Client:

Hello! I will go to Finland in August, but Iencountera problem when I handle my birth certificate. I am studying in Shanghai and from other place.

1.       My notarization of birth was handled in my hometown, and can I handle the certification in Shanghai? (It is said that the notarization and the certification should be handled in same one place. Is that true?)

2.       My registered permanent residence had been transferred to the university located in Shanghai when I studied in the university, so can I handle my birth notarization in Shanghai?

3.       What does it need to handle the certification? If my parents only have my notarization, could they help me handle the certification in my hometown?

Reply:

1.       If your hometown is not in four provinces and municipalities including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Anhui, the Foreign Affairs Office of Shanghai certainly will not handle your single certification, because it only has the records of the legal seals of the foreign-related offices and the name signatures of foreign-related notaries in above provinces and municipalities, and it could not provide the certification for you.

2.       In Shanghai, because the local police station where your university is located has not your birth certificate and original document when you registered your residence after birth, it hardly will give you a certificate. Without this certificate, the notarization in Shanghai will certainly not issue the notarization of birth for you. Therefore, you could directly handle the certification of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing with your birth notarization issued in your hometown, and then use it to handle the single certification in the Shanghai Consulate-General of Fenland becausethe double-certification of studying abroadin Fenland is not required. The certification handled in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Beijing could be used in Shanghai, so it is not necessary to handle the certification in Shanghai, and furthermore, which may not be authorized in Shanghai.

3.       Fenland has not specially emphasizedthe consulate zone in China where the certification is handled, so whether you apply for the visa in Shanghai Consulate-General or in Guangzhou Consulate-General, theoretically the single certification could be handled in Beijing directly, and you could also ask for the help of the agent in Beijing through the Foreign Affairs Office in your hometown.

That is to say my best choice is to handle the single certification in Beijing? Can I handle the certification in my hometown together? If it is handled in Beijing, how long will it need?

In Beijing, generally, the express certification needs 1 workdaysand the common certification needs 1 week.