Affidavit of Eligibility to Marry in China

[xszhao 0]

Hi guys,

I am heading to China to marry in a month and I plan to apply for CR-1 for my fiance after the marriage.

I have a question to those experienced with marriage in a foreign country, especially China.

I need to have an Affidavit of Eligibility to Marry and a certified translation in Chinese. I was wondering if I can find a notary in the states to sign the affidavit and bring that to a Chinese Consulate in the states to get it officially translated so I can use that when I arrive in China.

Thanks for the help!

[Darnell 8,479]

you can get it all done stateside,

but it takes some time, is not an 'easy process' -

yer chasing down various offices -

Have you considered to 'get this done' all in China, instead?

When I did it, I went to BeiJing, got the 'affadavit of marriageability' from the USEmbassy there,

then, back in Wuhan,

went to the Marriage Office, found out which translation office they accept,

went to that translation office

then we filed for marriage.

It was a nice side trip, prior to marriage, we were able to do some other stuff whilst in BeiJing, too (was a 2 day trip).

But - ya don't have to do it in BeiJing -

you can get it done, also - at the US Consulates in

Shenyang, Shanghai, Chengdu, and sometimes Guangzhou

Last I checked, Wuhan still doesn't do this.

Edited October 5, 2010 by Darnell

[Greg & Chun 0]

Hi guys,

I am heading to China to marry in a month and I plan to apply for CR-1 for my fiance after the marriage.

I have a question to those experienced with marriage in a foreign country, especially China.

I need to have an Affidavit of Eligibility to Marry and a certified translation in Chinese. I was wondering if I can find a notary in the states to sign the affidavit and bring that to a Chinese Consulate in the states to get it officially translated so I can use that when I arrive in China.

Thanks for the help!

You might have enough time to get it done in the US depending on how quick your SOS office moves.

What I did:

1. Filled out Affidavit of Eligibility to Marry and brought it to a local notary public.

2. Then sent it to the apostille department for my SOS.

An apostille certifies the validity of a notary public, county clerk, circuit clerk or local registrar. This special certification is accepted by foreign countries as proof that specific documents are official.

3. Brought it to (along with other paperwork I needed) to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago for authentication.

4. Brought all of this with me to China. Since we were getting married in Chengdu, Sichuan, I went to the US Consulate there and brought my wife's ID card with me. They were great and made official copies of everything, did translations of the important documents, signed a cover letter, and bound it all together.

We didn't have any problems with the bound documents at the marriage registration office. Within an hour we had our red books and took the picture on our profile.

It seems like a lot of work but from start to finish, in the US, took about two weeks.

Good Luck!

[xszhao 0]

Thanks for the replies Darnell and Greg,

@ Greg, I actually also plan to marry in Chengdu! Hope you and your wife can reunite soon~

@ Darnell, I am only going there for a week and I read that it may take 10 days (even with rush processing) in order to have the Affidavit translated into Chinese. Is that true?

[xszhao 0]

You might have enough time to get it done in the US depending on how quick your SOS office moves.

What I did:

1. Filled out Affidavit of Eligibility to Marry and brought it to a local notary public.

2. Then sent it to the apostille department for my SOS.

An apostille certifies the validity of a notary public, county clerk, circuit clerk or local registrar. This special certification is accepted by foreign countries as proof that specific documents are official.

3. Brought it to (along with other paperwork I needed) to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago for authentication.

4. Brought all of this with me to China. Since we were getting married in Chengdu, Sichuan, I went to the US Consulate there and brought my wife's ID card with me. They were great and made official copies of everything, did translations of the important documents, signed a cover letter, and bound it all together.

We didn't have any problems with the bound documents at the marriage registration office. Within an hour we had our red books and took the picture on our profile.

It seems like a lot of work but from start to finish, in the US, took about two weeks.

Good Luck!

BTW Greg, what does it mean to be "touched"?

[Greg & Chun 0]

BTW Greg, what does it mean to be "touched"?

Once you have your NOA1 you can create a login and check the status of your case.

A "touch" just means that the USCIS has looked at your file and recorded the action on their website. Some people don't see any "touch's" at all. The site is unreliable at best.

[xszhao 0]

Once you have your NOA1 you can create a login and check the status of your case.

A "touch" just means that the USCIS has looked at your file and recorded the action on their website. Some people don't see any "touch's" at all. The site is unreliable at best.

Thanks for the info, you got a lot of touches...lol

Yeah I'm really nervous about the CR1...I'm hoping we can get it done in 8 months, but it seems like that's a hit or miss. Hopefully, the fact that I'm federal employee (background check done!) and that she has attended school in the US helps. Being a federal employee, I understand how backlog and last minute things work...sigh, I don't have my hopes high

[Greg & Chun 0]

Thanks for the info, you got a lot of touches...lol

Yeah I'm really nervous about the CR1...I'm hoping we can get it done in 8 months, but it seems like that's a hit or miss. Hopefully, the fact that I'm federal employee (background check done!) and that she has attended school in the US helps. Being a federal employee, I understand how backlog and last minute things work...sigh, I don't have my hopes high

Don't be nervous. Read as many posts as you can about what you need to submit and do the best you can. I, unfortunately, am in the middle of an RFE right now. Not sure why, still trying to get information since I am in China right now.

[Darnell 8,479]

Thanks for the replies Darnell and Greg,

@ Greg, I actually also plan to marry in Chengdu! Hope you and your wife can reunite soon~

@ Darnell, I am only going there for a week and I read that it may take 10 days (even with rush processing) in order to have the Affidavit translated into Chinese. Is that true?

We had it translated 'same day' in Wuhan - dropped off in morning time, picked up after lunch, then off to the marriage office. I THINK we paid an extra 100 RMB for rush service.

IMO, this varies by 'city' and 'location'. I've no idea of '10 days turnaround' for official translation, from english into chinese -

but

ya know who DOES know?

The clerks at the marriage office in Chengdu, that you two will be visiting.

IMO, this would be a great thing for yer lass to investigate, this week, face to face, in person- via

--asking which translation office the marriage office clerks DO accept and then

--going to that translation office, asking about the turn around time and pricing

but

no phone calls - go in person, face to face, ask the big boss, at each place.

---

in the end, after marriage -

don't forget, you need (also) that reverse translation, 'red marriage book' into 'white book', notarial translation document - and sometimes THOSE take some time - we got it done in 2 days, but did pay rush fee on that - you'll need a photocopy of that white book, when filing the I-130.

[xszhao 0]

Thanks Darnell,

Where did you get the marriage certificate translated? Is it better to have it translated in China or back here in the US?

We had it translated 'same day' in Wuhan - dropped off in morning time, picked up after lunch, then off to the marriage office. I THINK we paid an extra 100 RMB for rush service.

IMO, this varies by 'city' and 'location'. I've no idea of '10 days turnaround' for official translation, from english into chinese -

but

ya know who DOES know?

The clerks at the marriage office in Chengdu, that you two will be visiting.

IMO, this would be a great thing for yer lass to investigate, this week, face to face, in person- via

--asking which translation office the marriage office clerks DO accept and then

--going to that translation office, asking about the turn around time and pricing

but

no phone calls - go in person, face to face, ask the big boss, at each place.

---

in the end, after marriage -

don't forget, you need (also) that reverse translation, 'red marriage book' into 'white book', notarial translation document - and sometimes THOSE take some time - we got it done in 2 days, but did pay rush fee on that - you'll need a photocopy of that white book, when filing the I-130.

[Darnell 8,479]

We got it done at the official 'notarial translation' office in Wuhan -

but - my wife has some guanxi with the workers, she has some cousin there, apparently.

'white book' translations --> http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/228853-notarial-birth-certificate/

[Bob g 11]

Thanks for the replies Darnell and Greg,

@ Greg, I actually also plan to marry in Chengdu! Hope you and your wife can reunite soon~

@ Darnell, I am only going there for a week and I read that it may take 10 days (even with rush processing) in order to have the Affidavit translated into Chinese. Is that true?

In March 2010, My girl and I went to the Consulate in Chengdu to get the Marriage Affidavit document, no problem. Got married 9 March. Good Luck....

Edited October 6, 2010 by Bob g