Obtaining a Birth Ceritificate in China

[RandyW 149]

We are seeing an increasing number of reports from people who have had trouble obtaining their birth certificate because one or both of their parents' ID's were not available

Birth Certificate Unobtainable

I found this in the Global Times (a Communist Party newspaper for a global audience), but it only applies to those born after June 2,2012. To apply it to older cases would cause some serious difficulties, as several have seen. The article also seems to imply that if you have a Chinese ID, then you have met the requirements for a birth certificate, since you need a birth certificate to apply for Chinese ID or hukou.

It would seem to be a serious misapplication of this law to DENY a birth certificate to an adult who is unable to provide the parental proof, since that proof had never before been required.

The article is dated June 3, 2013

Birth certs require parental proof

The regulation was passed on June 2, 2012, and affects all children born after that date, meaning any parent of a 1-year-old child without a birth certificate will now have to prove their paternity, according to the agency's website.

In general, parents should provide their ID cards within 30 days of the birth to local hospitals or birth management authorities to get a certificate, says the local regulation.

But from now on, if the child is older than 1 and has no birth certificate, the mother must submit documents, including the parents' ID cards, their birth records, the certificate of the parental test and an explanation of why they were late in applying for the certificate. The regulation does not stipulate whether both of the parents need to provide a test certificate.

Chinese birth certificates are necessary to apply for hukou, or household registration, and ID cards, according to the regulation released on the department's website on May 17, 2012.

If anyone is faced with this difficulty, try pointing out to the hukou authorities that the law only applies to those born AFTER JUNE 2, 2012.

If ANY document is unobtainable, you should submit a statement of WHY it is unobtainable, and what effort you made to obtain it.

From the U.S. Dept. of State

Notaries in China do not perform the same functions as their American counterparts. Chinese notaries affix their signatures and office seal to certificates that attest to the probity of claims made by the applicants. By regulation, notaries are empowered to issue certificates only after they conclude that the applicant's claims are true. Notarial certificates of birth, death, marriage, divorce, no criminal record and pre-1981 adoptions are, at best, secondary evidence of the events they purport to document. Although these certificates are secondary evidence, they are used because primary evidence is not standardized, is easily forged, and difficult to evaluate. Notarial certificates are easier to interpret than primary evidence and theoretically represent an expert judgment on the part of the notarial official as to the facts documented.

[RandyW 149]

These are just a couple of examples

Birth Certificate Unobtainable

Trouble obtaining birth certificate in China

Both were resolved, apparently by supplying the information required by the hukou.

As far as I am aware, the U.S. consulate has NOT changed any requirements regarding the birth certificates - the requirements are made by the Chinese authorities. That is to say, once you have the white book format birth certificate issued by the Gong Zheng Chu to local Chinese standards, you have every reason to believe it WILL be accepted by the consulate, regardless.

[Pitaya 2,577]

RandyW, that is interesting info, thanks. I hope that it will be able to help some folks on their visa journey, Chinese style.