Teaching in China requires a clean FBI background check for your work permit and foreign expert certificate. Since November 2023 it needs only a U.S. Department of State apostille, not consular legalization. We deliver it in 7 to 10 business days.
Until late 2023, an FBI background check for China needed federal authentication and then legalization at a Chinese consulate, a slow two-step process. China joined the Hague Apostille Convention effective November 7, 2023, and Chinese consulates in the U.S. stopped doing legalization. Now your FBI background check for a China teaching job needs only a U.S. Department of State apostille. Many teachers and even some agencies still do not know this.
To teach legally in China you need a work permit and a foreign expert certificate, and the authorities require a clean criminal background check. For Americans that is the FBI Identity History Summary, apostilled by the U.S. Department of State. Because it is a federal document, only the Department of State can apostille it.
Get your fingerprints on a standard FD-258 card.
No. Since November 7, 2023, China is in the Hague Apostille Convention, so an FBI background check needs only a U.S. Department of State apostille. Chinese consulates discontinued legalization.
The U.S. Department of State, because the FBI check is a federal document. State apostilles are not accepted.
7 to 10 business days, because we walk documents into the Department of State in person.
Yes. Get fingerprinted on an FD-258 card, mail it to us, order the $95 mail-in FBI background check, access your result, then apostille it online.
Often yes. Many Chinese institutions require a Chinese translation of the apostilled FBI background check. Apostille first, then translate.
Apostille replaced legalization in 2023. 7 to 10 business days, return shipping included.