Gong Zhen Chu Cost

[weregoing]

We went to 2 different "Gong Zheng Chu" offices out of the 3 listed in her hometown.

 

The first one immediately frustrated me. There was a lady that couldn't keep her story straight and I just didn't like her attitude from the beginning. She was quoting prices out of seemingly thin air and kept saying "because you're going to AMERICA....it's very expensive." Her quote was around 1200RMB for the 3 documents and she wasn't sure what we actually needed. (Turns out she was also incorrect about what we needed, thankfully we left.)

 

Knowing how China often works (find another person to help or find another location) we rushed over to the 2nd "Gong Zheng Chu". The lady was EXTREMELY nice and we paid 450RMB for the 3 documents needed including 3 copies of each for a total of 9 "white books". She cut out ALL the translation costs by having us work together with her on this part. She also knew exactly what was needed.

 

So shop around if you think it's expensive!

 

 

Amaro: 5000RMB as an average monthly salary is quite high no matter where you're from in China. Families typically live on MUCH less than that.

 

 

Quick question I am curious about now - We got a handful of passport style photos for these white books. I thought they used 9 of them (one for each document). Now having gone back and looked at them they only used 3, one for each copy of the Birth Certificate. The "Single Certificate" and the "Lack of Criminal Record" DON'T have photos attached. Should they?

 

Thanks.

[Rob and WeiLing]

For birth certificate and police report, WeiLing and I paid only 600-something. That included 2 copies of each book with included translation, etc. That was from the "small" city of 1-million in Hubei. For the marriage notarization in Wuhan, it was 400rmb for 2 books.

 

I think that since the people in the smaller public notary offices are in a position of power over you, they just say whatever price they think you'll pay. You're going to America? You must be rich; price gets jacked up a bit. You need these documents and they know that. What are your options if their quote is expensive?

 

It reminds me of what someone told me about Customs officials in China: If they don't make over 1,000,000/year in bribes (can't remember if it was RMB or USD), they "aren't doing their jobs". I only wonder what companies are getting hit by them...