Dear clients,
On 8 March 2023, the People's Republic of China acceded to the Convention on the Abolition of the Requirement of Higher Authentication of Foreign Public Documents (the Hague Convention). The Convention between China and Slovakia will enter into force 7 November 2023.
From this day on, it will no longer be necessary to submit super-legalized documents to the authorities in the Slovak Republic. In the case of documents such as birth certificates, marriage certificates or criminal records, the a document bearing an apostille is sufficient.
On the basis of the above from 7 November 2023Consular Department of the Embassy of the PRC in Slovakia suspend the operation of the superlegalisationDocuments.
For the use of documents issued in Slovakia and China, you will need a certificate from that date, the so-called. apostille. An apostille is the authentication of a document, i.e. the signature and stamp on a public document for the purpose of its use abroad. The apostille is issued by the competent authorities in the country where the document was issued (see Annex 1 for examples of authorities and a model apostille).
Apostillation does not automatically mean that an official document will be accepted by the Chinese side. Therefore, we recommend that you check in advance with the office that will be receiving the document in China the specific requirements for format, content, time limit, translation, etc. of the required official documents before you apostilate.
Sources:
- Hague Conference - Status Table
[https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=41] - Embassy of the People's Republic of China
[http://sk.china-embassy.gov.cn/slo/sgxx/xwdt/202310/t20231024_11167312.htm]
