What's the First step?

[Matman]

I don't pretend to have the knowledge others may have regarding this matter, but I can communicate my own personal experience.

 

I am pretty certain SOME official documentation that each of you is eligible to marry (i.e., not already or still married) is required by Chinese law and, I suppose, custom.  This document is sometimes called a Single Status Statement, and it is to be presented to the official who actually marries you in China.

 

The other (so far) unchanging requirement is that you apparently must get married in your spouse's "home town."

 

I cannot speak to the relative ease or difficulty in obtaining a Single Status Statement in the US versus in China, but I can say how I got mine.

 

After I finally figured out what they were talking about (since there is no similar requirement here in the US), I located a company in New Jersey through the Internet, down-loaded one of their forms, signed it, and sent it to them with my payment (I don't remember the fee, but it was less than $100).

 

About two weeks later they sent me the completed form, notarized by (of all things) the Attorney General of New York, and certified by the Chinese Embassy in Washington.

 

My wife and I were married in Changchun (north-eastern China) in January, 2005, and at the appropriate moment, I handed my statement to the marriage official.  It was not translated. 

 

He nodded, said something like "hao-la", and pounded on it with his stamp. 

 

There were so many things to do in China when we were getting married I was quite happy I didn't have to deal with that part.

 

Others may have different experiences, but that was mine.

181891[/snapback]

In my case, I got a single-status certificate, along with my divorce certificates from my state's vital records department. For an additional fee, it was notarized by my state's attorney's office. Then it was sent to DOS and then to the Chinese embassy for authentication.

All went very smoothly in this procedure.

 

At first, I was stumped as exactly what a single-status certificate was. I searched the internet to no avail and at that time the Chinese embassy didn't have a posted form.

 

Preparing my papers, I called the vital records dept. about obtaining the divorce certificates. I then asked the lady if she knew anything about a single-status certificate. She said yeah, we got them. Do you need one?

182169[/snapback]

What is "single-status certificate"? Doesn't your divorce decree show that you are single?

 

Mat

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

What is "single-status certificate"? Doesn't your divorce decree show that you are single?

 

Mat

182223[/snapback]

Couple of threads running on this topic. David and others posted some good information here...

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...=0entry182219

[david_dawei]

I would suspect that the divorce decree can only infer you are divorced from that person.. not that you are single and unmarried...

 

You can also look at the DCF FAQ which has a section [at the bottom] on marrying in china, and how to get single certificates in US or china, and a sample to use...

 

DCF FAQ

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14251

[Guest pushbrk]

I would suspect that the divorce decree can only infer you are divorced from that person.. not that you are single and unmarried...

 

You can also look at the DCF FAQ which has a section [at the bottom] on marrying in china, and how to get single certificates in US or china, and a sample to use...

 

DCF FAQ

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14251

182226[/snapback]

Yes, the whole single status certificate is a joke but it's a hoop we have to go through. I mean you could submit multiple divorce decrees that are totally legitimate but it wouldn't prove you didn't get married in Vegas a week before you present the form. In fact, you aren't proving anything, you're just jumping through a hoop.

 

I wish to advise all the four or more persons currently asking questions preparatory to marriage in China or HK to diligently search the FAQ. AND read the other current threads on the subject. While doing so, make detailed notes of each thing you'll need to do and how to do it. THEN come back and ask questions to clarify anything you don't understand. I find the members here incredibly patient with answering the same questions over and over again, sometimes in the same hour.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

I wish to advise all the four or more persons currently asking questions preparatory to marriage in China or HK to diligently search the FAQ.

182238[/snapback]

 

It's okay to post questions in this forum. That's why were here....

Edited January 13, 2006 by ShaQuaNew (see edit history)

[Guest pushbrk]

I wish to advise all the four or more persons currently asking questions preparatory to marriage in China or HK to diligently search the FAQ.

182238[/snapback]

 

It's okay to post questions in this forum. That's why were here....

182242[/snapback]

Of course it is. It's also ok to read the FAQ, the other threads on the subject and to make notes of what you learn. They are all MORE than OK. My advice was to assist the reader in forming a more complete picture of the process in their own minds, than they are likely to get by ONLY asking individual questions as they think of them or get stumped. The advise included a list of activities and suggested no limitation on questions asked.

 

I'm sorry if anybody misunderstood.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

Of course it is. It's also ok to read the FAQ, the other threads on the subject and to make notes of what you learn.  They are all MORE than OK.  My advice was to assist the reader in forming a more complete picture of the process in their own minds, than they are likely to get by ONLY asking individual questions as they think of them or get stumped.  The advise included a list of activities and suggested no limitation on questions asked. 

 

I'm sorry if anybody misunderstood.

182257[/snapback]

No problem. As a writer of technical documentation, I and my peers continually steer users and readers to where they can find help to common questions. We learned quite sometime back that most people simply don't read directions. As writers, we know that so we continually attempt to construct our documents and help files in a manner that suits the audience.

 

Most computer users are completely unaware that the majority of major computer applications contain context sensitive help. This help is activated by pressing the F1 key at any time.

 

I've conducted hundreds of training sessions from factory workers to advanced level exectutives and none them want to read. Actually, I'm pretty lazy myself. I'd rather have someone that knows how to do it tell me how.

[tywy_99]

I wish to advise all the four or more persons currently asking questions preparatory to marriage in China or HK to diligently search the FAQ.

182238[/snapback]

 

It's okay to post questions in this forum. That's why were here....

182242[/snapback]

Of course it is. It's also ok to read the FAQ, the other threads on the subject and to make notes of what you learn. They are all MORE than OK. My advice was to assist the reader in forming a more complete picture of the process in their own minds, than they are likely to get by ONLY asking individual questions as they think of them or get stumped. The advise included a list of activities and suggested no limitation on questions asked.

 

I'm sorry if anybody misunderstood.

182257[/snapback]

I didn't find this forum until my I-129F petition got stuck in CAN Customs.

The only guidance I got to fill out the I-130, I-129F et al, was from the instructions themselves. I found some material from the internet, of course, but not alot.

Remembering back, there was a website, www.freeyellow.com that I liked and there was another site I liked also. I think it was called "marriage based visa" or something like that.

With limited resources at hand, I got thru it okay.