Update on Authentication Process

Dear Paper-chasing Family,

Recently some families have experienced that some of the Chinese Consulates are only authenticating documents that are less than 6 months old. While America World staff has conducted research on the consulates and their processes, unfortunately many of the Consulates have limited resources on their websites and can be very difficult to contact via phone or email to confirm this
information. Currently there is no publicized information to indicate documents must be less than 6 months old, though some Consulates seem to be enforcing this policy for authentication.
Specifically this has been the case with the Houston and Chicago Consulates.

At this time  we encourage you to be conscious of the dates of each dossier document and to certify and authenticate these documents throughout your paper chasing process. You are able to send multiple packages to the consulate if you are afraid of documents expiring, it is advisable to make sure those are certified and authenticated in a timely fashion, even if you are still waiting to receive the I-171h or complete other aspects of your paperchase.

If you are participating in the Dossier Assistance Program please refer to the age of your finalized and notarized documents.  If these documents will be required to go to a Consulate please mail them to the attention of Nicole Wiegold as soon as possible to avoid any complications with the authentication process.