Consular legalisation refers to the activity of consular legalisation institutions confirming the authenticity of the last seal or signature on domestic foreign-related notarial certificates, other certification documents or foreign-related documents based on applications from natural persons, legal persons or other organizations. The purpose of consular legalisation is to enable documents issued by one country to be recognized in other countries, and not to affect their legal effect outside the territory due to doubts about the authenticity of the seal or signature on the document. Consular legalisation does not exercise the certification function for matters certified by notarial certificates or other certification documents, and is not responsible for the authenticity and legality of the content of the document itself. The content of the document is the responsibility of the institution that issued the document.

Domestic consular legalisation institutions refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the foreign affairs departments of local governments entrusted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (hereinafter referred to as local foreign affairs offices). Foreign consular legalisation institutions refer to embassies and consulates abroad and other overseas institutions entrusted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On March 8, 2023, China acceded to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (hereinafter referred to as the Convention). On November 7 of the same year, the Convention entered into force in China, and China has issued Apostille since that date. Documents with Apostille can be used between contracting states of the Convention without the need for consular legalisation by foreign embassies and consulates in China. Similarly, documents with Apostille from other contracting states of the Convention can be sent directly to China for use without the need for consular legalisation by Chinese embassies and consulates in those states. The original consular authentication procedures are still used between China and non-contracting states of the Convention. Oman acceded to the Convention in 2011, but it made a declaration when it acceded to the Convention that commercial and customs documents issued by the Omani side are not subject to the Convention, so our embassy will continue to provide consular legalisation for the above two types of documents sent to China for use.

(I) Document legalisation procedures

Foreign citizens and Chinese citizens who apply for document legalisation need to complete the following procedures:

1. Notarization at a local notary public;

2. Apply for electronic attestation with the electronic stamp of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman on the official website of Oman Post;

3. Submit the document attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman to our embassy for legalisation.

(II) Application documents

Chinese and foreign citizens who apply for document legalisation to our embassy must submit the following documents:

1. One copy of the legalisation application form filled out truthfully and completely;

2. Originals of the required legalisation documents (including the original document and the electronic attestation page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman);

3. Copies of the required legalisation documents (including the original document and the electronic attestation page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman);

4. Copies of the applicant’s passport and Oman ID card; for commercial document authentication, a copy of the CR and the ID card of the person in charge of the company must also be provided.

(III) Pickup time and fees

The legalisation can usually be obtained on the 4th working day. The fees are as follows:

(IV) Notes

1. According to international practice and relevant Chinese regulations, the Embassy only legalises the stamp of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman and is not responsible for the content of the attested documents.

2. Documents notarized by a notary, attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman, and legalised by our Embassy shall not be arbitrarily disassembled or assembled for reasons such as copying. Any problems and even legal responsibilities that may arise from this shall be borne by the parties concerned.

3. If necessary, the above content may be adjusted, and we apologize that we may not be able to notify you in time. In this case, the interpretation of the consular officer shall prevail.