Two lines on IRCC's China police certificate page, last updated in May 2026, shape how Chinese citizens in Canada plan their files. "Chinese embassies and consulates cannot issue or obtain hukou-related certificates," and for Chinese citizens the certificate must cover "the period from birth to the current date." The certificate comes from the public security office where your hukou is registered, often through a relative holding your power of attorney, so it needs to be started early.
Chinese paperwork differs in a second way: the form of the document depends on where it was issued. The mainland works through notary offices, Taiwan through household registration transcripts, and Hong Kong through certified copies of register entries that are mostly in English. Below: each system in turn, the hukou booklet, names, dates and the mistakes that send Canadian files back.
Does IRCC require certified translations of Chinese documents?
Yes, every page that contains Chinese, red seals and handwritten notes included. IRCC requires documents in other languages to be "accompanied by an official translation", and "all stamps and seals that are not in English or French must also be translated." The translator must be certified, meaning a member of a professional translation association whose stamp shows their membership number, or must swear an affidavit of accuracy before a notary public or commissioner of oaths. Applicants, their relatives and their representatives may not translate. See IRCC translation requirements.
Notarial certificates for use abroad are usually issued with an English translation that the notary office certifies as conforming to the Chinese. For the police certificate, IRCC's China page expressly accepts "either a Notarized or certified translation". For any notarial package, check two things before you upload: that the English covers every Chinese page, including the photocopy of the original certificate often bound behind it, and that nothing is abbreviated. Where it falls short, add a full certified translation with an affidavit.
Which Chinese documents will you need?
| Document | Chinese name | Issued by | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notarial certificate | 公证书 gongzhengshu | Notary public office (公证处 gongzhengchu) | Certifies a birth, kinship, marriage or divorce; for marriage and divorce it can certify the event or the original certificate |
| Medical Certificate of Birth | 出生医学证明 chusheng yixue zhengming | Hospital | The underlying birth record notaries rely on |
| Marriage certificate | 结婚证 jiehunzheng | Civil affairs marriage registration office | One booklet for each spouse |
| Divorce certificate | 离婚证 lihunzheng | Same office; courts issue judgments or mediation agreements | Translate the court document in full when there is no certificate |
| Household register | 居民户口簿 jumin hukoubu | Public security bureau | Shows relationships and any former name |
| Graduation and degree certificates | 毕业证书, 学位证书 | University | Two separate documents; one can exist without the other |
| Police certificate | 无犯罪记录证明 | Public security bureau or police station | Must cover your whole life in China |
Chinese universities award the graduation certificate (biye zhengshu) for completing the program and the degree certificate (xuewei zhengshu) for the degree itself. Credential assessors and universities set their own rules for Chinese records, so read them before ordering translations; see educational credential assessment step by step.
How do I get a Chinese police certificate for IRCC?
Through the public security office where your hukou is registered, not through a consulate. For Express Entry, IRCC wants a certificate from each country where you lived 6 months in a row or longer in the last 10 years since age 18, and its China page sets out the routes:
- Citizens living in China apply at the Public Security Bureau or police station for their hukou address, or where they usually live, with their national ID card, hukou booklet, proof of residence and the application form. If the hukou was cancelled, a Certificate of Residence Cancellation is needed.
- Citizens living in Canada ask the office for their hukou area how to apply; some accept online or app applications. You may need a scan of your passport or visa and proof of residence abroad. In most places a family member can apply for you: an immediate family member with your power of attorney, anyone else with a notarized one.
- Foreign nationals who lived in China more than 180 days apply to the Exit-Entry Administration Department in the city that issued their Foreigner Residence Permit.
The result is a Certificate of No Criminal Record, or a "Notification of Non-issuance of Certificate of No Criminal Record" where a record exists. A QR code is recommended, not mandatory. If you cannot get a certificate for some period, IRCC asks for a letter stating "I cannot provide a police certificate for the full time I spent in China because [insert reason]."
| Place | Certificate | What IRCC's instructions say |
|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong | Certificate of No Criminal Conviction (CNCC) | Apply only with the request letter IRCC sends after you apply; the police send it directly to IRCC. |
| Taiwan | Police Criminal Record Certificate | Taipei City Police Department if you live in Taipei or outside Taiwan; online, in person, by mail or by fax. |
| Macao | Police certificate | Identification Services Bureau; a close relative or authorized representative can apply with proof. |
More on timing and validity in our police certificate translation guide.
When does the hukou booklet need translating?
When you put it in the file, typically to show a family relationship or an earlier name. In that case the household page and every member page you rely on are translated in full, cancellation stamps included.
Two fields carry the evidence. The former name field (曾用名 cengyongming) is often the only official link between a childhood school record and the name in the passport. The relationship field must be rendered precisely: 长女 is "eldest daughter" and 孙子 is "grandson", never just "child" or "relative".
How do Taiwan and Hong Kong records differ?
Taiwan keeps births, marriages and divorces in its household register, and the Office of Household Registration issues the Individual Household Registration Transcript (個人戶籍謄本 geren huji tengben), which can be printed in Chinese and English. Remarks printed only in Chinese still have to be translated. Marriages in Taiwan on or after May 23, 2008 must be registered, and the registration date is the date the marriage takes effect.
Taiwanese documents count years from 1912, when the Republic of China was founded (the Minguo calendar), so add 1911. 民國76年 is 1987, so the translation reads "Year 76 of the Republic of China [1987]". Taiwanese documents use traditional characters, and Taiwanese passports often romanize names in older styles, such as Hsieh or Chou instead of pinyin Xie or Zhou.
Hong Kong documents are certified copies of entries in its registers, from the Immigration Department for births and the Marriage Registry for marriages. They are mostly in English, so only what appears solely in Chinese, for example a name shown in characters or a Chinese note, needs translating. Names follow Cantonese romanization (Cheung, Lau, Ho) and must not be "corrected" to pinyin.
How should Chinese names be romanized in the translation?
By following the passport, including how it splits surname and given name. Mainland passports print both in Hanyu Pinyin without tone marks and run a two-character given name together: WANG / XIAOMING. IRCC forms separate the family name from the given names, so "Xiao Ming Wang" or "Wang Xiao Ming" in a translation creates a mismatch.
China's National Immigration Administration announced on September 29, 2021 that Ü in passports is printed as YU in LÜ and NÜ (吕 becomes LYU) and as U in LÜE and NÜE. Older documents may spell the same surname LV or LU, and the agency "may" print an earlier spelling on request. Where records differ, a short translator's note connects them: "[吕 appears as LYU in the passport]".
Many Chinese newcomers use an English first name at school or work in Canada. The translation of a birth or marriage record must not add one; list it where IRCC forms ask for other names used.
Quebec and provincial offices
Quebec's immigration ministry (MIFI) accepts translations only from members of OTTIAQ, ATIO, STIBC or CTINB, an embassy or consulate translation department or, abroad, a member of a professional order or an official translation department, bearing "the name and seal of the translator." Official Translations is not a member of those associations, so its translations, including the affidavit route IRCC accepts, do not meet the MIFI rule. See Quebec immigration documents.
Driver's licences: Taiwan is on Ontario's licence exchange list (motorcycle classes excluded); mainland China and Hong Kong are not. Ontario wants the translation dated within six months of your application, by an approved translator such as a consulate or a credentialed professional, and not by other translators from the country that issued the licence. See driving licence translation by province.
Why Chinese files get returned
- Untranslated pages inside a notarial package, usually the photocopy of the original certificate.
- A police certificate covering only recent years instead of birth to the present, or months lost waiting for a consulate that cannot issue it.
- Surname and given name reversed, or LU where the passport says LYU, with no note.
- The former name left off the hukou translation.
- Minguo years left unconverted, so a 1987 birth appears to be from year 76.
- Seals rendered as "[seal]" without the issuing office's name.
- A translation by a friend or relative, or no affidavit from a translator who is not certified.
Checklist for Chinese documents
Questions people ask
Does IRCC accept a Chinese notarial certificate with the notary's English translation?
For the police certificate, IRCC's China page expressly accepts a notarized or certified translation. For other notarial certificates, make sure the English covers every Chinese page in the package, including the bound photocopy of the original, and is not abbreviated. Any gap should be filled with a certified translation and the translator's affidavit.
Can the Chinese consulate in Canada issue my police certificate?
No. IRCC states that Chinese embassies and consulates cannot issue or obtain hukou-related certificates, although they may help with notarization or authentication afterwards. Apply through the public security office for your hukou area, online where available or through a family member with your power of attorney.
What period must the Chinese police certificate cover?
For Chinese citizens, IRCC asks that the certificate cover the period from birth to the current date. If you cannot obtain one for part of that time, upload a letter explaining why, using the wording IRCC suggests on its China page.
Does the hukou need translating for IRCC?
Only when you include it, usually to show a relationship or an earlier name. Then the household page and every member page you rely on are translated completely, with cancellation stamps, relationship terms and the former name field as written.
Will the translation follow my passport spelling?
Yes, letter for letter and with the same split between surname and given name. Mainland passports use pinyin with the given name as one word, and since China's 2021 rule names with ü, such as 吕, carry YU. Hong Kong and Taiwanese passports often show Cantonese or older-style spellings, and the translation keeps them.
Do Hong Kong documents in English need a translation?
Only the parts that are not in English. Hong Kong certified copies of birth and marriage entries are largely English, but a name in Chinese characters or a Chinese annotation still needs a certified translation for IRCC.
Do I need an apostille on Chinese documents for IRCC?
No. IRCC asks for a complete translation and, from a translator who is not certified, a sworn affidavit, not an apostille. Mainland China has applied the Apostille Convention since November 7, 2023 and Canada since January 11, 2024, so other authorities that want authentication can now use an apostille instead of consular legalization.
How much does a Chinese translation cost, and how long does it take?
Official Translations charges CA$39.95 per page of up to 300 words, plus CA$24.95 per document for the sworn affidavit IRCC accepts. A one-page certificate is usually delivered as a signed PDF within 24 hours, and longer items, a complete hukou for instance, take one to three business days.
