China specific: Birth Certificate problem

[Ben Rebach 0]

Hello.

My Chinese fiancee and I have been making good progress through the K-1 thus far, and my portion of her interview package was sent off last week. My fiancee has been working to arrange the documents she needs on her end. However, we do have a problem concerning her birth certificate.

She was born at home, and does not have a formal birth certificate. In order to obtain the certificate (or a valid alternative), she would need a document which is in her parent's possession, something akin to a household registration, if I understood properly.

Her parents, however, do not approve of our marrying, and are unlikely to help her. This is a problem we will need to face eventually, but we were hoping to simply go ahead with our plans, and work on gaining their approval/acceptance over time. We definitely do not want to give her parents leverage, especially a means to block the marriage completely.

My current advice to her is to work with the authorities in order to obtain the documents we need on her own. I'm not sure how China deals with individuals and families in their legal system. My fiancee is 26 years old, so I would assume she is capable of acting independently from her parents in the eyes of the law, but I cannot be certain.

Does anyone have any insight or advice which may be of help to us?

Regards,

Ben

[pushbrk 12,568]

Hello.

My Chinese fiancee and I have been making good progress through the K-1 thus far, and my portion of her interview package was sent off last week. My fiancee has been working to arrange the documents she needs on her end. However, we do have a problem concerning her birth certificate.

She was born at home, and does not have a formal birth certificate. In order to obtain the certificate (or a valid alternative), she would need a document which is in her parent's possession, something akin to a household registration, if I understood properly.

Her parents, however, do not approve of our marrying, and are unlikely to help her. This is a problem we will need to face eventually, but we were hoping to simply go ahead with our plans, and work on gaining their approval/acceptance over time. We definitely do not want to give her parents leverage, especially a means to block the marriage completely.

My current advice to her is to work with the authorities in order to obtain the documents we need on her own. I'm not sure how China deals with individuals and families in their legal system. My fiancee is 26 years old, so I would assume she is capable of acting independently from her parents in the eyes of the law, but I cannot be certain.

Does anyone have any insight or advice which may be of help to us?

Regards,

Ben

My wife says she's going to need the family book. (Hu kou ben)

[coolgt 0]

if your fiance Hu Kou (Family Register Book) is with her parents, they she need to convince them to give it to her to get the notarized birth from notarized office.

other than that she can't do anything without a Hou Kou book

[valenbb 0]

For my wife's Birth Certificate, the notary officer asked for the household registration and made a photocopy. Like coolgt said,

if she is unmarried then she would still be in her parents household book. If she is married to a Chinese National, then her

name is removed from her parents' and then added to her husband's. Both of you will need to continue convincing the parents.

I hope that all will work out for the best! Don't give up!

[link09 0]

For my wife's Birth Certificate, the notary officer asked for the household registration and made a photocopy. Like coolgt said,

if she is unmarried then she would still be in her parents household book. If she is married to a Chinese National, then her

name is removed from her parents' and then added to her husband's. Both of you will need to continue convincing the parents.

I hope that all will work out for the best! Don't give up!

You can get it from a local police office, and pay about 200 RMB to get an official translated copy that is also notorized. It doesn't take long, 2 business days...

[JingJoseph 0]

Hello.

My Chinese fiancee and I have been making good progress through the K-1 thus far, and my portion of her interview package was sent off last week. My fiancee has been working to arrange the documents she needs on her end. However, we do have a problem concerning her birth certificate.

She was born at home, and does not have a formal birth certificate. In order to obtain the certificate (or a valid alternative), she would need a document which is in her parent's possession, something akin to a household registration, if I understood properly.

Her parents, however, do not approve of our marrying, and are unlikely to help her. This is a problem we will need to face eventually, but we were hoping to simply go ahead with our plans, and work on gaining their approval/acceptance over time. We definitely do not want to give her parents leverage, especially a means to block the marriage completely.

My current advice to her is to work with the authorities in order to obtain the documents we need on her own. I'm not sure how China deals with individuals and families in their legal system. My fiancee is 26 years old, so I would assume she is capable of acting independently from her parents in the eyes of the law, but I cannot be certain.

Does anyone have any insight or advice which may be of help to us?

Regards,

Ben

My wife says she's going to need the family book. (Hu kou ben)

We had to do that also, found no other way around it.

Do go to a notary and have all her papers done in Chinese

and English. Its well worth the money and time. (All her papers).

[warpedbored 0]

This would be a good question to ask GZ Speaks on CFL. I have been unable to find specific reference to your problem on the GZ website. The USCIS website may shed more information. Since a Hukou is a matter of public record I would suspect she could go to the police station in her home town and obtain a copy. IMO this is a small part of your problem. Family is everything to Chinese people. Your sweet heart may be willing to go against her parent's wishes for now but I would almost guaranty that doing so will cause her great remorse at some point in time. The honorable thing to do would be to make a trip to China and try and meet them. Show them you are sincere about their daughter and you promise to take care or her. Even if this fails at least you have tried. China isn't like America where children sometimes elope then all is forgiven when they return.