Work Visa; "Proof of No Criminal Record" and other documents

[valikor]

EDIT: To avoid confusion, in case other people are also applying for a work visa: the requirement to have your embassy authenticate it seems to be NON-standard, and it turns out this was only suggested because my local cops were going to issue a document by fax (an "original" is generally required). If you have the "original", you should get it authenticated by the Chinese Consulate/Embassy in your country, which is kind of an annoying process, as I described below.

EDIT2: Tip: If you use an agent, you might be able to get out of the authentication requirement. One reason I was confused earlier was because what I heard from my agent was different from what I found from all other sources....since they were helping me more than I realized.

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Hi everybody,

I don't think this particular topic has been covered in other threads, and my experience applying for a working visa now is different from what friends dealt with last year. Basically, it's probably going to be a very slow, painful process.

I have a job offer at a large company, and the company arranged for a visa agent to help me with my application. He told me I need three documents (original copies):

1) My diploma

2) "Proof of work experience"

3) Certificate of No Criminal record

Easy, right?!

#1 and #2 are indeed quite easy; I just need to mail my diploma over, and get my old employer to write a letter saying that I worked there and what I did, add his signature and company letterhead, etc.

#3, however, is proving to be quite a pain, though, and nobody I have spoken with seems to be sure about how to do this. On the American embassy's website, it says that these can be issued in the US at various levels of government (local, state, federal), and that I should check with the requesting agency to ask what they want. I was hoping a report from my local (city) police department would work, since this would be much, much easier and faster than going through the FBI.

My visa agent asked, and the Chinese labor bureau apparently said that any document is fine, as long as it gets authenticated by the US Embassy in Beijing. I called the embassy, but it is apparently impossible to speak to a human being at the embassy via phone (any tips?). Their website suggests that they will only authenticate documents that have already been authenticated by someone else--probably the relevant Chinese consulate/embassy in the US. (See here and here) EDIT: Local/State/Federal documents may all work here, but the policy is that, after being issued, they should be authenticated by the Chinese Embassy or Consulate in your country, which may require several steps. Having a certified translation may also be necessary.

So, I started researching how to get my documents authenticated by the relevant Chinese consulate in the US; on other forums (like the Shanghaiexpat forum, etc.,), people mentioned this being a requirement for some documents. According to this site (see #4), and this site (which seems authoritative), the process might be very complicated. But, these two sites do not mention "Certificates of No Criminal Record" specifically as one of the kinds of documents to be authenticated. But, if this is the correct information, the process would be something like this:

1) Get the report from the State/FBI/local police/whoever

2) Get it notarized?

3) Possibly get the document certified by the local county court clerk

4) Get the document certified by the Secretary of State (of the State of Ohio, in my case)

5) Send the document to the Chinese Consulate to be verified/authenticated/whatever; I'm sure this will require a red stamp

6) Send the document to Beijing, so the American Embassy can place their Consular Seal next to the Chinese Consulate's seal, thus "authenticating" the document

7) Begin the visa application process

If I have to go through this process, I estimate it will take 3 months total to get my visa. However, the way that my visa agent speaks of it, it sounds like this is supposed to be easy. He basically said "Oh, yeah, a faxed report from the local police department should be fine, just get it authenticated by the US Embassy and then the labor bureau will accept it". Since he is supposedly a professional, I am hoping that he knows something I don't, but from the information I've found online, "get the embassy to authenticate it" is far easier said than done.

Has anyone done this before? Is it as terrible as it looks?

Thanks!

David

Edited August 21, 2013 at 05:07 PM by valikor

[valikor]

Also, this document is particularly relevant for American citizens...but it just confuses me even more. The process described here is not the same as the one on the Chinese Consulate website.

If the document does, indeed, need to be authenticated by the American embassy in Beijing,, it would first need to go from the cops-->State Department in Washington-->Chinese Consulate in New York before being sent to the American Embassy Beijing (which is also run by the State Department!) for the authentication requeted by the Chinese labor bureau.

Unless I'm reading it wrong. . .

EDIT: between being issued by the cops and being certified by the State Department, it would also need to be certified by the Secretary of State in the relevant American state

Edited August 21, 2013 at 04:49 AM by valikor

[gato]

No personal experience, but it should be fine if you can get it authenticated by both the State Department in DC and Chinese embassy/consulate in the US.

Getting it authenticated again by the US embassy in Beijing would duplicate the State Department's authentication.

I think you can rely on the info on State Department's website since it is specifically about China and they have experience with this.

[PengHaoShi]

I can't tell you about the process in the US, but I did it several times in Germany and the procedure might be similar. The document must be certified by the Chinese embassy or a consulate in the home country (US, for me Germany).

They only do it, if if get's a certification (apostille) from the Foreign Ministry of that country. In Germany this is done by a kind of Federal Administration Bureau, they require that the document is either directly send by a German State Authority or if send by the applicant himself, certified by responsible local authority.

In Germany, I had to ask for this certificate from the Ministry of Justice and I told them, that I need it with an apostille for Chinese authorities. They immediately knew what I mean and send it to the Federal Admin Bureau, they then send it to me. Then I went to the consulate and everything was OK.

After you have got it certified by the Chinese embassy, you might need a translation made by a certified translation office.

This procedure was required from me for all documents issued in Germany.

I never had anything authenticated by the German embassy in China.

Hope this helps a bit.

[abcdefg]

I don't have personal experience with "Proof of No Criminal Record" as it relates to obtaining a China working visa, but I do have experience with it in other situations where it is a part of a background check required for professional credentialing in the U.S.

1) Get the report from the State/FBI/local police/whoever

This is the part I might be able to help you with a little. Starting with your local police department is the thing to do because they are linked to State and Federal databases via computerized record systems such as NCIC. You don't personally have to walk this request up every level in the chain of command. At least that was my experience two or three times in the last several years (though I don't know about 2013.)

http://www.fas.org/i...fbi/is/ncic.htm

[PBolchover]

I had to do something similar (in reverse), to lodge a copy of my Chinese marriage certificate in the UK.

When I was married, I got a stamp on the certificate.

Then I had to a get a stamp on the English translation from the province government (essentially validating that the first stamp was valid)

Then I had to get a stamp from the Chinese Foreign Ministry (essentially validating that the provincial stamp was correct)

And finally, the whole thing was stamped by the UK embassy in Beijing (to validate the stamp from the Chinese Foreign Ministry).

[LaoDing]

I'm very surprised to be reading about this very complicated and time consuming task here but not in other places. I almost worked in Xingjiang, it was getting late, and they acted very nochalant about it- like it could be done in days. Maybe in some places it is that strict (I would think Xinjiang of all places to be strict), but my agent just pointed me to a dot com agent.

The FBI check is ridiculous. Why not just ban foreigner outrgiht if we're that paranoid? I don't exactly see hordes of American drug dealers, pimps, and mafia flooding in here. I wonder what's the big deal?

The local police station seems fine but often you have to be there in person, and pay be check of all things. What if you need a CBC and you're alreadiy in China?

Very confusing indeed and my FAO isn't helping much. I think I'll ask my agent to give her a call.

 

Finally, I used to live near Xiaobei, GZ, where there are literaly tens of thousands of illegal workers doing trade and labor without visas (or phony visas). Last I heard there are 10,000 Africans living in GZ (I'm not saying that's bad, I'm for good Chinese-African ties and find the communtiy there to be exciting). But what gives? This is China I suppose...

[abcdefg]

Last I heard there are 10,000 Africans living in GZ

 

Probably at least twice that, from what I've read.

 

https://africansinchina.net/how-many-africans-are-there-in-guangzhou/

[LaoDing]

My daughter and I are going to talk to my FAO tomorrow, who also does not understand this process. Obviously this is all new to her too.

 

Can't the institution just do a background check via an accredited online agency (the same people who are authorized to provide financial information)? These are public court records after all (should they exist). Why do we have to go through all this hassle?? I'm not being whiney- I'm just saying that in the U.S. employers check for these records all the time through online services- why can't my school or agent do the same thing? It seems to me that an FBI check is intrusive and a hugely unnecessary waste of time and money. We're not going for top secret clearance here!

 

Still, we might be forced to go ahead and make that trip to Beijing or wherever and have her hands and fingers printed for the FBI. A girl that never even stole a stick of gum in her life...Yeah, I know if we don't like it we can go home, but the whole thing is really downright humiliating. My daughter came here to learn Mandarin and Traditional Chinese Medicine, not to be treated like a criminal.

[LaoDing]

Well, my FAO just kind of chuckled about an FBI check and said, "On no, nothing so serious." So it seems that an internet agency can provide the document.

 

I'll post which it was when I find out. Maybe this is why we're not reading about people having to get FBI checks- they're uncommon.

[LaoDing]

Later- we got our check through castlebranch.com, and the FAO said it was fine. It's being processed now. It cost 100 USD, but a lot better than going to the consulate and getting your mitts printed for the FBI! Anyway, there are agencies out there that are verifiable and have clearance from the government to conduct searches. These 'dot.com' background checks seem to be fine for now in China, as far as I can tell. U.S. citizens, by the way.