Legalising Malaysian Documents for a China Work Permit (Z Visa)

Oct 16

Short answer: To get a China work permit, and the Z visa that follows it, you usually need your highest degree and a recent criminal record certificate authenticated for use in China. China joined the Apostille Convention in 2023, but Malaysia has not, so Malaysian documents go through consular legalisation instead. The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) verifies the degree, Wisma Putra attests it and your Certificate of Good Conduct, and the Chinese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur authenticates both. Your employer then uploads them, with Chinese translations, to apply for your Notification Letter of Foreigner's Work Permit.

We handle the whole chain for China: MOHE verification, notarisation, Wisma Putra attestation, Chinese Embassy authentication and Chinese translations of every document. Send your documents on WhatsApp for a quote.

Last reviewed: October 2026. For other uses in China, such as marriage or company documents, see legalising Malaysian documents for China.

Step by step

Ask your employer for its document list. Work permits are issued city by city, but most offices ask for your highest degree certificate, a criminal record certificate, a reference letter from a former employer, a medical report (applicants abroad may give a health commitment letter instead), your passport, a photo and the employment contract.
Apply for your Certificate of Good Conduct first. It is the slowest step: you apply on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' e-Konsular system, and PDRM's vetting takes 30 to 90 working days. China wants a certificate issued within the past six months, so time it to your start date. See the Certificate of Good Conduct guide.
Have MOHE verify your degree. MOHE verifies degrees from both public and private universities, and the Chinese Embassy accepts MOHE verification in place of a notary for academic certificates. If you studied on a twinning or franchise programme, the embassy may also ask for the cooperation agreement between the Malaysian and foreign institutions. See the MOHE attestation guide.
Notarise any private document your employer wants legalised, such as a reference letter. Government documents, such as the Certificate of Good Conduct, go straight to Wisma Putra. See notarisation.
Attest everything at Wisma Putra. The Chinese Embassy only authenticates documents that already carry Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stamp. Wisma Putra charges RM 20 for the Certificate of Good Conduct and notarised documents; see the legalisation fees tracker.
Authenticate at the Chinese Embassy. Foreigners lodge documents at the Chinese Visa Application Service Center, Level 6, Hampshire Place Office, Jalan Mayang Sari, Kuala Lumpur, which passes them to the embassy. The embassy charges Malaysian citizens RM 26 per stamp for 4-working-day processing, plus RM 100 for express (3 working days) or RM 140 for urgent (2 working days, at the consular officer's discretion). The centre adds its own service fee. In our experience no appointment is needed, and staff will ask what the document is for, so say it is for a work permit.
Add Chinese translations. The embassy accepts documents in English or Chinese; documents in Malay need a Chinese translation by a court translator or a translation agency recognised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The work permit office then wants a Chinese translation of every non-Chinese document (Beijing, for example, asks for the employer's seal on them). We prepare these translations for you and your employer. See certified Chinese translation.
Send your employer the originals and colour scans. In Beijing, pre-approval takes 3 working days and the Notification Letter about 8 working days after submission, free of charge.

Which documents need legalising

Highest degree certificate: yes. A degree from abroad must be authenticated by a Chinese embassy or consulate, or verified by one of China's academic degree certification bodies, such as the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE). The embassy route is accepted in every city; ask your employer if it prefers CSCSE. See degree and transcript attestation.
Criminal record certificate: yes. It must come from the country of your nationality, or of your habitual residence if you lived there for more than a year, be authenticated, and be issued within the past six months. For Malaysians this is the Certificate of Good Conduct.
Reference letter from a former employer: it must state your position, dates and duties, carry the company's seal or an authorised signature, and give a contact the office can verify. National rules do not require it to be legalised, but some employers ask for it; if yours does, we notarise it and take it through Wisma Putra and the embassy.
Medical report: one issued within the past six months, or a health commitment letter for applicants abroad. Most people take the medical in China after arrival.
Passport: a colour scan only, valid for at least six months. It is not legalised.

What gets documents refused

A Certificate of Good Conduct issued more than six months before your employer applies.
A sworn statement or affidavit of no criminal record: China does not accept these in place of the official certificate.
A degree taken to Wisma Putra without MOHE verification first, or to the embassy without the Wisma Putra stamp.
Multi-page documents that are not bound and sealed with wax, a paging seal or an embossed seal.
Malay documents without a Chinese translation by a court translator or a recognised agency.
A twinning or franchise degree submitted without the cooperation agreement the embassy asks for.

After the Notification Letter: Z visa and residence permit

Z visa: apply at the Chinese Visa Application Service Center in Kuala Lumpur with the online application form, your passport (valid for at least six months, with a blank visa page), a photo and a copy of the Notification Letter. Submission hours are 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Monday to Friday.
Visa-free entry is not enough: since 17 July 2025 Malaysians can visit China for up to 30 days without a visa for tourism, business or family visits, but employment still needs a visa.
Residence permit: within 30 days of entering China on a Z visa, you apply for a work residence permit at the local public security exit-entry office.

Chinese documents for use in Malaysia

Moving the other way, for example a Chinese marriage certificate for your spouse's Malaysian dependant pass, the document is notarised in China, legalised by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs or a local foreign affairs office, then by the Malaysian embassy or consulate in China, and translated into Malay or English. See legalising Malaysian documents for China for details.

中文简介：中国工作许可文件认证

申请中国《外国人工作许可通知》及Z字签证，通常需要提供经认证的最高学历证书和六个月内签发的无犯罪记录证明。中国已加入海牙认证公约，但马来西亚尚未加入，因此马来西亚文件须办理领事认证：学历证书先经马来西亚高教部（MOHE）核实，无犯罪记录证明（良民证）与学历证书再经马来西亚外交部（Wisma Putra）认证，最后由中国驻马来西亚大使馆认证（通过吉隆坡中国签证申请服务中心递交）。马来文文件须附中文翻译；工作许可审批部门一般要求所有非中文材料附中文译文。MYLegalTrans代办高教部核实、公证、外交部及中国使馆认证，并提供中文认证翻译。WhatsApp：+60 17-227 9378。

Common questions

How long does the whole process take?

The Certificate of Good Conduct is the longest part at 30 to 90 working days. Once you have it, MOHE verification takes at least 3 working days (7 if you graduated more than five years ago), Wisma Putra usually returns documents the same or the next working day, and the Chinese Embassy takes 4 working days, or 2 to 3 with express or urgent service. Allow about two to three weeks after the certificate arrives.

Can I use CSCSE instead of embassy authentication for my degree?

Many cities accept verification by China's academic degree certification bodies, such as CSCSE, in place of embassy authentication. Ask your employer which its local office prefers. Embassy authentication is accepted everywhere.

My documents are already in English. Do I still need translations?

The Chinese Embassy accepts English documents as they are. The work permit office, however, expects a Chinese translation of every non-Chinese document, so we prepare them along with the legalisation.

Do I need to come to Kuala Lumpur?

No. You send us the originals and we lodge them at MOHE, Wisma Putra and the Chinese visa centre under an authorisation letter, then return them to you or courier them to your employer.

I am not Malaysian but live in Malaysia. Which criminal record certificate do I need?

China accepts a certificate from your country of nationality, or from a country where you have lived continuously for more than a year. Foreigners who have lived in Malaysia can apply for the Malaysian Certificate of Good Conduct; see the Certificate of Good Conduct guide.

What if a translation is rejected?

If an authority rejects a certified translation we prepared within 30 days of delivery, we re-do it free.

Related guides

Sources:

Zhihan Chew