Foreigners in China may decide to marry a Chinese. Most foreigners face tons of hurdles before a marriage certificate will be granted. Here we are bring up the Requirements, Documents & Procedure, even Regulation on getting married in China, so that you and your partner will be able to marry in China with minimum hassle.
A simplified process for basic understanding.
- Your Chinese fiance/fiancee will need to fill out paperwork at the registration office in his/her Hukou place.
- Bring a birth certificate and a health certificate. You and your fiance/fiancee will need to go to a hospital nearby and receive a certification of health and your fiance will need to get their birth certificate from the place they were born in.
- Get a certificate of marriageability/single certificate. This is to prove that you are not married to another person in your own country. The Chinese fiance/fiancee will also need the same thing in order to show they aren't married to anyone else in their own country. You will need your certificate to be copied into translation of the Chinese language.
- Bring your passport in order to show proof of who you are. Your Chinese fiance will need to have a letter from the parents giving permission to their child to marry a foreigner as well as a copy of the Household Registration Book or the Hokou. The Hokou contains Chinese laws pertaining to residency.
- With all of your paperwork together at the marriage office you will submit your application along with all of your certifications and all of the required information from the previous steps. Then the office will either approve or decline the application. A decision could take up to several hours. Upon approval you will then become registered for marriage. Three pictures will be taken of the two of you and then you will proceed with your marriage and then be given a marriage certificate.
Applying for a certificate of marriageability in China, it is important to bring the following items when applying at your embassy/consulate:
- Your passport.
- Notarized proof that any previous marriage has been terminated. Put more simply, you must obtain from the local or national government in your home country officially notarized copies of official documents stating that you are divorced. It is not uncommon for foreigners in China to have to fly back home to get their divorce paperwork sorted out!!! To save yourself this hassle make sure that you have the correct paperwork before you come to China, or have it sent to you in China.
- Your partner’s national ID card, or shenfenzheng (身份证).
- Your partner’s hùkǒu (户口), or residency permit, which every Chinese citizen has. Therefore, if you're applying for a Certificate of Marriageability outside of Your Chinese partners home district, then their hukou must be sent to your current location, which will take at least a couple of days.
- Your partner does not need to present their passport, but if available it may help to bring it to speed up the process.
