Need info on going to Beijing to get my divorce cert from America

[Fu Lai]

I looked around but wasn't able to get info on getting my proof of divorce/marriageability so I can get married in China. I was divorced in the USA. So I know I have to go to the embassy in Beijing to get the certificate of proof. Is it a one day process? Can I go there in the morning and leave that day with the paper? Do I need it notarised and translated for the Chinese marriage office? Is my passport enough proof?

Has anyone else done this?

TIA

[Randy W]

I looked around but wasn't able to get info on getting my proof of divorce/marriageability so I can get married in China. I was divorced in the USA. So I know I have to go to the embassy in Beijing to get the certificate of proof. Is it a one day process? Can I go there in the morning and leave that day with the paper? Do I need it notarised and translated for the Chinese marriage office? Is my passport enough proof?

 

Has anyone else done this?

 

TIA

 

You can get it done in the U.S., by mail, before you leave - except that it involves several mailings, including certification of your single status by your Secretary of State, and THAT certification certified by the Chinese consulate.

 

Most have found it easier to get it done at the American consulate/embassy in China. And yes, it's a one-day process. This certification is apparently accepted as is (no translation needed), in most cases, when you go to the marriage bureau in your wife's city.

 

You WILL need a copy of your divorce decree, in any case, from the county where you were divorced - no translation of this is needed.

[Fu Lai]

I am in China with no plans to go to the USA. I hope it is a one day routine. Beijing is rather expensive.

[Randy W]

I am in China with no plans to go to the USA. I hope it is a one day routine. Beijing is rather expensive.

 

You're sure that's the right jurisdiction? This is the consulate/embassy with jurisdiction over your wife's city?

[Fu Lai]

Found this but it does not mention the cost.

 

 

Q: I am a US citizen and would like to get married in China.  Where can I get a Marriageability Affidavit?

A: Visit our website at http://beijing.usemb...cs_married.html for information regarding getting married in China. Make a notarial appointment on our website to apply for the marriageability affidavit.

 

U.S. Embassy Beijing (BEJ)

No. 55 An Jia Lou Road,

ChaoYang District

Beijing 100600

 

Notary office info: http://beijing.usemb...tary.html

[Fu Lai]

Yes, for Wuhan it is Beijing. Actually I called the consulate here and they said it was fine to go to Beijing/Guangzhou/Shanghai

[Randy W]

In case any of this is helpful:

 

Getting Married in China

 

 

To legally get married in China, you will gather the required documents and present them to the appropriate Chinese authorities. Any ceremony is optional.

 

Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. -

Marriage Registration in China

(includes a sample single affidavit)

 

The one from the Embassy doesn't seem to be there anymore - this is from the Houston consulate -

http://houston.china...age/jh.htm#aoss

 

But Visa Express gives this example -

http://www.visaexpre...inglestatus.htm

 

Your choice

 

The required documents may be certified in China by taking them to a consulate/Embassy. The documents may be ready in time to get married (register) that same day. In the states, it must be notarized then sent to your state's department of state for notarization...then sent to the Chinese consulate

 

Foreign-Related Marriage And Divorce In China

Edited November 5, 2012 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Persons who have been married previously must submit authentic and valid documents of final divorce or ex-spouse's death certificate if widowed.

 

I think this applies only to the Chinese person - that the single affidavit serves the same purpose for the American citizen.

 

 

As far as fees, someone who's done it recently might fill that in for you.

[Fu Lai]

The USA paper must be issued within the last six months. The consulate here said I could bullet train to Beijing in the morning and be back in Wuhan that night with the paper, as long as I set an appointment.

[Fu Lai]

http://beijing.usemb...cs_married.html

The American will usually be asked to submit the following:

• A valid passport with a valid Chinese visa
  
• If both parties are foreigners at least one must present a Chinese residence permit.
  
• An "affidavit of marriageability." You can get this document at the Embassy by swearing or affirming before a Consul that you are legally free to marry. You must make an appointment to get this affidavit and there is a $50 charge.
  
• If either party was previously married, bring a clear photocopy of either the divorce or annulment decree or the death certificate which shows how the marriage ended. If you present an original certified copy with the copy for their review, the Chinese authorities will usually accept the copy. Hold on to your original documents, since they will be required when you file an immigrant visa petition for your spouse.
  
• Three photos of the couple, taken together
  
• Registration fee
  

Edited November 5, 2012 by Fu Lai (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

I suspect fee is $50

 

Need to make an appointment here: http://beijing.usemb...acs_notary.html

 

Guangzhou has more details: http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/information_about_getting_married_in_china2.html You can download an affidavit print out and have filled it out to bring to ASC in Beijing to be Notarized.

[antryg]

In August, the fee was $50. As Dan said, you will need to get an appointment. Don't forget to take a copy of your appointment letter with you. That's what the gate guards are going to want to let you into the embassy grounds.

[Fu Lai]

I leave Thursday night for GUZ. The "affidavit of marriageability" appointment is Friday morning at 10:45am at the notary desk. I printed the affidavit form off the website and I also printed the appointment letter. I am bringing my passport, birth cert, copy of my divorce court decree, US ID card, and fee money.

 

Do I have to worry about long lines making me miss my appointment? My train gets into GUZ at 9am. By cab or subway is the best travel from the train station? Either way I hope to be there an hour early.

[Randy W]

I leave Thursday night for GUZ. The "affidavit of marriageability" appointment is Friday morning at 10:45am at the notary desk. I printed the affidavit form off the website and I also printed the appointment letter. I am bringing my passport, birth cert, copy of my divorce court decree, US ID card, and fee money.

 

Do I have to worry about long lines making me miss my appointment? My train gets into GUZ at 9am. By cab or subway is the best travel from the train station? Either way I hope to be there an hour early.

 

 

Walking is probably the quickest from the Guangzhou East Railway Station. You can walk through the underground shopping area.

 

You go to the right Citizen Services side at the fifth floor - not the visa area. Go past all the lines, and show the guards on the 4th floor your appointment letter. Just take a number, sit down, and wait to be called.

 

[tsap seui]

I've only gone to Guangzhou by plane a couple of times but there is a train station pretty close to the consulate. It shouldn't be a factor in getting to your appointment early.

 

Have fun with the paperwork and wedding. We had a lot of laughs with both, especially the wedding in the marriage bureau and the whole roundabout way it worked. Neither one of us knew exactly when we were married, we thought it was on the first day there in the Ca-Ca Hotel (where the marriage bureau was located), up in Shenyang, but no, it was officially dated on our marriage books as the date of our second trip to the open sewer pit smell of the Ca-Ca Hotel. We laughed ourselves silly at the whole experience. It was hilarious and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

Good luck, I took all this paperwork with me to the consulate in Shenyang to get my single certificate and I swear, the America visa officer never asked me to see a dang thing, just fill out the application and hold up my right hand to swear to it's truthfullness. The whole thing from beginning paperwork to walkin' out with our redbooks was a HOOT. It did take a few weeks to get the smell of sewer gas out of our clothes though The romantic and charming smell of sewer gas in that lovely Ca-ca Hotel was enough to gag a maggot....but we were young, and in love and we just kept laughing hilariously and accusing each other of making the silent but deadly fart that stunk up the place so much.

 

tsap seui

 

Yes, the smell of a building with no traps on any of the plumbing, especially something with as many sinks and plumbing as a hotel has is nothing short of spectacular. That the marriage bureau was located in such a building was priceless. I was afraid to light up a cigarette inside, thought I might blow the whole building down to the ground.....WHOOOWEEEEE It smelled like the whole Chinese army had taken a dump at the same time. All sorts of pretty lil' wimmin there to get married and working in the hotel and marriage bureau sections....official lookin' security guards, and the usual Chinertuckian "hangers-on" that you see in large buildings....all in a great cloud of methane....I mean, how much more romantic and serious could it get, I axe you Bubba