The International Schools Review Forum

Hello,

Myself and my wife (Who is British) have recently been offered teaching positions in China. Thus we are currently in the process of putting together our work Visa Application. One potential complication which has arisen however is the nature of my undergraduate degree and the fact that I've been living in the United Kingdom and working since 2013. My degree was awarded to me by the University of Toronto (In Canada) in 2012, however I have spent 2013-2018 working and living in the United Kingdom via a number of different work visa schemes (Youth Mobility, 3 Year Work Visa and currently Family Visa) and I currently have Qualified Teaching Status in the UK. I am aware that as apart of the Visa Application Process I need to get my University Degree notarised by a lawyer and then authenticated by the Chinese Embassy. The question is, can a Canadian diploma be notarised in the United Kingdom and if so would it then be accepted by the Chinese Embassy in London? Or will I need to journey back to Canada to get my diploma notarised and authenticated by the Chinese Embassy in Toronto? It would be costly and inconvenient but it is something I could potentially do if necessary. Furthermore can I even do the other stages in the UK as I am currently a resident (Criminal background check for example)

I have tried to contact the Visa Centre and the Consulate in London but they have only told me to get in touch with the British Foreign Office for notarisation. However the British Foreign Office website indicates that they only approve British credentials, so I am beginning to become quite worried! An old mentor of mine recommended I post on this forum and seek out the advice of others who may have been in a similar situation before. IE: Applying for a work visa whilst outside of your country of origin.


Looking forward to hearing from you all soon!

As far as I know, degrees have to be apostilled/notarized in their country of origin. But I’m pretty sure there are agencies that help you with that by mail, so you wouldn’t have to travel to Canada just for a piece of paper.

Has your school offered you no advice on this issue?

Hello, so far my school has just told me to contact the Chinese Embassy in London. Unfortunately the Chinese embassy has simply told me to to talk to the British Foreign Office, which unfortunately doesn't deal with Non-British people. I think the Canadian embassy can notarise documents for me here, the big question is if the Chinese embassy (In London) will accept an application including Canadian notarised documents.

I'm tempted to just go down there on foot and bounce between both embassies in person, but alas they're open hours are during my work hours!

The CAN embassy can but you need to clarify with the IS (and they will need to likely check with immigration) but they can authenticate either the original or a certified copy of the degree (and they can notarize a copy of your original and certify it). The issue is whether China will accept it. My suggestion would be to do it the proper way, which wont require a trip to CAN and you do not need a lawyer to do it either.

1) Take your original diploma to the CAN embassy, they will make a certified copy (make a copy and notarize it) the fee is £12.

2) You have two options at this point, you can (A) further request the embassy authenticate the document which costs £50 or (B) you can send it to Global Affairs Canada which will do it for free. You send them the document and the request form and a prepaid return envelope and they process it it about two weeks, plus transit time.

3) If you do not have the original degree, you will need to contact your Uni, and the process is to make a copy of your diploma or scan of it, then email the scan to the Uni register and ask them to print and notarize it. Once that is done they send it back to you, and you follow the options in step 2 above.

If you dont mind waiting the whole process will cost you about £15, otherwise to do it all locally will cost around £65 and a day or half a day (their consul section is only open until 12:30) leave from work (assuming the IS will accept the embassy authentication).

Cool! I think I'll try to make my way down to the embassy just after christmas, they should be open on the 28th...the only remaining question is if the Chinese embassy will accept an application featuring a diploma authenticated by the CAN embassy down the road. My wife can't think of why they wouldn't, but in my experience international visa stuff is way more complicated than you'd initially expect.

Good luck. I will say that Chinese immigration is frustrating to deal with at the best of times. If it makes you feel any better, my partner, who is from the UK and graduated from a UK university, applied for a Chinese Z visa in a different country (a country that my partner held a residency permit for, having lived there for the past ten years) with documents notarized by UK authorities and the application was processed without a problem. So it IS possible.

@Mrhopkins43

TIC (This Is China), there doesnt need to be a reason.

So, the easiest way is to get your uni to issue you a brand new degree/transcript set.

Have them send it to foreign affairs in Ottawa - have it Purolated...pay for a return to your relatives after it is stamped by foreign affairs.

Have your relatives DHL or Fed Ex it to you in the UK.

Roadblocks can emerge if you try to shortcut the process. Can - doesn't mean they will...