CHINA ACCEDES TO THE HAGUE APOSTILLE CONVENTION

The accession will go into effect on November 7, 2023.

What this is: China has acceded to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization, as of March 8, 2023. The accession will go into effect on November 7, 2023.

What this means: At that time, documents destined for use in China will no longer require consular legalization. An apostille from the appropriate Secretary of State or the U.S. Department of State should be accepted.

from Cogency Global

The Accession of China to the Hague Apostille Convention will be welcome news to businesses working in China or with Chinese companies. It means they no longer have to rely on the full legalization process to enable documents originating in the US to be authenticated for use in China. This process, required for countries that have not acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention, can be time consuming and difficult, often involving multiple agencies and delays that can last several weeks.

The Hague Apostille Convention, formally known as the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, is an international treaty that simplifies the process of authenticating public documents for use in other countries. The Convention requires member countries to recognize apostilles as sufficient evidence of the authenticity of the public documents to which they relate. After November 7, authenticating a public document for use in China, or authenticating a Chinese public document, will only require that an apostille is attached by a Competent Authority. In the US, the U.S. Secretary of State, the Secretaries of State for each individual state and the federal courts are all competent authorities. So, for example, to authenticate certified copies of the certificate of incorporation for a Delaware corporation, you will only need to request the copies with an attachment of an apostille for the country of China from the Delaware Secretary of State.

Hello, everyone! My fiance and I are August 2022 K-1 visa filers and our case is still being processed. My fiance was arrested and charged with drug possession a couple of days ago and has been released. Should we send a letter to USCIS now and explain everything or just wait until we get an RFE? Also, I found out that he has some mental health court records as well. Do these count as criminal records? Should we include this information as well? We were stupid and ignorant when we filed and didn't dig deeper into this. And we marked "no" to the part 3 question4.a. Will this be a huge mistake? Please give us some advice! Thanks

Am seeking how to move my wife's chinese parents to America. Requirements as how much do I have to make to be their support and forms and basically how to get it done without a lawyer. Thanks to all who can give me a point of view.

Hello,

I submitted an extension for my father-in-law last year, and just got the rejection letter stating they asked for evidence, which I never received. My mother-in-law will most likely get the same soon.

My wife submitted her father and mother's I-485 paperwork last April; we have received status change letter and biometrics were performed two months ago. Medical for both has also been sent into USCIS. How do we proceed at this point? Should he and his wife leave the country or are we protected by the change of status letters?

Roxer

Thanks for asking this question. I had the exact same question as you.

Well, not the exact same. I already have a 10-year visa because I've been to China before.

It's my infant son I'm applying for.

I believe that my son is eligible for both Q2 (family) AND L (tourist) type visas. And the purpose of our upcoming travel to China is both for visiting family AND tourism.

Here's some of what I learned from the fine print on the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco website (should be the same rules for all Chinese consulates):

For Q2 visa, you will need an invitation letter from a Chinese relative, for example your father-in-law or brother-in-law. The letter will need to include this relative's name, gender, date of birth, Chinese ID number, current address, phone number, and email address. The letter will also need to state your name, gender, date of birth, nationality, passport number, relationship to the inviter, when you plan to go to China, and for how many days you plan to stay.

For the L visa, you have two options. Option 1 is to submit round-trip flight tickets and hotel reservations for your full itinerary. For this option, you don't need an invitation letter. Option 2 is to have an invitation letter from a Chinese travel agency or individual. For this option, yo don't need to submit round-trip flight tickets or hotel reservations. The letter from the inviter must include the inviter's name, address, phone number, signature, date, and an official seal. If the inviter is a "huaqiao" or "oversees Chinese" (such as your wife) then they must include their overseas residence permit (i.e. your wife's "Canadian green card"). If the inviter is your wife's relative who lives in China, then they need to include their Chinese ID number. For letter will also need to state your name, gender, date of birth, passport number, reason for coming to China, date of arrival and departure, places of visit, relationship to the inviter, and who will pay for travel expenses.