Documents Legalization Service

1. Certified True Copies & Signature Witness

By definition:

A certified copy is a copy (often a photocopy) of a primary document that has on it an endorsement or certificate that it is a true copy of the primary document. It does not certify that the primary document is genuine, only that it is a true copy of the primary document.

Wikipedia

In Hong Kong business environment, only the qualified professionals (the certifiers) can provide certified true copies services for business purposes, who are either:

• Hong Kong Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with Practising Certificate
• Hong Kong Solicitor
• Notary public

Format of certified true copies is restricted. The certifier must sign and date the copy document (printing his/her name clearly in capitals underneath) and clearly indicate his/her position on it. The certifier must also state that it is a true copy of the original (or words to similar effect) and the number of pages to be recorded. In addition, the certifier must witness the related parties to sign the documents.

Common usage: Hong Kong Corporate Bank Account Opening

When you apply for opening corporate account in any Hong Kong bank, all the copies of documents must be certified as true copies of these documents and the signature of applicants on account opening documents must be witnessed by a qualified professional.

Usually, the banks requires documents as follows and their copies must be certified:

• Company documents: Certificate of Incorporation (CI), Business Registration Certificate (BR)
• Company’s member documents: ID cards, passports and residential address proof
• Proof of business documents: sales contracts, bank statements

The banks reject the account application if the documnets are incomplete.

2. Apostille by Hong Kong High Court

When you use your “Hong Kong documents” in any foreign countries, the institutions on the receiving end must require these documents or their certified true copies be apositlled (or legalized) in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong High Court offers affordable apostille service, it accepts the Hong Kong government documents including company incorporation documents, the documents signed by the Hong Kong Notary Public including certified true copies, and the documents signed by the Hong Kong Commissioner for Oaths.

Hong Kong apostilled documents is in accordance to Hague Convention, documents must fulfill the requirement of Hague Convention and in turn get qualified by other countries who recognize this convention.

The Hong Kong High Court assigns a unique apostille number to each apostille documents for the public to verify if an apostilled document is authentic.

Common usage: Foreign Corporate Bank Account Opening

When you apply for opening of bank account opening in overseas countries, the overseas banks require Hong Kong apostilled documents including incorporation documents, personal individual document and certified true copies of financial documents.

3. Notarization by Hong Kong Notary Public

Hong Kong Notaries Public are qualified professionals to perform notarization in Hong Kong. The commercial needs of notarization in Hong Kong are as follows:

• prepare for Powers of Attorney (POA)
• prepare for Certified True Copy
• prepare for statutory declaration

The notarized documents are often used in overseas countries, so apostille of these documents are commonly required.