How to obtain notarization for your Hong Kong company?

众所周知，香港一向保持开放透明的营商环境，为营商活动提供便利。随着世界经济环境的变化，不少人选择了注册香港公司开展海外业务；同时也有不少香港公司想要抓住在内地发展的机会。

With the changes in the world economic environment, many people have registered Hong Kong companies to handle overseas business; there are also many Hong Kong companies that are interested in the opportunities for developing in the mainland. 

但由于香港和内地实行的法律制度不同，香港公司必须提供双方认可的第三方机构出具的公证文件，并获得相应的法律地位，才能在内地开展业务。 

However, since the legal systems implemented in Hong Kong and the mainland are different, a Hong Kong company must provide notarized documents issued by a third-party agency recognized by both parties if wanting to carry out business in the mainland.

此外，如果香港公司需要在其他国家进行商业活动，还需要提供香港和目标国家（或地区）均认可的公证文件。

Besides, if a Hong Kong company needs to undergo commercial activities in other countries, it is also required to provide notarized documents recognized by both Hong Kong and the targeted country (or region).

What's notarization?  

公证作为一种法律程序，被广泛用于需要证明自身合法性的案件。

Notarization, as a legal procedure, is widely used in cases that need to prove its legitimacy. 

由于不同国家和地区之间存在一定的信息和沟通障碍，意识形态和法律观念也可能存在根本差异。

Due to certain information and communication barriers between different countries and regions, there may be fundamental differences in ideology and legal concepts. 

因此，在一般情况下，要由参与者委托双方都认可的第三方个人或机构，一般情况下为律师或相关专业机构。由他们进行核查资料来证明参与者符合合法性，最后再由他们根据调查的结果来为参与者发起背书。

Therefore, in most cases, the participants need to entrust a third-party individual or institution (usually a lawyer or a related professional institution) recognized by both parties to prove that the participants (which may be companies or individuals) comply with relevant legal and regulatory requirements by investigating and reviewing their information locally. We also call it the self-certification of legality. Then the third-party will endorse the participants based on the results of the investigation. 

也就是说，公证主要适用于在不同法律体系下的国家或地区，对于同一个主体的合规性来进行审核以达到目的国家或者地区的法律地位认可。

That is to say, in two countries (or two regions) that are not under the same legal system, the legal compliance of the same subject should be reviewed and obtain the legal status of the targeted country (or region).

Types of Notarization

下面是一些常见的香港公司公证类型～

There are mainly three types of notarizations for Hong Kong companies. Please check~

01

China-appointed attesting officers  中国委托公证人

如今，越来越多的香港企业想在内地投资设立公司或者办理其他业务，往往都需要办理中国委托公证人公证，否则香港公司文件在内地无法使用。

Nowadays, more and more Hong Kong companies want to invest and set up branches in the mainland, in this case, they often need to be notarized by China-appointed attesting officers. Otherwise, the documents of Hong Kong company will be invalid in the mainland.

通常，香港居民或者香港公司回内地处理法律事务时，所需公证书须由司法部任命的委托公证人出具，并经中国法律服务(香港)有限公司加章转递，才能发往内地使用。

Usually, when a Hong Kong resident or a Hong Kong company goes to the mainland to handle legal affairs, the required notarial certificate must be issued by an attesting officer appointed by the Ministry of Justice, and stamped and forwarded by China Legal Services (HK) LTD. Then the certificate can be valid in mainland.

02

Apostille  海牙认证

海牙认证的全称是《取消外国公文认证要求的公约》。

The full name of Apostille is Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. 

公约规定，文件在公约成员国使用时，只需经本国外交部或其授权部门公证，无需再经过使馆公证。

The Convention stipulates that when a document is used in the member states of the Convention, it only needs to be notarized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of its own country or authorized agency, and no embassy notarization is required.

目前，已加入海牙认证公约的国家及地区有：阿尔巴尼亚、安道尔、阿根廷、亚美尼亚、澳大利亚、奥地利、阿塞拜疆、白俄罗斯、比利时、波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那、巴西、保加利亚、智利、香港、澳门、哥斯达黎加、克罗地亚 . ，塞浦路斯，捷克共和国，丹麦，厄瓜多尔，爱沙尼亚，芬兰，前南斯拉夫的马其顿共和国，法国，格鲁吉亚，德国，希腊，匈牙利，冰岛，印度，爱尔兰，以色列，意大利，日本，韩国，拉脱维亚，立陶宛， 卢森堡、马耳他、毛里求斯、墨西哥、摩纳哥、黑山、摩洛哥、荷兰、新西兰、挪威、巴拿马、巴拉圭、秘鲁、波兰、葡萄牙、摩尔多瓦、罗马尼亚、俄罗斯联邦、塞尔维亚、斯洛伐克、斯洛文尼亚、南非、西班牙、苏里南 、瑞典、瑞士、土耳其、乌克兰、英国、美国、乌拉圭、委内瑞拉。

At present, the Apostille covers over 70 member states, including Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Hong Kong, Macau, Costa Rica, and Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg , Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela.

虽然中国未加入海牙认证，但该公约适用于中国香港和澳门，因此，国内外相关文件可以在香港进行海牙认证。

China is not yet a member of the Apostille, but the Convention applies to Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR of China, therefore, relevant documents at home and abroad can be certified by Apostille in Hong Kong.

海牙认证不是对所需认证文件内容的真伪做认证，而是对原认证的签发人（公证处或国际公证人）的二次认证，认证该公证处或国际公证人是有资质出具原认证文件。加签之前要先对认证文件办理国际公证，然后再到香港最高人民法院做加签。

Apostille is not a certification of the authenticity of the content of documents, but a secondary certification to see whether the issuer of the original notarization is qualified. So, it is necessary to notarize documents internationally first, and then go to the Supreme People's Court of Hong Kong for a secondary certification.

03

Certification by the Consulate/Embassy  领/使馆认证

经领事馆/使馆认证的文件具有域外使用的法律效力，为使用国有关当局所承认。

Documents certificated by the consulate/embassy enjoy the legal effect in extraterritorial areas and are recognized by the relevant authorities of the country where the documents are used. 

香港公司在海外投资，设立公司、投标、诉讼等都需要办理香港律师公证及文件使用国驻香港领事/使馆认证。

When a Hong Kong company invests overseas, set up a branch, bids, and litigates overseas, it needs to be notarized by a Hong Kong lawyer and certified by the consulate/embassy of the country where the document is used.

想要对某份文件进行使领馆认证，必须先将该文件递交香港本地符合资格的国际公证律师进行核证，当律师核证完毕并加盖核证印鉴后，就可将该文件递交至使用国驻香港使领馆（在香港未设立使领馆的，则要先经香港最高法院认证加签后，转至该国的内地使领馆）。如果该国未与中国建立外交关系，则还要通过第三国进行加签转呈。使用这种方式认证所耗费的时间和金钱，无疑是最多的一种。

If you want to get a document certificated by the consulate/embassy, you must first submit the document to a qualified international notary lawyer in Hong Kong for verification. After verification, the document can be submitted to the embassy or consulate of the country where the document is used in Hong Kong. If there is no embassy or consulate in Hong Kong, it must first be authenticated and signed by the Supreme Court of Hong Kong, and then transferred to the embassy and consulate of the country in mainland. If the country has not established diplomatic relations with China, the document must be signed and forwarded through a third country.

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