When you register your marriage in Beijing

Hey, folks, I have just done it (finally!) and realized there are few things they don't put on the websites in the requirements. So, here's what we had to provide (and the same goes for the foreign party marrying Chinese though in that case I think the foreign party needs a health certificate as well)

1. At least one of the parties has to have a residency in Beijing
2. Certificate of Not Being Married from your Embassy, preferably in Chinese or the Chinese translation of it. It should include your name in English as in passport, passport number and preferably the birth date.
3. Translation into Chinese of the first page of your passport where your photo and personal information are. It should be translated in an official translation bureau and stamped. Be careful while transliterating your name into Chinese as sometimes they can use something standard that won't translate back as the original (in our case GA was transliterated as JIA and we had to insist on changing it into GA which was really funny for them because apparently it means something funny).
4. Application letter at the bureau is in English and Chinese. If you don't read/write Chinese, they will help you fill it but they don't really speak English (very little).
5. You would also have to write your permanent residence address back in your country. Be prepared to help them transliterate it into Chinese (no official documentation needed) aka spell it with a very Chinese accent (e.g. Iringa will be spelt as Yi Lin Ga)
6. 3 pictures with the both of you on red background. Should be 3.8*5cm.

I hope it is a very useful information.
Address for the Marriage Registration Office is:

北京市涉外婚姻登记处


联系电话：62028454  - phone
        62035724

地址：朝阳区华严里8号楼北京市第五社会福利院1层    - address
       （中华民族园西300米，福利彩票中心一层） - Next to Mingzu Yuan which is in the Olympic Stadium area.

Hi

Don't suppose you happen to know if these rules apply generally* across the nation? Also mate, how long did this process take until you received the little red book of love?

Ta

Dex

*I say 'generally' because nothing is ever constant in this country, esp the bureaucracy!

Cheekygal doesn't hang out in the saloon anymore, so I wouldn't hold your breath for a response form her.

But, other saloonies have got married here - so one of them is bound to know the answer.

We got married in Kunming and it was pretty much the same deal. We didn't need health certificates though and ours was a Chinese + foreigner marriage (my husband being the Chinese one, myself the foreigner).

We got our red books the same day we registered our marriage. We got our notarized big white book (the 公证）I think about a week or two later.

Thanks Schnerby,

...and for the info The Local Dialect. Might start my own thread about this topic.

So the whole process took just two-three weeks???

Crikey, I've heard that it can take up to six months or so.

Dex

Right, just about 2 weeks from start to finish for us. You don't even necessarily need the Gong Zheng right away either, and the red marriage book you can get the same day. The only way I could see how it could take that long is because you have to go to the place where your spouse has his or her hukou to get it done.

We had friends whose marriage took forever because he was an Australian but his wife was from XJ, and they were living in Kunming, which made the trip a real hassle. They went back to XJ to get the marriage done, but were missing her temporary residence permit for Kunming which she needed because they had already filled in the form and listed her address as in KM (stupid thing to do, but once it was done they wouldn't let her change it) so they had to go back to Kunming and get it, then go back to XJ again. Of course between requesting time off of work and travel time and all, it was quite awhile before they finally got married.

If you bring everything you need the first time there's no reason it should take that long. We actually were missing something the first time we went to register too (the notarized translation of my passport) and had to come back the next week once we had that done, but luckily we were living in the city where my husband's hukou is registered to so it wasn't a big deal. Once we had all of our forms in order we were able to get married and get our book all in one day.

Maybe others can weigh in, I know lots of people here have gotten married in China.

(mods, maybe split this discussion to a new thread?)

It only took us two days in Chengdu eleven years ago, day one we went for medical and got red marriage book, next day we were able to pick up Gong Zhen. Neither of us was required to have residency in Chengdu but we did have to show residency somewhere ie my husband had to show his res permit for his hometown.

Mmmm.

Well, after my gf did some calling around we now know we can't tie the knot (or rather 'go to the hotel lobby with heaps of family') in our current city, Changsha.

We called Xian (my gf's provincial capital) and they said I need to bring my CNI (Certificate of No Impediment) from the UK gov -which is understandable and cool- and bring my passport, with res perm in it, and all done! No mention about medicals, proof of employment, etc. That's what they said, and apparently they've relaxed the rules on Chinese marrying foreigners in Shanxi. So hope all goes well. Could be a welcome trend.

I'll start a new thread asking about marriage in the UK (or one's home country) verses marriage in China... welcome to add any info.