How to Notarize and Translate a Document in Shanghai (2026)

To use a Chinese document abroad, you get it notarized at a Shanghai notary office (公证处) and then apostilled by the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office. To use a foreign document here, you get it apostilled in the country that issued it. Since China joined the Hague Apostille Convention on 7 November 2023, the old three-stage consular legalization is gone for member countries, so a single apostille certificate now does the job. Budget one to two weeks and a few hundred yuan per document.

Do you actually need this?

You need notarization or an apostille in Shanghai whenever an official on one side of a border has to trust a document from the other side. It comes up more often than expats expect: a marriage registration, a work and residence permit application that wants your degree and a clean criminal record, an international school place, a driving-licence swap, or sending a Chinese degree or birth record home. The first question is always direction: is a Chinese document going abroad, or a foreign one being used here? The two routes are different.

Chinese document used abroad: notarize, then apostille

For a Chinese-issued document you need overseas, the Shanghai route is two steps. First, take it to a notary office (公证处) and have the notary issue a notarial certificate, which bundles a certified translation into the destination language as a required part of the same booklet. Shanghai has 22 notary offices (one municipal, one county and twenty district offices), and you notarize at the one nearest your registered residence. Second, take that notarial certificate to the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office for an apostille (附加证明书).

The apostille is done at the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Service Center: the authentication counter at 228 Huashan Lu, or the Hongqiao branch at 55 Loushanguan Lu in Changning. One apostille certificate is now enough for any of the 120-plus member countries, which is the whole point of the 2023 change. One catch worth knowing early: the destination country sometimes still wants its own certified translation on arrival, so ask the receiving office before you assume the notary's translation will be accepted.

Foreign document used in China: apostille it back home

For a foreign document you need to use in Shanghai, the work happens in the country that issued it, not here. If that country is a member of the Apostille Convention, you get a single apostille from its competent authority (often a foreign ministry or designated office) and bring the apostilled document to China. You no longer route it through a Chinese embassy or consulate for legalization.

Two things still trip people up. If the issuing country is not a Convention member, the older consular legalization process still applies, so check your country's status first. And once the apostilled document is in Shanghai, the office receiving it will usually require a Chinese translation, which a local notary office or a licensed translation agency can provide. Your consulate in Shanghai can tell you who the competent apostille authority is back home, and it is a good place to start when a document was issued in your home country.

What it costs and how long it takes

Costs in Shanghai are modest and set roughly by document and page count, not by how urgently you need it, though express handling adds a fee. Notarizing and translating a straightforward document such as a passport, degree or single certificate typically runs a few hundred yuan all in, and the apostille on top is smaller. Here is the honest range as of September 2026.

Converted at about ¥6.7 to US$1, a September 2026 ballpark. The exact apostille fee is set by the Foreign Affairs Office; confirm the current figure on the official page below.

On timing, plan for one to two weeks. Notarization usually takes about two to seven working days, and the apostille adds a few more. Start early, because the one thing you cannot rush is a document you have not begun. If a deadline is tight, licensed agents will run the whole chain for you for an extra fee.

Common questions

Do I still need consular legalization for documents in China?

Not for documents to or from a Hague Apostille Convention member country. Since 7 November 2023 a single apostille replaces the old notarization-plus-consular-legalization chain. Consular legalization survives only when the other country is not a Convention member, so check that country's status first.

Where do I get a document notarized in Shanghai?

At a notary office (公证处) near your registered residence. Shanghai has 22 of them across the districts, and the notary issues a bound certificate that includes the certified translation. Bring your passport, the original document, and any supporting papers the office asks for when you book.

How much does it cost to notarize and translate one document in Shanghai?

Roughly ¥150 to ¥400 (US$22 to US$60) for the notarization including a short translation, with longer documents charged around ¥80 to ¥200 (US$12 to US$30) per page. The apostille is a separate, smaller fee of about ¥125 (US$19). Express handling costs more.

Who issues the apostille in Shanghai?

The Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office, through the Foreign Affairs Service Center at 228 Huashan Lu or the Hongqiao branch at 55 Loushanguan Lu. It apostilles Chinese public documents and notarial certificates for use abroad; foreign documents are apostilled in the country that issued them.

The Doctrine of the Mean put it plainly: 凡事预则立，不预则废. Prepare for a thing and it stands; neglect the preparation and it falls apart. With paperwork, that is not philosophy, it is a deadline.

Words, maps and research by the Choice Shanghai team. Please credit us and tag our 公众号 if you share.