I. Background Information

On March 9 and November 7, 2023, Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (hereinafter referred to as “the Apostille Convention”) (Appendix 1) came into effect in Pakistan and China respectively. Pursuant to the provisions of the Apostille Convention, within the scope of the Convention, documents issued by China and Pakistan relevant authorities now only require an “Apostille” from the issuing country, and can be used directly in the other country, without the need for consular attestation or legalization any more.

Please be noted that both the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region in China have previously acceded to the Apostille Convention before. As such, the Apostille Convention continues to apply to Hong Kong and Macao in China.

II. Procedure for Obtaining an Apostille Issued by China

Documents, which are issued by China within the scope of the Apostille Convention and intended for use in Pakistan, must be apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as “MFA of  China”) in Beijing or by authorized Foreign Affairs Offices of  local government in China (hereinafter referred to as “FAOs”). The name list of FAOs can be found in Appendix 2.  

MFA of China is the competent authority responsible for issuing the Chinese Apostille for documents issued by China. In addition, the authorized FAOs will issue the Chinese Apostille for documents according to their respective administrative region division. For an example of the Chinese Apostille, please refer to Appendix 3.

Please click here for detailed information regarding the procedures and requirements of applying for Chinese Apostille certificate. You may also click here to verify the authenticity of Chinese Apostille certificate online.  

III. Procedure for Obtaining an Apostille Issued by Pakistan

Documents, which are issued by Pakistan within the scope of the Apostille Convention and intended for use in China, must be apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ((hereinafter referred to as “MOFA”) in Islamabad or by authorized MOFA liaison offices.  

MOFA is the competent authority responsible for issuing Pakistani Apostilles for documents issued by Pakistan. For an example of the Pakistani Apostille, please refer to Appendix 4. Furthermore, authorized liaison offices by MOFA will issue Apostilles for documents within their respective administrative region division.  

Please click here for further details of how to submit an Apostille application in Pakistan, and to get other relevant information,. You may also click here to verify the authenticity of Pakistan Apostille certificate online.