Chinese notarial certificates (公证书): translating them for use in Australia

China’s Notary Law defines notarisation in Article 2: “公证是公证机构根据自然人、法人或者其他组织的申请，依照法定程序对民事法律行为、有法律意义的事实和文书的真实性、合法性予以证明的活动。” In plain English: on request, a notary office follows a set legal procedure to certify that an act, a legally significant fact or a document is true and lawful.

Article 11 lists what notary offices certify. Among them are “婚姻状况、亲属关系、收养关系” (marital status, kinship, adoption), “出生、生存、死亡、身份、经历、学历、学位、职务、职称、有无违法犯罪记录” (birth, being alive, death, identity, work history, education, degrees, positions, titles, and whether a person has a criminal record), and “文书的副本、影印本与原本相符” (copies that match the original).

The Ministry of Justice’s Notarial Procedure Rules set out what the certificate itself contains. Article 42 lists a certificate number, the applicant’s details, the notarial statement (“公证证词”), the notary’s signature or signature seal and the notary office’s seal, and the date of issue. It then adds: “公证证词证明的文书是公证书的组成部分。” The document that the statement certifies is part of the notarial certificate.

That is why a 公证书 usually arrives as a bound booklet: the notary’s pages wrapped around a copy of the underlying record, such as a household register page, a degree or a police record. Whoever reads it in Australia is reading both, so a translation needs to cover both.

The partner visa page puts both rules side by side. For translations done here: “Translators in Australia must be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters.” For translations done anywhere else, China included: “Translators outside Australia do not have to be accredited. On each translation, they must include their:” “full name”, “address and telephone number” and “qualifications and experience in the language they are translating.” It adds: “These details must be in English.”

The citizenship application page says the same in its own words: “Translators outside Australia do not have to be NAATI accredited.” and “Provide all translator details in English.” The skilled independent visa page carries the same list.

Put your English pages next to that list. If they show the translator’s full name, address and telephone number, and their qualifications and experience in the language, all in English, they carry the details those pages describe. If they show only the notary office’s seal, or no translator at all, or you are unsure, ask the office receiving your documents what it needs before you pay anyone for a new translation.

A new translation made in Australia falls under the first rule. Choose the NAATI certification option when you order: a NAATI-certified translator prepares it.

One example of a notarial certificate that Home Affairs names itself: for a police check from mainland China, its services page lists the “‘Notary Certificate of No Criminal Convictions’”, and explains: “You must first obtain the ‘No Criminal Convictions Certificate’ from your local police station and provide this to the Public Notary Office to apply for the ‘Notary Certificate of No Criminal Convictions’.” It also says: “You should apply for a certificate from the place where your Hukou (household) is registered.” Our police certificate translation page covers the translation side.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is direct about it: “附加证明书与领事认证书具备同等功能，仅证明文书上最后一个印鉴、签名属实，不对文书内容本身的真实性和合法性负责。” An apostille does the same job as consular legalisation. It confirms only that the last seal and signature on the document are genuine, and it does not vouch for what the document says.

Two things follow. An apostille does not put anything into English, so a Chinese-language 公证书 with an apostille still has Chinese text on it. And an apostille is not something a translator adds: it is issued in China, on the Chinese document.

Whether you need one depends on who will read the document. The Home Affairs partner visa, citizenship and skilled visa pages quoted on this page ask for translations and colour scans, and none of them mentions an apostille; the partner visa page adds, “You do not need to have any documents certified.” If another office, such as a court, a registry or an employer, has asked for an apostille, ask it which documents need one before you apply in China.

We take your order, arrange the translation of the booklet into English, and deliver it by email as a PDF. The translation covers the whole booklet: the notary’s certificate and statement, the underlying document, and the words on every seal. If your booklet carries an apostille, photograph that page too and tell us which pages already have English on them. Photographing a document for translation shows what a usable photo looks like, and what it costs explains how pages are counted.

Send us the spelling of your name in your passport and the translation follows it, so your documents agree with each other; which spelling of your name goes on the translation explains how.

With the NAATI certification option, a NAATI-certified translator prepares the translation, and the finished PDF carries the translator’s certification statement and NAATI stamp (normally the digital one, with a QR code), their name and their NAATI practitioner number. The Standard option is a translation without the statement or stamp, for when nobody has asked for certification.

We do not notarise documents, issue apostilles or check whether a document is genuine. If there is an error in our translation, we correct it and re-issue it at no charge.