21 day marriage registration period, some information required please

[Jason B]

Hi guys, just after some information about this.  I read in another post about UK residents having to be in China 21 days prior to being able to register to marry.  I intend on getting married in February about a couple days after arriving.  So my question has two parts:
a.  As an Aussie I have to be in China for 21 days prior to registering for marriage?
b.  Can we register in a trip say in January go home and come back in February and just go get married?

Either way is really fine, I suppose we could have our honeymoon before the marriage registry date and then get our red book.  Bit backwards but what the hell, whatever works.

Any information especially from any Aussies who have dealt with this issue would be appreciated although all are welcome to input their experiences as this may help some others about to go through the whole process too.

[maxx]

Jason the 21 day rule is only for the Brits.And I think thiere is some loopholes in the law where the Brits don't have to wate 21 days.Your best bet is Check with the Aussie immigration people.Or David E could probably tell you what your going to need to do.Or a Aussie Immigration lawyer.

[Paul Todd]

For us UK guys we have to have an intention to marry cert some times called a no impediment to marrage certificate. We get this at our local registrars office in the UK. They post a notification up on the office wall for all to see for 21 days and if nobody comes up with a reason why you should not get married they issue you the certificate.
If you apply for this at the UK embassy or consulates in China they first of all require an address in China  at which  you must have been living at for a minimum of 3 weeks before you can apply. Then it's the same process as in the UK, its posted for 21 days.
So if you bring it with you, you save the wait. If not its the residency period of 21 days PLUS the 21 days of displaying the notice, a total of 6 weeks. 

[David E]

If you are in possession of a "no impediment to marriage" certificate issued by your own Department of Births and marriages and this document is certified by the Chinese Consulate in your home town, then you DONT need to wait 21 days.

If you have not got this document, you can go to your own Embassy in Beijing or Guangzhou and get the same thing, and it must be notarised by a Chinese notary....also you dont need to wait 21 days

If you have neither piece of paper, then they will post a notice of intent to marry in the Marriage Office which must be there for 21 days, and you cant be married in the meantime.

When we went to the marriage Office, we had evey piece of paper that could ever be needed...all they wanted to see was the certificate from the Aussie Embassy in Guangzhou and its equivalent Chinese notarised copy.......10 minutes later we were married and had our red books !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....and our marriage took place 4 days after my arrival in Chengdu.

All other paper...divorce cert, birth cert, Aussie "no impediment document, Bank statement, Kitchen sink reciept  was of no interest to them

Mind you, this was in Chengdu...and I stress that every City has different requirements...so check it out first !!!Go off to your local Marriage Office and ask them what documents they want you to produce...better take your Lady with you, they only have one word of English..."congwaturations " !!!!!

David E

Jason, it sems to me that your best plan is to go to your nearest Aussie Embassy and get the documents...this waives your 21 days and it saves trecking back to Aus to get them.
They do them while you wait and will recommend a notary for the Chinese Translation...they cost me 450 RMB the pair. The Aussie Embassy Staff at Guangzhou were fantastic, gave us all sorts of advice and were very pleased to see us and help us...I felt right at home for the brief time we were there....even got to speak Aussie for a while instead of Chinglish 
Nobody asked or enquired how long I had been in China before we were married, the Marriage Office only wanted that particular piece of paper that I mentioned. So I dont think your prior stay in China has any relevance to your marriage.

[Jason B]

Guys, I thank you for your posts and words of wisdom.  This has put my mind at ease.  I was just a bit concerned about this process is all.  Even though it is still about 5 months away I am the type of person who likes to have all of his ducks in a row and if one is out of kilter I get nervous.  David thanks for giving me all of this info, it is amazing what you can learn by just asking and learning from those that have gone before me.

Might have to start a new post in the Aussie immigration pages about the whole process from start (fist meeting in person etc) to finish (wife/fiance finally being granted residency visa) and then someone else can update it as they come along.

Just another query sort of related, all of the other documents that people have taken with them (divorce/death , birth, etc) even if not needed, did you have these certified by a Chinese Consulate or notarised?  Again just trying to keep the ducks straight.

[RobertBfrom aust]

Hi Jason , David E is spot on , so it is all a matter of timing , have a great trip , we will celebrate with our mooncakes and Asian Festival here in Melbourne , regards Sujuan and Robert .

[David E]

Jason

No probs !!

I did start a thread covering the Aus requirements for marriage...maybe a bit buried by now !!!

I went armed with every document I thought I might want...better have it and not need it, than need it and not have it !!!

I did not bother to get them all translated and notarised because it is bloody expensive to do that in Aus and there are plenty of Official Notaries in China who can legally do it for a fraction of the cost we would pay here.

What I forgot to mention was that I got a document from the Aus Embassy in Guangzhou which was their official advice that I had applied to get married in China and that the document was a declaration that this marriage would be legally recognised in Aus, with all the attendant liabilities, benefits and responsibilities of an Australian marriage. I got this document, not because it was needed for our wedding, but because it is a good piece of paper to have when down the track we apply for her visa to come here...they like to see that you have thought it through and it is one more demonstration that the relationship is genuine.

I think what you may have a problem with is getting her a visa to visit Aus BEFORE you are married. They are very reluctant to give visas for tourism to any single lady from anywhere !!! And if you apply before you have made an official application for fiance and/or spouse visa they will almost certainly knock you back. Because they dont yet officially know that your relationship is genuine, they only accept that as a fact AFTER you make application for fiance/spouse visa. After the application for visa is submitted, they get a bit more easy with a 3 month tourist visa so she can come here for a bit of a look at us before coming permanently...often scares a lot of them off (hahaha)

What I did find out of course is that whatever you read on the Internet about their document requirements for anything, you must never take it a s gospel, because they all do it different and they wont budge if you quote umpteen words from the internet...this is how WE want it...so comply or we dont do it !!!
Ming and I went off to the local marriage office prior to our wedding day...took a big bag of "sugar" (lollies to you) for the Lady (more like a dragon really) and Ming sweet talked her into telling us exactly what we must provide by way of paperwork....and thats the Chinese way...works for me !!!!...I just tagged along, smiling sweetly looking like a dumb Westerner (not difficult ) !!!

The marriage office was like something out of the Dark Ages..ghastly place, totally devoid of atmosphere or romance...more like a marriage machine, and the "ceremony" was brutally cold and efficient.....I walked out of there a married Man and hardly knew what had happened...luckily I could hold hands with my new wife and then I did not give a bugger what the ceremony was like......we made up for it all at the family dinner next day...which is how its done. Again, works for me !!!

Good luck

David

[Jason B]

David, once again a wealth of knowledge to take in.  Could you advise me of what the costings were and date done for getting your documents notarised and the time frame from sending them off to receiving them back?  I am not prying just going to make a comparison between when you did the documents and when I do them for the info page that I am going to make up in the Aussie visa page.

I think that if we can have a running update of the "then and now" it will help other Aussie brothers be better informed of the whole process.

I think what you may have a problem with is getting her a visa to visit Aus BEFORE you are married. They are very reluctant to give visas for tourism to any single lady from anywhere !!! After the application for visa is submitted, they get a bit more easy with a 3 month tourist visa so she can come here for a bit of a look at us before coming permanently..

There is no intention at the moment for her to come here before we are married and the visa application submitted, however the tourist visa sounds like a very good idea after all the dust settles and the application is submitted.  I know that my family are very keen to meet her and not just talk to her occasionally on Skype.

the Lady (more like a dragon really)

Xia does not work in a marriage agency!  Must be more than one Dragon in China.

[Martin]

I am not sure about other countries, but for Canadians, the Single Certificate...I guess the same thing as a Certificate of No Impediment, is only good for 6 months from the date of issue.  Just thought I would throw that in.

[David E]

Jason
For the documents we had notarised in China, we gave them to the Notary in the morning and picked them up pm the next day. Each document was 100 RMB...and I think that included a cut for the lady at the Marriage Center...because she specifically told us which Notary to use !!!....but thats not for me to worry about ...when in Rome....!!!
David