British Citizen Getting Married in Chengdu

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  • #40104
    Avatar photoDavid777
    Participant

    Hi, I’m a British citizen and I want to get married in china, Sichuan province to a chenese citizen. Does anyone know all the documents I will need.

    I know I will need a certificate of no impediment (CNI) and then (certified as genuine) by the FCO. How long does this last for?

    Is there  anything else I will need?

    Thank you.

    #40109
    Avatar photoMerior
    Participant

    You will apparently need (but these things are not cast in stone as they can vary from city to city and at short notice):

    • a current passport
    • a valid Chinese Visa
    • a Certificate of No Impediment (CNI) (try the British Embassy in Beijing)
    • three photos of the marrying couple, taken together
    • a registration fee

    <b>The Chinese partner to the marriage will be asked to submit the following:</b>

    • a certificate of marriageability (obtainable from the office which has the physical control of his or her file)
    • a certificate of birth
    • household registration book
    • health certificate(obtainable from a regional level local hospital)
    • a letter from the parents of the local partner giving permission for their child to marry a foreigner (this letter should include the index fingerprint of both parents below their signature and date).  (probably if your bride is young – I’d never heard of it and it doesn’t always get mentioned.

    <h3>Translation of documents:</h3>
    ALL English-language documents must be translated into Chinese. Translations should be obtained from and certified by one of the Municipal Public Notary offices.

    This is worth a look for comparison bearing in mind that official requirements quickly change here as does the interpretation of them. http://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/visa/marriage-registration.htm

    Don’t forget that your bride will want wedding photographs taken in a studio. A reception/wedding breakfast is traditional. Gifts of sweets presented at the reception in small cheapo boxes is also traditional as is handing out (single) cigarettes to the male guests.

    Personally I chose to marry in the UK where I was on familiar territory.

    Congratulations and good luck!

    #40113
    Avatar photoRick in China
    Participant

    You needed “health certificate(obtainable from a regional level local hospital) and a letter from the parents of the local partner”? I don’t remember needing either, it was _so easy_, once I had the document from my embassy saying I wasn’t married (they don’t actually check anything, just go in, make the sworn statement, get a stamp, done) and we got the license sorted in 1 afternoon with as I recall bringing barely anything down there, including photos, I didn’t realize it would be so quick and easy to get the license part done and assumed we were just going there to get more information or some sort of initial submission, so they snapped some shots at the marriage office with me all unkept in a “SEX DRUGS ROCK’n’ROLL” t-shirt and my wife didn’t give a shit about the photo in the booklet, so we rolled with it and got the paperwork done.

    Suggest going to the marriage license office, it’s kind of a bit north of lang kwai fong area, and find out in person..

    #40114
    Avatar photoIan
    Participant

    First you need to get the CNI.. You will have to go to the British consulate in Chongqing.  The CNI will be placed on the consulate notice board. For 20 working days.

    Your Chinese partner needs house registration book and ID card for the CNI.  She will only need the Chinese CNI for the Chinese registration office.

    you don’t need letter from parents or health certificate

    #40119
    Avatar photoDavid777
    Participant

    I can get the certificate of no impediment (CNI) in the uk. But does anyone know how long it will last for? I only have 30 days in China so I can’t get it from the British consulate in Chongqing if it takes  20 working days.

    Plus will I need to get it translated into Chinese?

    Thank you.

    #40120
    Avatar photoRick in China
    Participant

    You’d have to get it translated into Chinese – or your consulate may have a dual-language copy. My Canadian consulate in Chongqing issued me one that was bi-lingual.. I’m sure other consulates do the same.

    Maybe the 20 day thing is a UK thing? They wont issue it for 20 days? Canadian version: I just stopped by just after lunch, told them my wife’s name etc, got it stamped, back to Chengdu.

    #40121
    Avatar photoDavid777
    Participant

    Yes its much better for United States and Canadian.

    #40125
    Avatar photoIan
    Participant

    David please check Graham’s update regarding changing (CNI)

    https://chengduliving.com/forum/topic/getting-married-in-chengdu-any-tips/

    #40154
    Avatar photoDavid777
    Participant

    Thank you Ian. But what does  “The Chinese partner’s divorce paper or ex-wife/ex-husband’s death certificate (if applicable)”  what does if applicable mean? if she’s never been married before, will she not need this?

    #40155
    Avatar photoRick in China
    Participant

    If she hasn’t been married before, she certainly wont need divorce papers or death certificates. 😀

    It’s really not that complicated once you get the one paper you require from your country. The rest, China side, is so simple.

    #40171
    Avatar photoDavid777
    Participant

    Thank Rick

    #40175
    Avatar photoRei
    Participant

    My advice- GET MARRIED IN YOUR HOME COUNTRY!! I found out the hard way that getting married in China really really makes getting your spouse a green card harder compared to marrying over there…at least for the US. We’ve been married for 8 years now and have had 2 kids (both US citizens)…but my husband has still never been allowed to go to the US. We don’t have enough money saved up ($10,000) to even apply for a green card but they won’t let him get a visiting visa because they say he’s a flight risk. Even when my grandfather who raised me died they wouldn’t allow him to go. So he’s never even met my family.

     

    You can just have a small wedding (or the marriage certificate) in the UK and then come back to hold the ‘wedding’- but at least you won’t have to deal with the embassy if you want your wife to return to the UK with you.

    #40177
    Avatar photoRick in China
    Participant

    That doesn’t make any sense to me Rei.

    If your home country issues a visa to travel _before_ you are married, in order for you two to get married in the home country, then they certainly will issue a visa _after_ being married. If you do manage to get a travel visa and marry in your home country, also, it does not offer any advantage in terms of becoming a citizen / getting a greencard or permanent residency / offering some sort of benefit when applying for future visas over having married in China. I know this is true for some countries, maybe not all, including US/UK/Canada. Countries consider flight risks as people who haven’t significant reason to return to their home country and having not travelled significantly abroad in their past, for example, not having a long-term/high-pay job in home country & not having solid assets or immediate family who will be staying back. So, if you’re applying for your husband to visit US, and he doesn’t meet these conditions, then regardless of his marriage status with you – an objective observer (ie. someone who doesn’t know you two personally) would consider it a flight risk to issue a travel visa…even though it sounds crazy to you (my wife was denied a travel visa to Canada before we were married, even though she has the job/property/family behind, for example, so I know how it feels :D).

    #40192
    Avatar photoMerior
    Participant

    I married in the UK while another English friend got married in China and there were no real advantages except that I was in the position to argue with a civil servant when they considered there was a problem and understood exactly what was expected when I lost an argument. My wife’s bona-fide still has to be sourced and translated into English whenever we go to the UK and I still have to have my birth cert, decree-nici and marriage cert translated into Chinese for whenever I renew my residence permit in China.

    The British Gov are more interested in the duration of your marriage and if you can prove she will go home when the visa expires, that she has sufficient funds for hospitalization and emergency flights home etc than they are in where you got married.

    #40193
    Avatar photoMerior
    Participant

    If you get English divorce papers, birth certificate or whatever translated by an agency in the UK then the agency needs to get it certified as a genuine translation by a UK solicitor. You then have to get the UK Gov to certify that the solicitor is licensed in the UK. I think you could find it cheaper and easier to get it translated in China at a Notary Public if the documents are intended to keep the Chinese Gov happy.

    #40203
    Avatar photoIan
    Participant

    It’s actually more complicated to get married in the UK if your future spouse in Chinese

    #40204
    Avatar photoIan
    Participant

    https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/theresa-may-don-t-force-me-to-give-birth-without-my-husband?source=facebook-share-button&time=1390415738

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/09/uk-australia-spouse-visa

    Me: Hello, I’m being prevented from returning to the UK, I need your help!

    Consulate General: Who is preventing you from going back?

    Me: The British government!

    Consulate General: … [long silence, sound of receiver hanging up]

    #40205
    Avatar photoDavid777
    Participant

    So I just went to get my certificate of no impediment from my local registration office, it turns out my fiancée address in China is no big to fit on the form. Does anyone know if I will have to show her address on my certificate of no impediment?

    Thank you.

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