1. Brief Introduction on authentication:

According to international and China's consular practices, consular authentication is to make the notarial documents issued by notary public in Australia legible and recognized in China. Notarial documents firstly must be authenticated by the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade or its Office in States or Territories.

The Chinese Embassy or Consulates General in Australia just certify the signature and stamps of the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade or its Office in States or Territories.

All documents to be authenticated should meet the following requirements:

1) The signature and stamps of the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade or its Office in States or Territories should have been put on records in the Chinese Embassy or relevant Consulates General.

2) The documents must be legitimate with Chinese laws and regulations.

3) Documents must be band up with stapler or sealed with sealing wax or stamped with paging seal.

2. Procedure:

1) Documents should be notarized by any notary public.

2) The notarized documents should be authenticated (NOT apostilled) by the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade or its Office in States or Territories. For more information about authentication by DFAT office, please click here.

3) Apply for the documents authentication from the Chinese Embassy or relevant Consulate General where the documents notarized but not authenticated, in accordance with consular regions.

For example, if your documents are notarized in South Australia and authenticated in DFAT's office in Sydney, they should be authenticated in the Chinese Consulate General in Adelaide but not the Consulate General in Sydney.

Documents to be used in the Hong Kong or Macao SAR need no authentication from Chinese Embassy or Consulates General if they have been apostilled by Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade or its Office in States or Territories.

3. Requirements:

1) One completed and signed application form which can be downloaded and filled out by the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

2) Original and one copy of the passport of the applicant. If the applicant entrust someone else to apply for authentication, orginal and one copy of the  passport or photo ID of the entrusted person should also be submitted. In some special cases, an entrusted letter signed by the applicant or issued by the corporate is also required.

3) Original documents to be authenticated.

4) One copy of the document.

5) Copies of passports of the parents and child and birth certificate of the child should be submitted if the documents is power of attorney of children's fosterage.

4. Precautions:

1) Registration certificate of the corporate and one passport copy of the fictitious person should be submitted if the document is concerning company business.

2) Marital status certificate and certificate of non-criminal record are valid for 6 months from the date of issue. Applicant should complete all the procedures within 3 months.

3) Appicants are strongly suggested to collect the documents on time. Document wich is not collected within 3 months will be cancelled.

All documents to be authenticated should meet the following requirements:

1) The signature and stamps of the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade or its Office in States or Territories should have been put on records in the Chinese Embassy or relevant Consulates General.

2) The documents must be legitimate with Chinese laws and regulations.

3) Documents must be band up with stapler or sealed with sealing wax or stamped with paging seal.