1. On 8 March 2023, China acceded to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (hereinafter referred to as the Convention). The Convention shall enter into force between China and Mauritius on 7 November 2023. The Convention shall continue to apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region.
2. From 7 November 2023, the public documents as referred to in the Convention that are executed in Mauritius only need to apply for an Apostille by Mauritius Prime Minister Office and can be used in Chinese mainland, there is no need to apply for Legalisation by the Chinese Embassy in Mauritius.
The public documents as referred to in the Convention that are executed in Chinese mainland, and have to be produced in Mauritius shall be exempted from Legalisation by the Chinese side and Mauritiusan Embassy and Consulates in China. Instead, an Apostille shall be issued onto the documents. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China is the designated authority to issue an Apostille certificate onto the public documents executed in Chinese mainland. Besides, certain Foreign Affairs Offices entrusted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China can also issue an Apostille onto the public documents executed within their own administrative jurisdiction. The Apostille support online verification, for details, please log in to The website https://consular.mfa.gov.cn/VERIFY/. For the specific procedures and requirements for applying for the Apostille in Chinese mainland, please visit http://cs.mfa.gov.cn/ or the official websites of relevant Foreign Affairs Offices.
3. From 7 November 2023, Legalisation at Chinese Embassy in Mauritius will be ceased. For the public documents that are executed in Mauritius, and have to be used in Chinese mainland, please apply for an Apostille from Mauritius Prime Minister Office.
4. According to the Convention, the Apostille issued by a state is to certify the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the person signing the document has acted and, where appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp which it bears. The public documents with an Apostille onto them are not necessarily accepted by the relevant Chinese authorities. Applicants shall check the format, content, time limit, translation and other specific requirements of foreign public documents with the Chinese authority where the documents are to be used before going through the relevant procedures.