documents for marrying in China

[BrandeX]

China doesn't call America after you sign the papers, so no one really knows back home you got married. I can't imagine any woman wanting to get married somewhere that they are not citizens, and then going back home later where her new husband could pretend it never happened. I married a Chinese national here, so it is different I feel. But if my wife was a US citizen, I would have at least signed the paper at the courthouse there instead of the office here. Also as mentioned above, one person will need some kind of resident permit, so if you are both here teaching English at least one needs to be coming in on a Z visa with a work permit.

[xianhua]

I can't imagine any woman wanting to get married somewhere that they are not citizens, and then going back home later where her new husband could pretend it never happened

But as I wrote before, it can be arranged for the marriage to be registered in the US/UK/Canada (or wherever) afterwards:

One final thing. At the time, our marriage was only ever registered in China. The marriage is recognised by British law, but as it stands, there is be no record of our marriage here (bit of pain for those trying to trace the family tree in years to come!).

To get around this, you need to get your marriage certificate translated into English and notarised by a notary office (in Chongqing in your case) and then legalised by the MFA (probably in Beijing). They will then send a copy to the appropriate body in Canada (this is the GRO in the UK - bascially wherever you would go to get copies of marriage certificates) to be deposited. This can be done respectively, which is something I really want to do to ensure that our marriage is recorded on British soil. If you can do this at the same time, if will just save hassle years down the line.

[aroberts42]

Well, no matter where you are married in the world, it is considered legal no matter where you move. There would be a record, a certificate or license or something. But just to avoid any issues, we will probably marry here. Getting married in China was just a thought.

[jimarass]

I also got married to a lovely Chinese wife from Sechaun province, near Chendgu. We met in UK, she had travel to my country two timesa with tourist visa.The food is maybe the best in China!!!!

I come from Europe, and I didn't want to marry in China for obvious reasons plus I didn't have the time needed (because of my job) in order to travel to China. The problem was to get her a 3 months Visa for my country. My country's embassy in China told me I had to get married in China first and that she coudn't get a Visa for 3 months time, even though she took tourist visas in the past (although from my country's embassy in London)

I had to go through all the laws available in my country and read through our constitution where it said that it is obligation form my country to give visa for marriage purposes. I faxed them that in Beijing with a letter describing our relationship and they finally gave her the Visa.

Now we live married in Europe. We haven't merried yet in China , but we intend to in a couple years. Does anyone knows what I have to do in order to make our married official in China too??

[dynamo45]

Hi Murrayjames....

I am hoping you still check in here periodically. I am a Canadian, and would like to marry my girl in China this summer. I have been reading these forums looking for answers regarding documents needed for myself. I am hoping since you have been through this recently, that you could possibly help me. I was married once long ago, and I did just recently get a copy of my decree absolute. By what I took from your post, I am assuming that it is easier to get documents required over in China than it is here? If so, what documents aside from my passport and Divorce certificate do I need to bring with me to China? Also, do I need to get my divorce certificate translated into chinese here or there?

I greatly appreciate any help you could give me.

[murrayjames]

Hi dynamo,

Congratulations!

I should say that my only experience with this is that I've done it recently. There are others on these forums with far more knowledge of Chinese government policies than me. But I'll share my story with you. The first thing I found was this:

http://www.chinaembassycanada.org/eng/lsfw/Notarization%20and%20Authentication/t37729.htm

This page had me a little worried. It sounded complicated. So I posted on these forums, called the Chinese embassy in Ottawa, and called the Canadian embassies in Beijing and Chengdu, just to make extra sure. I also asked my wife to call the government offices in Chengdu (which she did, though I don't know where she called).

Everyone seemed to saying this: Bring your passport. Make an appointment with the Canadian embasssy, go there, get Consul approval, get a form from them, take it to the appropriate marriage office in your fiancees home town, and be married. This was, in fact, my experience. It was easy.

Though it looked like I didn't need it, I still called Ottawa before leaving Canada to ask for a certificate of non-impediment of marriage. They told me this was handled province by province, so they don't issue them. I called the office of authentication of documents for Alberta (where I'm from). They didn't do it either.

My advice to you is to retrace my steps. Call the embassies yourself, just to make triple sure. You should also read this thread from top to bottom, if you haven't already. The US stories are the same as mine, but xianhua, a poster from UK, *did* need additional documentation.

Did you see the quote below? It's from the link I posted above. I would specifically ask about this when you talk to the Chinese embassy. As for translating your divorce certificate, perhaps someone on this board (or your fiancee) has experience with this. If it would make a difference at the Chinese marriage office, do it.

"The divorced should provide divorce certificate, ex-spouse's nationality certificate(or declare ex-spouse's nationality). If either party is a Chinese citizen, the divorce certificate which is emanated from the country outside China should be approved by the local intermediate Chinese court first. The divorce certificate and the approval from Chinese court must be attached to the non-spouse certificate when notarized."

After we were married at the government office in Chengdu, we immediately went to another office (in the same building) where I arranged for the marriage certificate to be translated into English and notarized. It was mailed to my wife a few weeks later. If you're at all thinking about immigration to Canada, you should do this.

I get the impression, from reading the forums here, that government policies change quickly and without advance notice. This is why I'm cautious, despite having a positive experience myself. That said, I hope your experience is as hitch-free as mine was. Hope this helps! And congratulations!

[dynamo45]

Hi murrayjames...

Thanks for your reply. I will take all that you said into account.

Thats what worries me is the tendencies of the changes that come so quickly.

Certainly differs from our govt...hehe

I have been told by another guy who recently married in China as well that it is easier to get the single certificate there rather than anywhere else. Another person who recently got married (He is Canadian , residing temporarily in Costa Rica) well he got his singel certificate at the Canadian Embassy in Costa Rica..when he got to China, they rejected it, so he had to fly to Beiijing and get a new one. So I think I will get it done over there.

I am also wondering about my divorce certificate. Would it be best to get it notarized in Canada, where I was divorced, or there as well? I am also from Alberta, where are you at?

Have you made application for your wife to come to Canada?

[yesmaybe]

Hello MurrayJames and others,

Thanks for posting this information. I too am planning to marry a Chinese woman from Sichuan and the information we have found so far contradicts what I have read on website forums.

Investigations in her home town suggest a foreigner needs to be married in Chengdu, whereas here it says must be the local town for her '户籍簿 Hùjí bù

/ Hú kǒu 湖口' house registration.

So my question here, is your wife from Chengdu City, or Chengdu province? Did you get married in Chengdu city or at her local town?

Do we need to go to the '成都市民政局 Chéngdū shì mínzhèng jú' civil affairs office in Chengdu, or Lushan?

I already have the Certificate of No Impediment (CNI) from the UK consul in Beijing and have my birth certificate from the UK. Do I need the birth certificate and if so should I have it translated into Chinese? Are there any other documents I need, or what does my fiancee need to provide?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

[msittig]

Just to add a (five-year-old as of this month!) data point, my wife's hukou is from a third-tier city in her province where locals can get married no problem, but we had to go to the capital to register our marriage because her hometown didn't handle Chinese-foreign marriages.

This is my first (knock on wood, hehe) marriage and we found it very simple too: a certificate of I-swear-I'm-not-married from the US consulate in Shanghai, my passport and her national ID. We got the marriage certificates translated and notarized on the spot in case we ever need to apply for a US immigrant visa, a service that the marriage bureau offered to us before we even asked. The whole thing was so simple, it was underwhelming.

[bunny87]

I can't imagine any woman wanting to get married somewhere that they are not citizens, and then going back home later where her new husband could pretend it never happened

That situation sounds like they don't even trust each other, so they probably shouldn't get married. But yes, many women like to get married somewhere they are not citizens. "Destination weddings" i think are what they are called. and while the documents might take a while to show up & prove (or disprove) a marriage, pictures say quite a bit, and so does everyone saying "CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW MR. & MRS. WHOEVER" on facebook. that husband can have a great time explaining to this new girlfriend how he had a fake marriage with the last woman. i'm sure the last woman will happily update the new gf.

anyways, i am going to go plot/dream of a secret wedding in China thanks to the info I found here, because including family means drama. and unless we have money for a giant space where everyone is practically walled away from each other and some security guards to keep the un-invited out, it just isn't happening here in the states where it'll make my dad happy. so in order to make fiance happy and dad happy- secret wedding now where no one feels un-invited, and have one later for my dad where everyone IS invited when we can afford decorative brick walls everywhere, barbed wire decorated with roses (still thorned) and babys breath, with security guards passing the hors d'ouvuears at all entrances, taser ready....and of course a army trained photographer that makes hell look pleasant, or our family members all in one place at our wedding. til death will we part and only until the other one dies too.

[bealemw]

Hey Dynamo45. Can you tell us how it all turned out? I'm also from Canada and planning to marry a girl from Nanning this fall.

Did you get the singles certificate in China? Did it go smoothly?

Did you need to get your divorce certificate translated to Chinese first?