Certified translation Chinese–German

公证书: the notarial certificate

Civil-status events in China are not issued as a single certificate but attested through a notary office (公证处): the 公证书 is a bound document with a cover sheet, a notarial endorsement, a seal and a number, to which the register extract and often a foreign-language rendering are attached. Its structure matters for the translation, because every sheet counts — cover sheet, attestation text, annex and seal impression belong together and only jointly make up the proof.

The translation made in China

Because a 公证书 frequently comes with a German or English version attached, the question arises whether that settles it. The Standesamt in Cologne, in its checklist for registering a marriage concluded abroad, describes the requirement differently: a foreign-language document also needs a translation by an interpreter or translator, and they must be publicly appointed or sworn in Germany; document and translation are to be presented in the original. A rendering produced at the notary office does not meet that. We therefore work from the Chinese text rather than from the version attached.

Source: stadt-koeln.de (checked 5 November 2026)

Names: Pinyin and characters

Chinese names appear in a passport in Pinyin and on the document in characters — and between the two lies a decision nobody should guess at. Tell us the Pinyin spelling your passport carries; the translator takes it over and sets the characters alongside, so the office can match the person unambiguously. Without that information the translation follows the usual romanisation, which can put family name and given name in a different order.

Household register, marriage book and capacity to marry

Besides the notarial proof we see the extract from the household register (Hukou), listing everyone entered in it, and the red marriage book with its photograph and number. Marrying in Germany brings in a paper of its own: under § 1309(1) BGB a person whose conditions for marrying are governed by foreign law should first produce a certificate from the authority of their home state that nothing stands in the way of the marriage — the Ehefähigkeitszeugnis. Where the home state issues none, subsection 2 lets the president of the competent Oberlandesgericht grant an exemption. Which paper your case calls for is told you by the office you give notice of marriage to. Each of these documents is an order of its own, because each is certified in its own right; several pages within one document, by contrast, belong in a single order.

Source: gesetze-im-internet.de (checked 5 November 2026)

Qualifications and transcripts

University qualifications come as two separate papers — the graduation certificate and the certificate of the academic degree — plus the list of marks from the academic office, with its seal. Under § 23(1) VwVfG the official language is German, and under subsection 2 the office may require a translation whose accuracy has been certified. In our catalogue you order the certificate as a Diploma / Educational Degree and the list of marks separately as a College Transcript.

Source: gesetze-im-internet.de (checked 5 November 2026)

Apostille, verification, and what we do not do

What happens to the paper itself is separate from the translation: the Federal Foreign Office describes the apostille as confirming that a public document is genuine, for which the original has to be presented, and legalisation as the equivalent confirmation by the mission of the destination country. We issue no apostilles, arrange no legalisation and carry out no document verification. Where an apostille is attached to the original, we translate it too.

Source: auswaertiges-amt.de (checked 5 November 2026)