Legalization of Chinese Notary Certificates

[Dave&Aya 0]

We have obtained Chinese Notary Certificates for the Birth Certificate, Police Certificate, and Divorce Certificate from the local city of Fuqing. These Notary certificates were submitted with the CR-1 visa applications (I-130 and DS-230).

The Tokyo Embassy is now requesting that these be "legalized." Apparently, this is a process of authentication that can be done by the central Chinese government.

Does anybody know what the process is of getting Chinese Notary Certificates "legalized"?

• Can this be done at a Chinese Embassy, such as in Tokyo?
  
• Can this be done in Fujian Province? By what agency?
  
• Do we initiate it using the certificates that we have, or must it be initiated by the city Notary?
  

Note that this process may be different than most Chinese applicants because my wife resides as a permanent resident in Tokyo ans so this is NOT being processed by Guangzhou.

What have been the experiences of other Chinese applicants?

[pushbrk 12,979]

We have obtained Chinese Notary Certificates for the Birth Certificate, Police Certificate, and Divorce Certificate from the local city of Fuqing. These Notary certificates were submitted with the CR-1 visa applications (I-130 and DS-230).

The Tokyo Embassy is now requesting that these be "legalized." Apparently, this is a process of authentication that can be done by the central Chinese government.

Does anybody know what the process is of getting Chinese Notary Certificates "legalized"?

• Can this be done at a Chinese Embassy, such as in Tokyo?
• Can this be done in Fujian Province? By what agency?
• Do we initiate it using the certificates that we have, or must it be initiated by the city Notary?

Note that this process may be different than most Chinese applicants because my wife resides as a permanent resident in Tokyo ans so this is NOT being processed by Guangzhou.

What have been the experiences of other Chinese applicants?

This is a new one for me. I've never seen any issue with accepting the original Notarial Documents in their original booklet form. If that's what you have and the IV unit at the US Embassy in Tokyo wants them legalized, I would try first at the Chinese Embassy. Guangzhou definitely accepts the booklets at face value. If you don't have the original booklets, that's another matter altogether.

[Darnell 8,478]

he has a white book problem, Push. Check his other topics.

[pushbrk 12,979]

he has a white book problem, Push. Check his other topics.

His terminology is confusing me. What kind of "white book" would he have if it isn't a Notarial Translation? My marriage certificate is in a red book. What is needed is a Notarial Translation from the local Notarial Office in the city or county where the home book resides. If they don't have those Notarial Translations, a relative can obtain them. I'm surprised USCIS would have accepted any other kind of a translation of a Chinese document. I've seen it tried but never seen it succeed. Get those Notarial Translations. They come in white booklets that contain the Chinese document AND the Notarial Translation as well as a certification the translation is correct.

[Darnell 8,478]

ya, he doesn't have white books. he only has the originals .

they made their own english translation, USCIS and NVC accepted it,

now the IV Unit in Tokyo wants something else, an actual 'white book' notarial translation document.

He's confused by what it is, and how to get it.

I answered him in his other post, but he's asking again, in a new topic.

Edited November 1, 2012 by Darnell

[Pitaya 2,577]

Here is the other previous thread for reference:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/397302-chinese-notary-certificates-tokyo-embassy/

[Dave&Aya 0]

I answered him in his other post, but he's asking again, in a new topic.

I would not be asking here if you really had answered my question. You directed me to a thread with dozens of posts, and many links elsewhere. As far as I can tell, my question was NOT answered anywhere in that thread. Or, as far as I understand it anywhere. Certainly you didn't *answer* my question but just tersely kicked me to another thread with a vaguely similar topic.

Really, I am asking for help and understanding. Perhaps I have the wrong thing. I would like to get the right thing. I don't know how to do it. My wife doesn't know how to do it.

-----

What we have is a glossy white booklet that has a single sheet of paper in it. That is the Police, Birth Certificate, etc. It has a red stamped seal on the paper. These were obtained from the local city Notary office. We thought this was what the USCIS and NVC had requested.

Yes, we followed the instructions posted on the USCIS and the NVC websites which directed us to obtain English translations, along with the specified certification language. So we did that, exactly as these websites explain is required.

The Tokyo embassy is now wanting the documents in what they call "4 page format" where the first page is the certificate, the second is the English translation, the third is a certification that the translation is accurate, and the fourth is the translation of the certification.

We don't know how or where to obtain what is being called the "4-page" Notary Certificate. Possibilities that we can think of might include:

• The Chinese Embassy in Tokyo
  
• The central government in Beijing.
  
• The Fujian Province offices (the city is in Fujian Province
  
• Some other place
  

Help would be appreciated...either a direct answer or a link to some finite amount of information that would actually enable us to obtain the documents.

I assume that somebody has produced these Chinese documents for an Embassy outside of China. We would love to know where and how.

Thank you.

[pushbrk 12,979]

I would not be asking here if you really had answered my question. You directed me to a thread with dozens of posts, and many links elsewhere. As far as I can tell, my question was NOT answered anywhere in that thread. Or, as far as I understand it anywhere. Certainly you didn't *answer* my question but just tersely kicked me to another thread with a vaguely similar topic.

Really, I am asking for help and understanding. Perhaps I have the wrong thing. I would like to get the right thing. I don't know how to do it. My wife doesn't know how to do it.

-----

What we have is a glossy white booklet that has a single sheet of paper in it. That is the Police, Birth Certificate, etc. It has a red stamped seal on the paper. These were obtained from the local city Notary office. We thought this was what the USCIS and NVC had requested.

Yes, we followed the instructions posted on the USCIS and the NVC websites which directed us to obtain English translations, along with the specified certification language. So we did that, exactly as these websites explain is required.

The Tokyo embassy is now wanting the documents in what they call "4 page format" where the first page is the certificate, the second is the English translation, the third is a certification that the translation is accurate, and the fourth is the translation of the certification.

We don't know how or where to obtain what is being called the "4-page" Notary Certificate. Possibilities that we can think of might include:

• The Chinese Embassy in Tokyo
• The central government in Beijing.
• The Fujian Province offices (the city is in Fujian Province
• Some other place

Help would be appreciated...either a direct answer or a link to some finite amount of information that would actually enable us to obtain the documents.

I assume that somebody has produced these Chinese documents for an Embassy outside of China. We would love to know where and how.

Thank you.

Your wife or another person named in her family book needs to go to the Gong Zheng Chu (Notarial Office) and request Notarial translations of all the documents you have that are only in Chinese. China is an exception to anything you've read about the practice of having translations done by other qualified parties or agencies. The translations MUST come from the Gong Zheng Chu, period.

[Darnell 8,478]

...

Edited November 2, 2012 by Darnell

[Dave&Aya 0]

Darnell, I have found your answers to be a bit "snippy." Perhaps I am overly reacting to your use of slang ("yer") instead of real english. But I have felt a bit like I was being "brushed off". I am just sharing this feedback so you might now how I have felt. It is a bit like that old Microsoft joke of a guy in a helicopter in the fog who is lost, he shouts down to somebody on the ground: "Where Am I?!" The person on the ground shouts back: "You are in a helicopter!" The answer is correct, but useless.

----------

Now, I have the answer, and it may be useful for some future victim.

When you go to a Notary office in China to obtain Notary Certificates (Birth, Divorce, Police, etc) it can be important to know that these certificates are not all prepared the same way.

Most countries accept the "domestic" version and so unless you specify that the certificates are for the United States you may get the domestic version. The Domestic version does not contain the translation or the additional certifications. This format is accepted by most countries, including Japan.

A Notary Office will often ask what the intended use of the Notary certificates is, or where the applicant lives. Then, the certificate will be prepared in the appropriate format. Usually, that is just fine If you answer: "I am applying for a visa to the United States" the Notary office knows to prepare the certificate in the special format required by the United States.

As it happened, my wife is Chinese and she is also a permanent resident of Japan. So, when the certificates were ordered, they noticed that she had already immigrated to Japan and they didn't ask her what the intended use was. They assumed that it was for use by Japan. They prepared the certificates in the format required by Japan, which essentially is the domestic format.

She didn't know there was a different format. In fact, it seems that most people on this forum didn't know the Notary Certificates are prepared in multiple formats. So she blindly submitted what she got (in glossy white books, but only in Chinese.) She also followed the USCIS, NVC, and Tokyo Embassy instructions and obtained certified translations of those Chinese-only documents. For all the world, she and I believed we had done exactly the correct thing, and we could not comprehend why the Tokyo Embassy rejected them and asked for something different.

We came to this form asking for help. We were told to do exactly what we had already done, which was no help. Unwittingly, the same ignorance that caused the problem in the first place caused the question to not be answered informatively.

The unspoken source of the problem is that the Chinese Notary office knew my wife resided in Japan and my wife wasn't informed enough to know to know to specify that the Notary Certificates needed to be prepared in the special format used by the United States.

Eventually, showing the Chinese Notary office the request by the Tokyo Embassy brought the problem to light.

----------

So the instructional point for other members of the VJ Forum is to know that Chinese Notary Certificates are prepared in several different formats. While it will often come out of the conversation when ordering the Notary Certificates that they will be needed in the United States format, this cannot be taken for granted.

Japan does not require this format, and they accept the standard "Domestic" format with certified translations.

This may only be a problem for Chinese who have dual residency and are now applying to immigrate to the US. But it is something to know and share worth others in the future; politely.

----------

Sorry to be long in this post. Call me old-fashioned, but I still try to compose sentences, paragraphs, and to use english grammar. I know that is probably out of style.

[pushbrk 12,979]

Well I knew and I trust Darnell did too. You needed a notarial translation to English. There is no need to specify further. It is not simply a "Notarial Certificate". It is a "Notarial Translation". Japan has nothing to do with it. You're dealing with a US Consular Immigrant Visa Unit, that happens to be IN Japan.

Yes, if you say it's for immigration to the USA, they'll know it's as I described above, a Notarial Translation (to English). The same would be used for Australia, Canada, UK, Ireland.... You get the picture. It's not specific to the USA.

Edited November 4, 2012 by pushbrk

[rade2rising 205]

just stop already and get the correct documents and go get your visa. you clearly misunderstood what was needed but please don't try to blame members here. yes you asked for advise and feedback was given and you found it sloppy and unhelpful. well professional advise is not guaranteed here. for that you should consult a lawyer. you and your wife should have researched the issue better but it seems now you have done that and you got your answer. good luck in your journey.

[bigdog 376]

Well I knew and I trust Darnell did too. You needed a notarial translation to English. There is no need to specify further. It is not simply a "Notarial Certificate". It is a "Notarial Translation". Japan has nothing to do with it. You're dealing with a US Consular Immigrant Visa Unit, that happens to be IN Japan.

Yes, if you say it's for immigration to the USA, they'll know it's as I described above, a Notarial Translation (to English). The same would be used for Australia, Canada, UK, Ireland.... You get the picture. It's not specific to the USA.

You guys are showing lots of patience, we all got ours the way you indicated, not that hard.

just stop already and get the correct documents and go get your visa. you clearly misunderstood what was needed but please don't try to blame members here. yes you asked for advise and feedback was given and you found it sloppy and unhelpful. well professional advise is not guaranteed here. for that you should consult a lawyer. you and your wife should have researched the issue better but it seems now you have done that and you got your answer. good luck in your journey.

Yep, hire an attorney spend some more money.