Documents originating outside of China shall be first notarized and then legalized at China consulate in that country before they can be used in China official proceedings such as court lawsuit, notary office or other governmental agencies.
In practice, I generally prepare those documents in bilingual version in both English and Chinese so it is easier for clients to deal with.
I am really surprised that such biligual documents are not acceptable in Canada when a client is preparing documents in inheriting an estate property in Beijing, China.
The documents are firstly notarized in a local law office, but before they are brought to China consulate for legalization, there is intermediary step to go through, but the government agency insisted that since there is Chinese version there, then this Chinese contents shall have to be translated by a sworn translator in Canada despite the fact the English version is there and accepted by the client.
here is the link at the website of Government of Canada.
There won’t be such an issue with UK, USA, Australia or other Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions.
Comments