, the Chinese Embassy and Consulates General in the United States have ceased consular authentication services (for details, please see the previous notice issued on our website). Recently, We has received many inquiries about the procedures for documents issued in the United States to be used in Chinese Mainland. To answer your doubts, the following instructions are provided:
1. On March 8th, 2023, China acceded to the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (hereinafter referred to as “the Convention”). Since November 7th, 2023, the Convention has entered into force between China and the United States.
2. Starting from November 7th, 2023, public documents within the scope of the Convention issued by the U.S. only need to apply for U.S. apostillesand then can be sent to the Chinese Mainland for use. There is no need to apply for consular authentication by the Chinese Embassy or Consulates-Generals in the U.S.
3. Starting from November 7th, 2023, the Chinese Embassy and Consulates-Generals in the U.S. have ceased consular authentication services. For documents issued by the U. S. and intended to be used in the Chinese Mainland, please apply for apostilles from the U.S. competent authorities (For contact information, please refer to https://www.hcch.net/en/states/authorities/details3/?aid=353 ).
#Relevant steps for applying for Apostilles for reference:
Step 1: Confirm the types of documents you need, such as power of attorney (e.g.property sale authorization, litigation entrust, etc.), declarations (e.g.abandonment of inheritance rights, no spouse declaration, same person declaration), etc.
Step 2: Confirm the notaries in your state who are qualified for doing notarization (see below for contact information of each state), and notarize relevant documents (such as notarization of power of attorney, notarization of declarations, etc.) .
Step 3: Go to the corresponding state government with the notarized documents to apply for theApostille. Please note that different state governments have different methods for processing Apostille, including mailing application, on-siteapplication, online preview, etc. Please confirm in advance;
Step 4: After completing the Apostille, you can directly use it in Chinese Mainland. There is no need to apply for any other document at the Chinese Consulate General .
Information on applying for Apostille in the 10 states within the Consular District of the Chinese Consulate General in New York:
1、New York State, the competent authority for issuing Apostille is the New York Sate Secretary of State’s Office
Address: (Albany Office) 1 Commerce Plaza 99 Washington Avenue, NY 12231
(New York Office) 123 William St. New York, NY 10038-3804
Phone number: (518) 474-4429
Email: licensing@dos.ny.gov
Website: https://dos.ny.gov/apostille-or-certificate-authentication
2、Massachusetts, the competent authority for issuing Apostille is the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Address: One Ashburton Place Boston, MA 02108
Phone number: 800-392-6090
Email: cis@sec.state.ma.us
Website: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/commissions/apostilles.htm
3、Pennsylvania, the competent authority for issuing Apostille is the Pennsylvania Secretary of State’s Office
Address: 201 North Office Building Harrisburg, PA 17120
Phone number: 717-787-5280
Email: ra-certifications@pa.gov
4、New Jersey, the competent authority for issuing Apostille is the NJ Treasury
Address: 33 W State St, Trenton, NJ 08608
Phone number: 609-292-0642
Email: yuri.singidas@oit.nj.gov
Website: https://www.nj.gov/treasury/revenue/apostilles.shtml
5、Ohio, the competent authority for issuing Apostille is the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office.
Address: 180 S Civic Center Dr, Columbus, OH 43215
Phone number: 614-466-0952
Email: records@OhioSOS.Gov
Website: https://www.ohiosos.gov/records/apostilles-certifications/
6、New Hampshire, the competent authority for issuing Apostille is the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office
Address: 107 North Main Street, Concord, N.H. 03301
Phone number: 603-271-4650
Email: vitalrecords@sos.nh.gov
Website: https://sos.nh.gov/administration/administration/apostilles-and-certificates/
7、Connecticut, the competent authority for issuing Apostille is the Connecticut Secretary of State’s Office
Address: 165 Capitol Avenue, Suite 1000 Hartford, CT 06106
Phone number: 860-509-6002
Email: CRD@CT.GOV
Website: https://portal.ct.gov/SOTS/Legislative-Services/Authentication-of-Documents-and-the-Apostille
8、Maine, the competent authority for issuing Apostille is the Maine Secretary of State’s Office
Address: 111 Sewall Street Augusta, ME 04330
Phone number: (207) 624-7736
Email: CEC.Notaries@maine.gov
Website: https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/apostilles/
9、Vermont, the competent authority for issuing Apostille is the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office
Address: 078 U.S. Rte 2 Middlesex Montpelier, VT 05633-7701
Phone number: 802-828-3700
Email: sos.statutoryfilings@vermont.gov
Website: https://sos.vermont.gov/secretary-of-state-services/apostille-or-authentication/
10、Rhode Island, the competent authority for issuing Apostille is the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s Office
Address: 148 West River Street, Providence, RI 02904
Phone number: 401-222-3093
Email: mewing@sos.ri.gov
Website: https://www.sos.ri.gov/Divisions/NotaryPublic/Apostilles