Notarized Police Certificate -- Direct or Indirect

[dhr3]

Hi, I'm currently working to get the documents my wife needs for her CR-1 visa interview (just got NOA2). We went to her hometown to get her police certificate, then went to a nearby, slightly larger town's notarial office to get it translated and notarized (along with her birth certificate and our marriage certificate). As our luck would have it, the police certificate had a typo in her ID number. The notary said we could make the white book with English translation, notarization, and red stamp in one of two ways: direct or indirect. (They are saying 直接 or 间接.) I never heard these words used to describe the notarization process before. Supposedly, with "direct" the actual police certificate is included in the white book and the translation of that document is said to be genuine; with "indirect", the original document (the police certificate) is not included in the white book, but there is a statement in Chinese and English affirming what the original document stated. In our case, the "direct" way would of course involve going back to get a corrected police certificate, and that's what we've tentatively decided to do. I'm guessing that the "direct" way is better and what is needed by Guangzhou, but I am quite confused because from what I've read on here, it seems like most people never get the original document back, or at least don't need it for Guangzhou. Has anyone heard these terms before, or have any recommendation based on my description?

 

By the way, getting these documents, or anything from her hometown, is always a really big hassle. I'm really surprised when people describe their own experience and it seems so straightforward. Every time we've obtained some official documents from her hometown (including her passport for her B2, and our marriage certificate), we always need to bribe the workers with extra money and cigarettes before they will do anything. Even to fix the typo on her police certificate, we're going to need to give them some incentive (to fix their own mistake). I don't know if it has to do with the level of corruption in the local government, or my own naivety. Drives me absolutely crazy! If you've found any workaround for this, I'd really love to hear.

 

Many thanks for all the helpful posts and replies I've learned from.

[Randy W]

It involves people in her hometown hukou simply doing their job, and should not need any extra incentive to do that. Yes that usually goes without a hitch, although a few people have reported similar problems.

 

Yes, you will need the 'direct' version - the 'indirect' will not be good enough.

[dhr3]

Thanks so much for the reply, very helpful.

 

An add-on to this topic (I don't know if I should start a new thread or not) is a question about the direct/indirect birth certificate. We are having some problems because she wasn't born in a hospital -- so after checking in her hometown, there is no record of her birth except for what is written in her family's hukou! Is this ridiculous?

 

So, it sounds like it's going to be impossible for us to get the "long-form" birth certificate, and the best we could probably do is a statement from the notarial office that says her birth date is correct. Has anyone done this before and had problems or success in Guangzhou because of it? I'm totally freaking out about this stuff, and I know she is too -- so if anyone has been in a similar situation, it would really feel reassuring to hear how you handled that situation.

[Randy W]

Thanks so much for the reply, very helpful.

 

An add-on to this topic (I don't know if I should start a new thread or not) is a question about the direct/indirect birth certificate. We are having some problems because she wasn't born in a hospital -- so after checking in her hometown, there is no record of her birth except for what is written in her family's hukou! Is this ridiculous?

 

So, it sounds like it's going to be impossible for us to get the "long-form" birth certificate, and the best we could probably do is a statement from the notarial office that says her birth date is correct. Has anyone done this before and had problems or success in Guangzhou because of it? I'm totally freaking out about this stuff, and I know she is too -- so if anyone has been in a similar situation, it would really feel reassuring to hear how you handled that situation.

 

 

Yes - we have aLL done exactly the same thing. start with the record from her hukou - you will end up with the white booklet, showing the date of her birth and her parent's names, along with the notarial translation. This is exactly what the consulate knows to expect.

[dan1984]

Great info as always, Randy.

[dhr3]

Thanks a lot for all the help guys, it's invaluable to hear from people who have already finished it.