Chinese Consulate AuthenticationThe Last StepImportant Note: Some adoption agencies want to do the Chinese consulate authentication for you, or will give you the option. Please find out what your agency's policy is regarding this issue before beginning. What's It All About? Why are you doing all these steps anyway? Well, if you just write up a document and mail it to China, how do they know it's valid? It's not even from their own country. So first, you notarized each document. Then you state certified each document. The Secretary of State verified that the notary who signed your documents was a legal and valid notary at the time of signature.
But that's still not credible enough for China. The state's stamp of approval isn't enough to validate the document in a foreign country. So, you have to send your state certified documents to the Chinese consulate here in America to that the Chinese consulate can verify the validity of your state's stamp! Crazy, right? But that's the process. There are 5 or 6 Chinese consulates in America (I forget the exact number). Each consulate validates documents only from certain states. First, you need to figure out which consulate has jurisdiction over which states. The Chicago ConsulateThe Chicago consulate serves the following states:
If you have a document that was state certified in one of the above states, it needs to go to the Chicago consulate for Chinese authentication (also called Seals). The Houston ConsulateThe Houston consulate serves the following states:
If you have a document that was state certified in one of the above states, it needs to go to the Houston consulate for Chinese authentication (also called Seals). The Los Angeles ConsulateThe LA consulate serves the following states:
If you have a document that was state certified in one of the above states, it needs to go to the LA consulate for Chinese authentication (also called Seals).
New York ConsulateThe NY consulate serves the following states:
If you have a document that was state certified in one of the above states, it needs to go to the NY consulate for Chinese authentication (also called Seals). San Fransisco ConsulateThe San Fransisco Consulate serves the following states:
If you have a document that was state certified in one of the above states, it needs to go to the San Fransisco consulate for Chinese authentication (also called Seals). Washington DC EmbassyThe Washington DC Embassy serves the following states:
If you have a document that was state certified in one of the above states, it needs to go to the Washington DC consulate for Chinese authentication (also called Seals). NOTE:
How Should I Get My Documents Authenticated?You can always simply mail your documents to the appropriate Chinese consulate. However, I do not recommend this, as it is TOO easy for documents to get lost. You mail your documents, and two weeks pass by and you've heard nothing. What do you do? Try to call the consulate? They have no idea what happened to your documents....it's a mess.This has happened. Consulates have lost documents. By this point, you've invested too much time and energy into these documents to afford to lose them! Many adoption agencies recommend you use a courier. A courier is a person who lives near the consulate who you can mail your documents to and they will HAND CARRY your documents in for processing. This is SO much safer. Not only is it faster, but you have the assurance that someone else is hand caring for your documents the whole time. Many couriers are adoptive families themselves. I have always used a courier for Chinese authentication and would HIGHLY recommend you do the same.
List of Consulate CouriersWashington DC Courier:
Dependable ACS
Most all the consulates charge $20 per document for Chinese seals. I know, it can get expensive! This is the most pricey part of preparing your documents.
Common ConfusionRemember, when figuring out which consulate your documents need to go to, it doesn't MATTER what state you actually live in. It matters what state the documents were state certified in. It's quite common to have to send parts of your dossier to one consulate, and parts of your dossier to another consulate. If you have documents that were state certified in Arizona and Nebraska, those documents will need to go to two separate consulates. Don't confuse the state you live in with the state where the document was certified. If you have any doubts, ask your agency to tell you which consulate to send your documents to.
Have A Great Story About This Topic?Have you used one of the couriers listed? Tell us about your experience, both positive and negative. Did you decide NOT to use a courier? Why or why not, and what was the outcome? Your experiences will be helpful to those coming behind you. Adoptive Families Weigh In.....Click the links below to read about the experiences of other adoptive families with the couriers mentioned on this page.
Another Great Courier - Carol at Dependable ACS
I'm an adoptive mom almost done with our first adoption.....
Denise at There's Always Hope Rocks!!!
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Assistant Stork-DC
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