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Showing results for tags 'Marriage in China'.
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Hello ; Thought I want to start a new thread here . Got married recently in Chengdu , Sichuan province. I am an American citizen and she is Chinese. Very interesting process . Very different from in the US . I think the marriage laws are probably different from the US. Not to mention China is so overpopulated .... First of all , foreigners need to register their marriage at the Civil Affairs Bureau ( Ming Zen Ju ) . For Sichuan province , it is in Chengdu. My feeling is there is only one office to do this for foreigners in each province . Let me know if I am wrong. Foreigners need to bring in their passport and certificate of marriagability ( Dan Shen Min) that he/she obtains from the US Consulate having jurisdiction over that area . So, foreigners have to go to their Consulate to obtain this certificate prior to going to register their marriage at the Civil Affairs Bureau. For the Chinese citizens, she/he needs to bring their ORIGINAL Hukou and ID card. Then, pictures were taken, application was made. They asked both to fill out the form . Interesting that the form asked your job , your education , your ethnicity, etc.... Once this was all done, then , you were married !!! No need to say : you , so & so , will you take this beloved woman to be your wife, to cherish her in sickness and health ,etc..... raise your right hand,etc.... NONE !!! After that , they offered their translation /notarial service . This is the marriage certificate you will take to the US to file for immigration for your Chinese spouse. Of course, money for the fees .... yes, business .... All in all, very pleasant experience,,,, very professional and courteous staffs . We were happy. My wife told me that for Chinese marrying Chinese , the whole process takes much lesser time . Maybe 10 mins , because there are a lot of people . Chinese has no patience in waiting for too long . Here is foreginers getting married , so , a lot of nice chatting, looking more civil , and of course, the fee is also much higher.....everything is business, of course.... By the way, we also saw couple getting divorced . It is also in the same place.... Weird , huh ... No court .... but , usually they came with their attorneys who have prepared their case . So , they only need to sign papers in front of the Civil Affairs official. My wife told me that divorce in China is very simple if both parties consent to it . I don't know how complicated it is if one party doesn't want it ??? I did see an American man getting divorce from his Chinese wife . They got one daughter. It looked like the daughter was given to his sister's custody while the wife only wanted his money /property. Is this very common ??? Anyway, very interesting , very interesting . I love it . Now, I have that red book with our picture together attached to it.
