Apostille of business documents

This page focuses on authentication of documents needed to open a business in China or any other countries (e.g. articles of incoporation, certificate of status). There are other business related documents involving power of attorney, business law suits, quality reports that may also need apostille. Most likely you will have a law professional draft the power of attorney or affidavit for you, but once they are notarized, they follow similar authentication procedures.

I. What documents you may need to do business in other countries

If you plan to do business in China or any other country, like opening a new business, usually you may need the following business documents authenticated:

1. Articles of Incorporation (or certificate of formation)
2. Good standing document, may also be called Certificate of Facts, Certificate of Status.
3. Bank letter showing that you have a health account.
4. Board resolutions
5. Appointment letter for legal representative
6. Power of attorney for law suits
7. Quality reports, professional certificates

To open a new business in China, you may need the first two documents. Please contact the Chinese side to find out what exactly needed. We frequently find people do one first then do others later.

II. How to obtain or prepare the documents

1. Articles of Incorporation (certificate of formation): usually obtained in your state's Secretary of State, in the Corporate Division. Some states provide online service, where you may print a copy and then send to the Secretary of State's office for certification. We can obtain the document for you.
2. Good standing or Account Status: differs in each state. In many state you may obtain it in the Corporate Division of the Secretary of State. We can obtain the document for you.
3. Bank letter: This letter provides basic information about your back account, and is provided by your bank. The bank officer needs to sign the letter before a notary public. Please get it from your bank.
4. Board resolutions are usually signed by more than one person and often it is not practical for all people to appear and sign before the same notary public. One possible solution is for the notary to notarize a true copy. Please see True Copy for details.
5. For power of attorney, affidavit, quality report, appointment letter, normally only one person is involved, so he or she may sign before a notary public. If a quality report was already issued and signed previously, you may do a true copy as well.
6. Please note that all notarized documents must have an acknowledgment section. Simply having a signature and a notary stamp is not enough.

For state issued documents, like articles of incorporation (certificate of formation) and good standing (certificate of status), we can help you obtain them from the Office of the Secretary of State (e.g. DE, FL, TX). We charge only $20-50 extra service fee for this step.

III. Steps to apply for apostille of business documents through YWPW

1. Please fill out the online order form of our agency:

   Create New Order

2. Print the confirmation page. You order ID, our mailing address, payment information (including credit card payment) and other instructions are shown on the confirmation page.
3. Mail us the documents to be apostilled and a copy of order confirmation page. If you pay us to order the documents, you only need to send the information by email.
4. Tell us the time and method you mailed your documents, including tracking number, so that we can track the movement of your mail.
5. Upon receiving your documents, we will check your application, and contact you if there is any issue. We then do the apostille and mail it back to you.

IV. Processing time and fees

• Normally 2-4 weeks. The government fee is $5-30, and our service fee $99.96.
• Service fee discount available (20-50%) if there are 2 or more documents.

Order original documents

For Articles of Incorporation, Goodstanding (Certificate of Facts or Certificate of Status) and other amendments, each state has its own unique requirements. To make sure the documents are acceptable for apostille purpose, we suggest that you let YWPW handle the request of original documensts for you.

The Secretary of State fee for ordering the original document varies, normally $10-50 each. We charge an extra service fee of $20 per document (or a flat fee of $50 if 3 or more documents are requested) on top of the normal apostille fee.