涵涵君的小站中文
申请中国高校时，毕业证、学位证和成绩单通常要提交原件、翻译件或公证件。这些文件来自你自己的国家，怎么才算“被认可”？2023 年 11 月 7 日起《取消外国公文书认证要求的公约》在中国生效，缔约国之间的文书流转改为“附加证明书”一步式证明。本文把规则和常见误区摘成要点。
- 规则变了：中国于 2023 年 3 月 8 日加入《取消外国公文书认证要求的公约》，公约自 2023 年 11 月 7 日起在中国生效实施；此后中国同缔约国之间的公文书跨境流转，不再经过“外交部门认证 + 使领馆认证”的双认证程序。
- 对来华留学的意义：其他缔约国公文书送中国内地使用，只需办理该国附加证明书（Apostille），无需办理该国和中国驻当地使领馆的领事认证。
- 非缔约国仍然要认证：中国与公约非缔约国之间沿用传统领事认证程序。文书出具国是不是缔约国，以中国领事服务网公布的缔约国名单为准。
- 附加证明书证明什么：它是文书出具国指定主管机关签发的验证证书，只证明公文书上最后一个印鉴、签名的真实性，不对文书内容本身的真实性和合法性负责；内容真实性仍遵循“谁出具，谁负责”。
- 公证并没有取消：只要文书使用方（学校、认证机构等）提出要求，仍要办理公证，再由主管机关加贴附加证明书；公证书加上附加证明书，才是完整可用的文件。
- 学校要求优先：各校招生简章对学历、成绩单是要求原件、公证件还是认证件，规定不同，也可能逐年调整；递交前以该校当年国际学生招生简章和在线申请系统的材料清单为准。
中国高校招收国际学生时，用本科学历申请硕士、用硕士学历申请博士，一般都要核验上一级学历的毕业证、学位证和完整成绩单。境外院校出具的这些文件多数不是中文，学校通常要求附中文或英文翻译件；部分学校还要求公证件，或要求通过指定渠道做学历认证。这些要求分散在各校国际学生招生简章里，不能一概而论。
容易踩的坑有三个。一是以为办了公证就够，忘了再加贴附加证明书，材料到了学校被认定“未认证”；二是把非缔约国的文件按缔约国流程办，白等几周；三是翻译件与原件信息不一致，姓名拼写、出生日期、专业名称对不上，被要求重新出具。递交前把护照上的姓名拼写和学历文件上的拼写核对一遍，能省掉一轮返工。
时间安排上要留余量。附加证明书由文书出具国的主管机关签发，办理周期取决于该国机构，中国这边无法加速；学校审核和随后的签证申请又各需要时间。把文书准备放在申请开放之前完成比较稳妥，具体节点以目标院校当年公布的申请截止日期为准。
以上为要点摘录，具体以官方发布为准。
English
Applying to a Chinese University: Notarisation and Apostilles
Applying to a Chinese university usually means submitting your graduation certificate, degree certificate and transcripts as originals, translations or notarised copies. These documents come from your own country, so what makes them acceptable? Since 7 November 2023 the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents has been in force in China, replacing consular legalisation between member states with a single apostille. This summary sets out the rules and the common mistakes.
- The rule has changed: China joined the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents on 8 March 2023, and the Convention took effect in China on 7 November 2023. Since then, public documents moving between China and other member states no longer go through the old two-step legalisation by the foreign ministry and then the embassy or consulate.
- What this means for applicants: a public document from another member state intended for use in mainland China only needs that state's apostille, and no longer needs consular legalisation by that state or by a Chinese mission abroad.
- Non-member states still require legalisation: between China and states outside the Convention, the traditional consular legalisation procedure continues. Whether your country is a member state should be checked against the list published on the China Consular Service website.
- What an apostille proves: it is a certificate issued by the competent authority designated by the state that issued the document. It confirms only the authenticity of the last seal or signature on the document, not the truth or legality of its content, which remains the responsibility of the authority that issued it.
- Notarisation has not been abolished: where the receiving institution, such as a university or a credential service, requires it, the document must still be notarised and then apostilled. The notarised document plus the apostille is the complete, usable file.
- The university's requirement comes first: prospectuses differ on whether certificates and transcripts must be originals, notarised copies or authenticated documents, and the rules can change from year to year. Check the current international admissions prospectus and the online application checklist before you submit.
When Chinese universities admit international students, a bachelor's degree used to apply for a master's, or a master's used to apply for a doctorate, is normally verified against the graduation certificate, the degree certificate and the full transcript of the previous qualification. Documents issued by overseas institutions are usually not in Chinese, so schools generally ask for a Chinese or English translation; some also require notarised copies, or verification through a designated channel. These requirements sit in each university's international admissions prospectus and cannot be generalised.
Three mistakes are common. First, assuming notarisation is enough and forgetting the apostille, so the file is treated as unauthenticated on arrival. Second, running documents from a non-member state through the member-state procedure and losing weeks. Third, a translation that does not match the original, with a different spelling of the name, date of birth or field of study, which means the document must be reissued. Before submitting, check the spelling on your passport against the spelling on your certificates; it saves a round of rework.
Leave room in the schedule. An apostille is issued by the competent authority of the country that issued the document, and how long that takes depends on that authority; it cannot be accelerated from China. University review and the subsequent visa application each take time as well. Completing document preparation before applications open is the safer plan, with the exact dates set by the deadline the target university publishes for that year.
The above is a summary of key points only. Please refer to the official announcement for the authoritative version.
