Doing it the UK way!

[Paul Todd]

China, Beijing, British Embassy
How to register a marriage

How to get married (UK national to Chinese national)

• If resident here and you intend to marry a Chinese national, you will need a Certificate of No Impediment (CNI).  You must be resident in China for a minimum of 21 continuous days before making a notice of intention to marry. (The 21 days is counted from your last entry stamp into China, previous stays of 21 days in China are invalid).According to the Marriage Law of the People’s Republic of China, no marriage may be contracted before the man has reached 22 years of age and the woman 20 years of age. (Source link: http://www.novexcn.com/marriage_law.html ).

•  To make this notice, you will need to go to either the Embassy or nearest Consulate, with your passport and your partner’s passport or IDcard, complete a notice of intention form and sign an affidavit to state that you are free to marry.  If previously married, then we need to see either a divorce or death certificate.

• The notice will be displayed for a further 21 continuous clear days, starting the following day of application.  If no objection is given, a CNI will be issued in both Chinese and English languages.  By Chinese law you must marry in the place of your fiancé (e)'s hukou.  If their hukou registration is outside the Consular Jurisdiction that you reside in (link to Help for British Nationals to show the who covers which areas) you will need to contact the local Marriage Bureau in their Province, to find out if they accept the Embassy or Consulate’s paperwork where you made the application.  If the do not accept the stamp of a Consulate who is outside the jurisdiction, then inform us on application as the notice can still be displayed, it would just involve us asking the Embassy or relevant Consulate to issue the final CNI.

• The notice of intention can be obtained in the UK, contact your local registrar's office for further information.  Once the notice has been displayed in the UK, you will have to take the paper to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to have it legalised, and then to the Chinese Embassy/Consulate in the UK for further legalising, this will save you having to do steps 1 and 2 here.

Website:  http://ukinchina.fco.gov.uk
Put "marriage into the search box.

• Marriage Deposits

Getting married in China is simple, however, a lot of people do not realise that you can deposit a certified copy of the translation of your marriage certificate at the General Register’s Office in the UK via us.

Documents we need to see;
-Chinese Notary copy with English translation. (A4 booklet) for us to retain
-British nationals passport (copy will be taken)
-Red book (copy will be taken)

You will then receive a notification back from the GRO once completed; the benefit will allow you to obtain a copy of your marriage certificate if you were to lose the original documents.

[Paul Todd]

Ding' Ding' round 2:-

You cannot register an overseas ceremony at a register office. However, you can apply to have your documents sent from the relevant country and deposited with the General Register Office (GRO). You can then get copies of your marriage or civil partnership record more easily.
What you need to do

You can create a record of your overseas marriage or civil partnership at any time after the ceremony. You need to get the original documents, or certified copies, issued by the foreign authority – this is not an automatic process.

To create the record:

    * your marriage or civil partnership must have taken place in one of the countries in the PDF linked below.[China is on this list]
    * one of you must be a British citizen - only that person can apply to deposit the details

Only the consul for the district where the marriage took place can send the documentation to GRO, and GRO does not release original documents once deposited.

You receive confirmation when the documents have been deposited with GRO. Overseas marriages and civil partnerships are noted in the public indexes.
Getting copies of your overseas marriage or civil partnership record

Once recorded, you can request certified copies of the documents, which saves you having to contact an overseas authority. These are black and white photocopies of the material GRO holds and are not presented in the form of a British-style certificate. Photocopies are issued under the seal of the General Register Office and are usually acceptable as official evidence of your marriage or civil partnership.

For further information on the legalisation of documents, contact Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

If you need any other information about marrying or forming a civil partnership abroad, contact the General Register Office.

Contact the General Register Office for England & Wales
Marriages and Civil Partnerships, General Register Office, Trafalgar Road, Southport, PR8 2HH
Tel: +44 (0) 151 471 4803 - 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday
Fax: +44 (0) 151 471 4523
For events registered in Scotland or Northern Ireland

You can contact the relevant General Register

     General Register Office for Scotland
     General Register Office for Northern Ireland

Website http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Registeringlifeevents/index.htm

[Paul Todd]

Ding' Ding" round 3

Declaration of No Impediment to Marriage

Please be aware - It appears that the Chinese Embassy are now insisting that Statutory Declarations are Notarised and are not being accepted if only a solicitor has signed. However, in a case this year, this was not required and the Stat Dec was signed by a solicitor and duly accepted.
It would be prudent to contact the Chinese Embassy before proceeding to clarify this requirement.

UK citizen to marry Chinese citizen.
For residents of United Kingdom you will require a Statutory Declaration. (A Self Declaration of No Impediment)
You must be aged at least 20 (Male) and 22 (Female) to be legally married in China.

You can draft your own Statutory Declaration.On a single piece of A4 paper type the document

STATUTORY DECLARATION

I, YOUR NAME of YOUR ADDRESS (including post code) United Kingdom

DO SOLEMNLY AND SINCERELY DECLARE as follows:-

My full name is YOUR NAME
My date of birth is YOUR DATE OF BIRTH and my place of birth is YOUR PLACE OF BIRTH.
My nationality is British and my passport number is YOUR PASSPORT NUMBER.
My full and permanent address is YOUR PERMANENT ADDRESS United Kingdom.
I am permanently resident in the UK and have lived in the UK all of my life. (if not true, then explain other countries of residence)
I am currently a YOUR OCCUPATION (stating if self or employed).
I was previously married to NAME OF PREVIOUS WIFE but was divorced on DATE OF DECREE ABSOLUTE as shown on the certified copy of the decree absolute attached hereto. I remain divorced to this day.
The section above is relevant if you are divorced. If you have never been married then delete this whole section. If you are a widower then replace section with:
I was previously married to NAME OF PREVIOUS WIFE AS SHOWN ON DEATH CERTIFICATE but she passed away on DATE OF DEATH ON DEATH CERTIFICATE as shown on the certified copy of the Death certificate attached hereto. I remain a widower to this day.

I am single, free to marry and know of no legal impediment to my marrying.

AND I make this solemn Declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue of the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835.

SIGNED AND DECLARED at


By


on


Before me

Leave the SIGNED and DECLARED section clear. Your solicitor will advise you where to sign.

Take this Statutory Declaration (unsigned) including your Passport, Birth Certificate, proof of occupation and address in the form of utility bills. The decree absolute divorce paper or death certificate to your chosen solicitor for witnessing and signing.

When this is completed.
The Documents - Statutory Declaration and Divorce or Death Certificate need to be taken or sent via courier service, Royal Mail or your Notary may offer to send the Documents to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for Legalisation.
If you decide to present the documents in person at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office allow at least two hours waiting time, phone first to check this. Or you can have it sent back to you by the Post Office allow 14 days, it is advisable to use recorded delivery.
Further Information.
You can use an agent, my recommendation is that you use an agent they may offer a Visa service as well. This will simplify the whole administration process for you in the UK.

Once the Documents have been authenticated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom.
The Documents then need to be taken to the Chinese Embassy in the UK or if you are in China the Chinese consulate-general of the province you are to be married in to be legalised. Further Information
The document is valid for six mouths from the date of legalisation.
(The documents will also need to be translated into Chinese, this I advise you to have done in China, in the City where you will marry. The marriage office can advise on a suitable translation service.)

The Legalisation Office of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Old Admiralty Building , Whitehall , London SW1A 2LG.

Tel:020-7008-1111

Web site: http://www.fco.gov.uk
(under services click LEGALISATION. Addresses and information for other UK offices is available on this web site)

Consular Section of the Chinese Embassy in London
31 Portland Place , London W1B 1QD

Tel: 020-72998427 (2:00p.m - 4:00pm ) Fax: 020-74369178

Office Hours: 9:00am-12:00pm Monday to Friday ( except holidays )

Web Site: http://www.chinese-embassy.org.uk

Consular Section in Manchester
49 Denison Road , Rusholme, Manchester M14 5RX

Tel: 0161- 2248672 Fax:0161-2572672

Consular Section in Edinburgh
55 Corstorphine Road , Edinburgh EH12 5QJ

Tel: 0131-3373220 ( 3:30pm-4:30pm ) Fax: 0131-3371790


Getting Married
The marriage procedure in China is different to what you might expect in the UK.
The actual marriage formalities are carried out in a very matter of fact way, just a visit to an official marriage office with the required documentation and if all is in order, then you are married. Casual clothes are acceptable.

You then simply submit the application form, together with 3 photos of you both taken together (this can be done at any good street side photographic establishment, explain to the photographer that you require the pictures for upcoming marriage as background colour might be important)) along with the following documents to make a Declaration of Marriage Registration Application.

Chinese citizens must submit:
Identity card
Document of household registration
A Self Declaration of No Impediment to the Marriage

UK citizens (Foreigners) must submit:
Passport
Statutory Declaration including where necessary Death Certificate or Decree Absolute duly legalised as described above and translated into Chinese.

The pre-marriage health check is no longer compulsory.

The Marriage Certificates, one each ( a little red booklet including one of the photo's supplied) will be issued by the Marriage Registry office on the same day.The legal relationship of husband and wife is immediately established on this day.

Your marriage is legal under UK law.

I am going down the route of getting my Declaration of No Impediment to Marriage from my local registrars office and have an interview in a couple of weeks,so I will update this latter.

[UK Mark]

Paul , thanks for your indepth posting , appreciate it

[Scottish_Rob]

Yes me too buddy, thanks for all your efforts.

[victor-hills]

Cheers paul well helpfull mate.

[Paul Todd]

:rolleyes:More stuff from the Chinese Embassy in London.... May 2009.

Steps for legalization

To have a document which was executed in the United Kingdom be accepted in the People's Republic of China, the document shall first be notarized by a British Notary Public, then authenticated by the Legalization Office (LO) of British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Old Admiralty Building, Whitehall, London SW1A 2LG, Tel: 02070081111, Fax: 02070081010. Opening hours: 9:30am to 4pm.), and finally be authenticated by the Chinese Embassy. If the document was issued by an office of British government or a public institution, it can be directly sent to LO for authentication before it undergoes authentication by the Chinese Embassy.

Note: The main body of the LO will move to Milton Keynes during the summer of 2008. Precise details will follow. The current LO will remain open until the new office at Milton Keynes is ready. The LO retains an office in London. This office is situated on the 17th floor of the Centre Point building, New Oxford St, WC1. It is dedicated to Notaries, Solicitors and business customers and is not open to the public or visitors.

Requirements for legalization

Before submit your documents, please complete a legalization application form. It is available at request at this office, or to download at this website(the Appendixes at the end of this page).

The original document authenticated by the Department of British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its complete duplicate (including FCO Apostil page).

Document which contains more than two pages should be tightly banded with ribbons and notary public seal should be produced to avoid any forge behavior.

Documents for private affairs, the passport and valid visa of the applicant together with the photocopies of the above are required.

All applications can be submitted in person or through a courier, but a power of attorney of the applicant is required. Application by post is not accepted.

Notes:

Please be advised that the legalization only confirms that the signature of an official of British Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the apostille attached to your document is genuine. It does not mean that the contents of the document are correct or this office approves of the contents.

According to the Sino-British Agreement, Hague Convention is still effective in Hong Kong after July 1, 1997. If the document has already been legalized by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, it can be used in HK without legalization of the Chinese Embassy.

Documents executed in Crown dependencies, including Isle of Man, Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, can be accepted after legalized by the local Lieutenant Governors. Documents from British overseas territories, including Virgin Island and Cayman Islands, should be legalized by the Legalization Office of British Foreign and Commonwealth Office before authenticated by the Chinese Embassy.

Please note that this Embassy will, under no circumstances, be responsible for the delay of the application processing due to inadequate documents, since some couriers are reluctant to open envelopes containing the application materials, and may not answer questions.

On the receipt of the application, the Embassy will only issue the applicant with a collection slip, rather than signing any document.

Marriage status

Overseas Chinese citizens get married in UK

      The Chinese government encourages overseas Chinese citizens to register their marriages in the country in which they live.

      Marriage certificates can be used in China after accomplishing the Steps of Legalization.

British citizen who has never been married apply for legalization of documents in order to get married in China

1) One properly filled-in and duly signed application form for legalization.

2) A Single Status Certificate obtained from Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages and authenticated by the FCO and its duplicate.

3) Proof of identity with photo (such as valid passport) and its duplicate.

 British citizen divorced in UK apply for legalization of documents in order to get married in China

1) One properly filled-in and duly signed application form for legalization.

2) A Single Status Certificate obtained from Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages and authenticated by the FCO and its duplicate.

3) The Decree issued by the Court of UK and authenticated by FCO and its duplicate. Those divorced in UK whose former spouse is a Chinese citizen shall apply to a competent court in China to have the Decree recognized after the legalization by the Embassy. Therefore, the applicant divorced with a non-Chinese citizen shall provide a certificate in relation to the nationality of his/her former spouse and the duplicate copy.

Or the Death Certificate authenticated by FCO in relation to his/her deceased spouse and the duplicate copy alternatively.

4) Proof of identity with photo (such as valid passport) and its duplicate.

Adoption

Sino-UK official adoption relations have been set up. China Center of Adoption Affairs is the authorized organization of the Chinese government and Department For Education And Skills is that of the British government. All the applications regarding adoption should be submitted to the Embassy by the Department For Education And Skills rather than anybody else.

Processing time & Fees

The legalization fee is £23 pounds for each commercial document or document related to estate or property; £12 pounds for each document of the other types. Normal service takes 5 working days. Express service takes 2 working days. Express fee is £15 extra per document. Please pay in cash, postal order or company cheque (payee is the Chinese Embassy).

Frequent Asked Questions

1. Is China a party to the 1969 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents?

No.

At present time, China is not a party to the above-mentioned Convention, but the Convention is applicable in Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR.

2. Does the Consulate bear responsibility for the contents of the documents authenticated?

No.

Consular authentication by the Chinese Embassy is merely the attestation to the veracity of the signature of an official and seal or stamp of FCO attached to the document. Neither the consul nor the Embassy verifies as to the accuracy, truth, legality or otherwise the contents of the document. Nevertheless, an authentication application would be declined if the contents of a document contravene laws or regulations of the People's Republic of China.

3. Does the legalization have expire date?

Yes.

A Single Status Certificate must have the legalization done by the FCO and the Chinese Embassy within 3 months after its issuance. The Single Status Certificate will have a validity of 6 months after being authenticated by the Chinese Embassyl. The documents related to marriage, health, taxbill and police clearance for the purpose of adoption must be legalized by the FCO and the Chinese Embassy within 6 months after their issuance.

4.    Can I apply for notarization from the Chinese Embassy for documents executed in China.

No.

       Documents executed in China to be used in foreign countries must complete the following procedures:

         1) Documents should be notarized by a Notary Public in China;

        2) Documents should be authenticated by a provincial Office of Foreign Affairs Office or the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

        3) Documents should be authenticated by an Embassy or Consulate General of the relevant country.

         Chinese Embassies or Consulates do not notarize or authenticate documents executed in China.

5. Can application for legalization of documents be mailed to Chinese Embassy?

No.

The Embassy does not accept application by mail. Therefore, the applicant or his designated representative must come to the Embassy in person.

Legalization means the authentication of the last signature or seal / stamp of the relevant authority affixed on a document. A legalization in no way attests to the authenticity of the contents of a document.

[Paul Todd]

After all that time spent on research,
Bottom line is. Get your no impediment to marriage certificate from your local registrars office, it takes 21 days and take this to the British Embassy in Beijing. Hand it over to them with a fee of 725 yuan. Come back the next morning or give them an address and they will post it to you. For this you get all the documents you require to get married in China, one copy in English and another in Chinese takes about 5 minutes. No need to do anything else.

[brett]

Thanks Paul, hopefully I will need this some day.

Is it no longer the case that you need to spend 21 days in China before getting married? This would be a huge chunk of my annual leave, and doesn't leave much time left for a honeymoon!

[Paul Todd]

You only have to spend 21 days in China before you get married so they can publicly post up your no impediment to marriage application  form. Just the same as they do here. So that anybody with any objections can come forward. If you do this in the Uk before you leave it just saves them having to do it and so saves you hanging around for 3 weeks. As for the single certificate well if you go through the embassy you don't have to bother with the thing at all. The no impediment to marriage certificate is valid for 6 months from the date of issue from your local registrars office cost 32 pounds ,and does not have to be sent anywhere for authentication, I was married within 6 days of arrival here withe no problems at all. Just remember to bring it with you!:icon_cheesygrin:

[David5o]

Paul,

I've never heard of anyone putting up bands in UK for use abroad, in fact i can't see how that would work, seeing as you first need to apply to be married in that foreign country!!!

I maybe wrong Paul, but I've never heard of this or know of anyone doing the bands thing this way. I'm doubtful myself!!

David.....

[Willy The Londoner]

Hi david

You have a choice.

You can have your intention posted up in UK for 21 days to see if anyone objects or you can have the notice posted up in China for 21 days.

To post in the UK you need to have been at the address provided for one month before  posting and for China 21 days before posting.

Willy

[David5o]

Hi Willy,

As i said, i've never heard of being able to do it this way, but if it helps anyone out, seems good to me.

Do you have to take proof with you, that the bands have been posted in the UK?? Just seems strange to me that you can post the bands, before you have officially applied for the marriage!!!

Got to be the way to go about things then, ...as Paul say's saves the 21 day wait in China!!

David....

[Willy The Londoner]

Hi Willy,

As i said, i've never heard of being able to do it this way, but if it helps anyone out, seems good to me.

Do you have to take proof with you, that the bands have been posted in the UK?? Just seems strange to me that you can post the bands, before you have officially applied for the marriage!!!

Got to be the way to go about things then, ...as Paul say's saves the 21 day wait in China!!

David....

Yes you have to get a certificate of no impediment from the registrar then take it to the Foreign office legalisation dept in Milton Keynes then to the Chinese embassy in London.

I still have the original one I intended to use when I first came here.

Willy

[David5o]

Willy,

Ah, now i'm with you, ....i think!!  haha!! I didn't know that you still had to post the bands as a condition of getting the ''No Impediment'' Certificate. I was under the impression that a registrar check was performed and if found everything in order the Cert was issued.

 So what your talking about is producing a No Impediment cert' instead of the waiting 21 days to apply and the 21 days of band posting in China. What i was thinking Paul was talking about was the 21 days living in China, route of getting married in China, and having bands posted in the UK before arriving in China to save time. Why didn't he just say he was going the Cert' of No Impediment route?? ....haha!!

Maybe it's me, maybe that age thing is creeping in even higher!!  hahaha!!

David.....