Authentication

Documents issued in the United States to be used in China should be authenticated by the Chinese Embassy or a Chinese Consulate in the United States before they are sent to China. The Chinese Consulate General in Chicago only accepts those authenticated documents with the Seals & Signatures of the Secretaries of the following 9 States: Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas and Colorado.

Procedures are as follows: 1. Documents should first be notarized by a local Notary Public. (Originals that are issued from the State, County, City or Court do not need to be notarized by the notary public and can directly send to Secretary of State for authentication. Examples of those documents are marriage license, birth certificate, divorce decree, good standing, etc.) 2. The notarized documents should be authenticated separately by the Secretary of State where the Notary Public registers himself. 3. The Chinese Consulate General authenticates the signature of the Secretary of State and the seal of the relevant State.

How to apply Authentication applications could be submitted either by the applicant or someone else entrusted in person or by mail. No appointment is required.

Documents required: 1. One completely filled out Application Form for Authentication or Notarization.

2. Original documents which have already been authenticated by the Secretary of State and a photocopy of the complete documents.

3. A photocopy of the applicant's passport or driver license. In case of business authentication, photocopies of the company's business license or good standing and the company's legal person's passport or driver license are required. If the application is turned in by another person on behalf of the applicant or the legal person of the company, a photocopy of the passport or driver license of the person turned in the application is also required. 4. If the document is a business license, a photocopy of the passport or driving license of the company's legal representative and the original company document that can prove the person's legal representative status should be submitted. Reminders: 1. Authentication application of Affidavit of Single Status should be turned in to The Chinese Consulate General within 6 months from the date of notarization by the notary public.

2. Authentication application of Marital Status Certificate, Income & Financial Status Certificate, Physical Examination Certificate and Certificate of Criminal/Non-criminal Record for adoption purpose should be turned in to The Chinese Consulate General within 6 months from the date of notarization by the notary public.

3. The Chinese Consulate General has the right to request supplementary supporting documents.

4. Please be noticed that document with more than two pages must be properly bound as a volume to avoid any substitution. Sealing wax, paging seal or steel seal should be applied to ensure the integrity of the documents. Applicants should not take apart the original documents (including the page notarized by the notary public and the page authenticated by the Secretary of State) or stitch some other pages to the original documents, and should bear all responsibility aroused. The Chinese Consulate General will reject those applications which do not comply with our requirements and standards.

5. Please be noticed that no one can change, add, delete or rearrange the documents that have been authenticated by The Chinese Consulate General. The applicant will take full responsibility of any consequence that come after.

Fees Civil documents: $25/Great Seal

Business documents: $50/Great Seal

Credit Card (MasterCard, Visa), money order and cashier's check are accepted for personal pickup.

For mail back service only accepted money order and cashier's check.

Please make the money order or cashier's check payable to Chinese Consulate in Chicago.

Processing Time 1. Application submitted in person Applicant will be given a pickup form when submitting the application. Applicant or someone else can pick up the authentication by submitting the pickup form. No documents can be released without this form.

Regular service: 4-5 working days from the date of submitting the application.

Expedited Service: 2-3 working days from the date of submitting the application and the extra $20/Great Seal will be charged.

Rush Service: Next day from the date of submitting the application and the extra $30/Great Seal will be charged. Applicants who cannot come back again to pick up could request mail back service. The mail back service is only available to applications under regular process. We will mail out the package in 10 working days from the date of application. Please submit a money order/cashier's check and a self-addressed pre-paid return envelope with sufficient postage when you apply. Only the following return envelopes with tracking number/bar code are accepted: UPS (air only), FedEx (air only), and USPS Express Mail. Certified or registered return envelopes are not accepted. The applicant should fill in his/her name and US address as both SENDER and RECIPIENT on the return envelope. In addition to authentication fee, handling fee of $5/envelope shall be charged. Please pay by money order or cashier's check only. If you have more than one application in the same category, you could use only one envelope and one money order or cashier's check.

Applicants are solely responsible for the correct address, postage provided on their return envelopes, any loss or damage to your passport and documents due to any mishandling by the post office or other delivery services.

2. Application by mail The processing time is 10 working days from the receiving date of the mail. No rush service is available.

Please mail all documents required according to the instructions. Beside, please prepare a self-addressed pre-paid return envelope with sufficient postage. Only the following return envelopes with tracking number/bar code are accepted: UPS (air only), FedEx (air only) and USPS Express Mail. Certified or registered return envelopes are not accepted. The applicant should fill in his/her name and US address as both SENDER and RECIPIENT on the return envelope. In addition to authentication fee, handling fee of $5/envelope shall be charged. Please pay by money order or cashier's check only.

Please send the above-mentioned documents, return envelope and payment to the following address: Passport and Visa Office 1 East Erie Street, Suite 500 Chicago IL 60611

Applicants are required to mark Authentication clearly on the envelope and designate Passport and Visa Office as the addressee. Mail that fails to meet these requirements will be returned immediately.

If all must-submitted materials are mailed to the Passport and Visa Office and your application meets our requirements, usually, it takes 10 working days to process applications from the receiving date of the mail. Please do not make any inquires regarding the status of your application until at least 15 days from the date of submission. In case of emergency, please fax (312-453-0211) us your name, date of birth, contact information, etc. We'll answer you as soon as possible.

Please be noticed that the Consulate is not responsible for any loss due to your failure to provide must-submitted materials, any loss or damage to your documents due to mishandling by mail services, or for the postponement of travel due to your failure to follow our instructions.

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region follow the Convention on Abolishing the Requirements of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, therefore, authentication by the Chinese Embassy or a Chinese Consulate in the United States is not required for those documents to be used in Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR. Instead the Apostille is needed.

All regulations are subject to change without notice.

For information on Offices of Secretary of State in our Consular District, please click here For office hours and contact information of our office: Address: 1 East Erie Street, Suite 500 Chicago, IL 60611 USA Tel: 312-453-0210 Fax: 312-453-0211 Email: [email protected] Hours: 9:00 am -12:00 am, 1:00 pm-2:30 pm

To download application form, please click here