New Passport Regulations for Opening Business

[muyongshi]

Just wanted to let everyone know that there are new regulations in place for opening a business in China.

The investor must get a black and white copy of their passport noterized, then legalized by the secretary of state of the state that it was notarized in. From here it must be sent to the Secetray of State for the US [currently Mrs. Clinton] to be authenticated by her office. At which point it is then sent to the Embassy in Texas to get a final authentication, at which point you can continue applying to open your business.

Apparently, you can get the first two steps done at the consulate or US embassy in China but the last two steps still must be done in the states.

Brand new rule. Kind of sucks.

[roddy]

Erm, source? Because while I hesitate to suggest that this is something Mianyang has cooked up on it's own, it does smack of local . . . interpretations.

Oh, and tell us all about your new business . . .

[muyongshi]

Well, normally my thoughts would be exactly that! However this is nation-wide. So I am friends with two people who own their own consulting companies [read: people pay them to help them start a business] that are now running into this too and were completely surprised by it. In fact the MY government doesn't actually know what it is that is supposed to be done, they said contact the China embassy. This process is what is coming from the embassy as well. While I don't know all the details [thank goodness I'm not actually having to go through the application process] what i've said is what I do know. I've heard more, but am not apt to remember it all.

In response to your question my friend is: doing what everybody else does, open a company to teach Chinese to people who don't come to China to learn.

....[and yes I'm helping him]

[roddy]

Fair enough - was just the first I heard of it, and I'm a sceptical so-and-so . . .

[fanglu]

Sounds like old news to me. These are pretty much the steps for notarisation in general.

In Australia (to use a document in China):

1 You get a document signed by a public notary.

2 You have the signature of the notary verified by the department of foreign affairs, they affix a seal

3 You take the document to the Chinese consulate to have the seal of the department of foreign affairs verified, they affix a seal

4 You do whatever you were intending on doing with the document in China

I don't know if step 2 can be done outside Australia, but step 3 must definitely be done at a Chinese consulate in Australia.

If in the US you need to have it approved by two different parts of the state department (regional office and head office) that sounds more like an American than a Chinese regulation - why would they care which office signs it as long as it is duly authorised?

Edited June 24, 2009 at 12:25 PM by fanglu
Should proofread

[muyongshi]

You missed the point though. This is now a required process for the BUSINESS APPLICATION!

[jbradfor]

Again, not saying it is wrong, but just a question.

So if you're opening a business in China, I would presume that you are, in fact, in China. With your passport. So if all that is needed is a notarized copy of your passport, why can't you have it done in China?

And do you really think SoS Clinton will really spend her time signing copies of passports? Is this just a plot to keep her busy and not bothering China?

[fanglu]

Maybe the new part is that you need a notorised copy of your passport, whereas in the past just showing your passport was enough.

I don't know, it just doesn't seem all that onerous to me. Try using foreign ID to do something like open a bank account or incorporate a company in another country.

Edit: I just remembered opening a bank account in China without any problems. OK, well, registering a company anyway.

[fanglu]

With your passport. So if all that is needed is a notarized copy of your passport, why can't you have it done in China?

I guess that's a logical question. But then the same would go for any other document - marriage certificate, certificate of title, etc. Why not just take it to China and have a copy certified there? I don't know. But you can't.

[muyongshi]

With your passport. So if all that is needed is a notarized copy of your passport, why can't you have it done in China?

Read what I wrote again. It's not just about having a notarized copy. It, by the end of the process, is an actual LEGAL document that could actual function as legal ID. So basically the government wants a legal document for the investor on record. Which brings me to my next point.

It's about the investor. I'm not going to claim to understand it but I do have a theory. Legal investors may not reside in China, hence why the process actually involves stuff state-side. [not sure about other countries and how that would work though].

And do you really think SoS Clinton will really spend her time signing copies of passports? Is this just a plot to keep her busy and not bothering China?

Yeah, right! Her office actually has a department in it that if I remember correctly is called the office of authentications. So there exists a place solely that does this type of authentication meaning that there is more things than just legalized passport copies that need authentication.

[zhwj]

How new does new mean? We just registered a business, and our legal representative had to obtain a passport verification, and that was back in November or December, I believe.

It was a pretty impressive document, too - with a cover letter stapled to a stamped photocopy of the passport, bound together with green ribbon and sealed in wax. Don't know how they do it in the States, though.

[imron]

Where did your legal representative get it done?

[zhwj]

South Africa.