1. On March 8, 2023, China acceded to the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (hereinafter referred to as the Convention). On November 7, 2023, the Convention will enter into force between China and the United States. The Convention will continue to apply to the Hong Kong SAR of China and the Macao SAR of China.

2. Starting from November 7, public documents within the scope of the Convention issued by the U.S. only need to apply for a U.S. apostille before they can be sent to Chinese mainland for use. There is no need to apply for consular authentication by the U.S. and the Chinese Embassy and Consulates-General in the U.S.

3. Starting from November 7, the Chinese Embassy and Consulates-General in the US will cease consular authentication services. For documents issued by the U. S. intended to be sent to Chinese mainland, please apply for apostilles from the U.S. competent authorities (For contact information, please log on to https://www.hcch.net/en/states/authorities/details3/?aid=353 ).

4. According to the provisions of the Convention, an apostille issued by a country is used to prove the authenticity of the signature on the public document, the identity of the signatory of the document at the time of signing, and to confirm the authenticity of the seal on the document when necessary. The completion of the U.S. apostille does not guarantee the acceptance of the public document by the relevant user in China. It is recommended to check in advance with the relevant party in China about specific requirements for format, content, time limit, translation, etc. before going through the relevant procedures.