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If you are getting married in China, see Getting Married in China Documents to bring to interview The hukou is the Household Registry which contains the information used to produce the white books. Notarial Certificate of Birth Most confusion with the Chinese Notarial Documents is with the Notarial Certificate of Birth. Prior to 1996, birth certificates were not issued at birth. A notarial certificate with translation must be generated from the hukou. Note that if the applicant is no longer in their parents' hukou, they may need to provide other certified evidence to indicate the parents' names. A notarial certificate is NOT necessarily a translation of an existing document. It is a statement BY the notarial official based on the evidence you present as to the facts of the matter. In other words, the Notarial Certificate of Birth will be generated ON THE SPOT at the Notarial Office, or Gong Zheng Chu (公证处). If they demand that you produce a "birth certificate" for them to certify, you may need to get creative, such as by going back to the PSB to get a certified statement of the facts needed for the Notarial Certificate of Birth. If the applicant is no longer on their parents' hukou, they MAY need to go to the hometown PSB where they were originally registered. The notation on the notarial birth certificate is 出生公证书, or chu sheng gong zheng shu, which is what you need to ask for at the Gong Zheng Chu, or 公证处֤֤֤. A sample Notarial Certificate of Birth may be found at http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/48295-chinese-essential-documents-white-books/?p=626052 Chinese Notarial Documents - see DOS China Reciprocity Schedule NOTE: If the link is broken, try http://travel.state.gov/ and search for "Reciprocity by Country" (they seem to change this periodically) Most of the documents needed can be obtained from one of China's Notarial Offices (Gong Zheng Chu, or 公证处֤֤). All Chinese documentation to be used abroad is processed through the notary offices and issued in the form of notarial certificates (known as "white books"). Notarial offices are located in all major Chinese cities and in rural county seats Google 上海公证处, substituting the name of your home city. The documents required are the GongZhengShu (公证书֤) ֤֤ or Notarial Certificate. Sample application for documents (your province or hukou may vary): https://bjfy.egongzheng.com/flagship/online//bid/notary.html?notaryCode=223 - or - https://www.gongzheng.gov.cn/article/315 A discussion of the huji (or hukou system can be found at Hukou System. Chinese residents should go to their hukou for all notarial documents (birth, divorce, and/or single certificate, and police records). For the police record, one obtained at the hukou will cover all of China. A notarial document will be in the standard white notarial booklet, have an official red seal, an English translation, and an attestation to the true translation. Note that police records and single certificates are valid for one year from the date of notarization. Others are valid indefinitely. Marriage certification for I-130 or K-3 must be in the same format. Only ONE is needed. Your choice as to which. Marriage is bilateral. If ANY document is unobtainable or the document is unavailable, you should submit a statement of WHY it is unobtainable, and what effort you made to obtain it. Sample letter of attestation (for a non-professional translation of a non-required document (such as a relationship letter): What police certificates do I need and how do I get them - http://www.avvo.com/...w-do-i-get-them It is usually not necessary to submit police certificates for a stay in the United States. On Obtaining an "Unobtainable" Police Certificate (China) - Unobtainable police certificate from Beijing, China (a Visa Journey topic) Police Certificates for Foreigners Living in China An excellent write-up on this from the Gary Chodorow law firm - https://lawandborder.com/china-police-certificates/ If you need a police certificate for any reason from having lived in China, it may be possible to obtain one from the local PSB Entry and Exit Bureau. You will need a Chinese work permit and a letter from your employer. Contact the PSB folks for the details of what they need. A "crazy mixed-up process - mission accomplished" - a detailed account on Visa Journey You WILL NOT need one for the US visa process, unless you are notified otherwise. This thread from 2016 covers the (ultimately successful) efforts by a couple of foreigners - Police (criminal record) report process is broken from the British embassy http://ukinchina.fco...-other-services A report on their services Jan., 2016 - http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/48344-translation-of-documents/?p=626584 Cost of Notarial Certificates One member reported this in 2013. Cost varies, of course, by province, and over time. Getting Married in China

Greetings- We have finally scheduled our interview and are double-checking the instructions for paperwork to bring. In this set of instructions I see some things that I didn't find before in other places. We got the "white books" done a few months ago when home for the Chinese New Year, so I'm really hoping they don't need to be redone. In the Visa Instructions, it says this regarding the birth certificate, "The certificate must also indicate that the public office extracted the information from official records." I'm thinking this would be from the hukou. In my husband's notarized whitebook, I can't see anything that says where they got the information from, neither in the English or Chinese. Second, I just want to double-check that a notarization regarding his non-criminal record is good nation-wide. We don't need to get one from each city he has lived in, correct? Thanks so much! Cheers!

Hi guys. Very frustrated with the process of gathering white books and records for filing the i-130 in Guangzhou. We got married the other day, and went to get the white books the same day. The people at the office told us we would only need the white book for one of our marriage certificates, because both marriage certificates (red books) are essentially the same, the only difference being who's name comes first. I decided better safe than sorry and got white books for both of our marriage certificates despite their advice. Now my wife has just gotten her white books delivered for the police record and birth certificate... but with no original certificates, only the notarized copy and translation (white book). They apparently said that we won't need original copies, only the white books. Is this right? It doesn't sound right to me. Thanks!!

We got the white books back from the notary office today for the police record and birth certificate. They contain the Chinese document and the English translation, but none of the white books include a sheet from the translator stating that they're a qualified translator and that the translation is accurate. Do these white book notarial certificates actually need to include the statement from the translator or is that only for things that you're getting an "unofficial" or "unnotorized" translation of? Could you guys take a peak at your white books and see if that's actually included? Thanks a ton

Hi everyone. Reading these boards have been very helpful to my fiancee and I but we still have some questions regarding the K1 visa process. We're getting ready for her interview March 10. 1. She got her birth certificate from her local Gong Zheng Chu but no "white book" translation. Can anyone give me the name in Chinese of the translation/white book so I can be sure to correctly convey to her exactly what she needs to ask for? If she asks for bái běn 白本 will they know what this is? They seem pretty clueless thus far. 2. My fiancee has never been married. I've seen mention of certificates stating a person is single are available in China but I don't see anywhere in the K Visa Instructions that such a certificate is required. Is this something she needs to get? Thanks for any help you can give us.

Two questions: Going to get everything translated and notarized soon. 1. How many copies of the "white book" should I get? Additional copies the day of are only 20 RMB per. If I return to get more copies later, I have to pay the base fee of 210 again. So, two copies today would cost 230; three 250 RMB, etc. One today and one tomorrow would cost 420 RMB. We're also translating the following: Wife's hukou Wife's birth certificate Son's birth certificate Wife's criminal background check Our marriage certificates 2. Am I missing anything? Thanks!

Hello, I have a question. Recently I got legally/officially married in China. I got the China marriage registration/certification (China marriage red booklet). Do I need to get the China marriage red booklet notarized or authenticated for my Chinese wife to immigrate to the USA? Currently, my Chinese wife lives in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China. Fred

One of my buddies who also brought a Chinese wife over to the US needs to start the process for his wife's son; his stepson. This is what I have advised and I just want to double check I am correct. His wife has a copy of her son's birth certificate but does not have a Chinese Notary Copy (White Book). I told him that USCIS here in the US will accept any certified translation done by a qualified translator. While Guangzhou will likely want to see a White Book, his wife can get that later after the I-130 petition is approved. The point of this is to eliminate one extra trip to China for his wife. They should have everything else they need to file the I-130: Marriage Certificate, Her Divorce Certificate, His (Step-father) Birth Certificate as Proof of US Citiizenship. And another related question, since the stepson will enter after the two year marriage anniversary (they are aiming for next summer) he will get a 10-year green card? His wife's Removal of Conditions is due late next year.

I just got married to my longtime Chinese girlfriend last week in Wuhan! Yeah! So we got our little red books from the marriage office and then we went to the notary office. We couldn't wait the 8 days to get the White Book so we had them mail it to us in Beijing where we are living now. The White Book arrived today with the translation of our marriage certificate. My wife is telling me that we need to go to the foreign affairs office here in Beijing to have them make sure the translation is legit, but we are not sure if that is entirely correct. Does anyone have any experience with this part? Also, what would be the step after the foreign affairs office? Do we go to the US Consulate here in Beijing to have them officially recognize our marriage? We are hoping to apply for a spousal visa in the future, but maybe not for another year or two. Thanks for your help! Jonathan

Hi, First I would like to thanks everyone who answered my previous posts, they were very helpful. My wife is trying to get a police certificate soon. We want to know what does one contain and its translation. We want to make sure it contains/has the correct information and the correct translation. Does anyone have a sample of police certificate from China? Do we need to send in the original for NVC? Lastly, does it have 1 year before it is expired? Thank you very much. Ricky

Hi to all CFL members, My wife Fang and I just got married in Wuhan, Hubei, China last month. I came back to US and brought our two marriage certificate (2 red books) with me. I would like to know where I could get them translated and notized in US? Thank you very much. Ricky

Li Hong went to her home town and got her Birth Certificate and Divorce Papers. She paid extra to have them translated. They are both in the bond "White Book" form with translation included. The Chinese pages are stamped with a seal but the translated ones are not. Sense this are all bond together and translated by a government official, do we need addition translation and notary or certifying of them in any way?

Hi, I was just wondering if the police report that we got from China has to be notarized or not. I heard from someone that it needs to be notarized. Also, I need to write a letter explaining that I've been working abroad for the past five years in different countries and have not made enouph to have to pay taxes. Does this letter that I write have to be notarized? That's all. Thanks for you help.