Apostille replaces legalisation between France and China from 7/11/2023

China acceded to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 (ratified in France by the decree of 22 January 1965) in March 2023. It will come into force on 7 November 2023 for China and France.

To use your French documents in China, you will need to request an apostille from a competent Court of Appeal, rather than a “double legalisation”. Double, because the document and its Chinese translation must be validated by a seal stamped by both the Legalisation Office of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Consular Service of the Chinese Embassy in France. The latter has delegated the service to the China Visa Centre on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, and will teminate on November 7th.

This procedure is therefore :

• simplified, as there is only one authority to validate your document and translation with an apostille;
• and free of charge.

Please note: not all documents require a sworn translation or an apostille. It is always up to the establishment receiving the document to tell you what type of document it needs. If they require an official translation by a sworn translator, you can contact us for more information.