China birth certificate or lack there of!

[RandyW 149]

So, we have a paper. I am hoping this will be enough, if not, we will go back to fighting them on this. We showed them the Hukou book, and the paper we got from her home town. What they gave us is a Notarized paper that says this.

Page one: Fangfang (ID #123456789) is the 4th daughter of her mom and dad (by name). She lived in her home town until (date), she left her home town because she was married.

Page two: Fangfang (ID #123456789) was born on (date)

I really hope it is good enough, it has all the relevant information, but it is called "Notarial Certificate" instead of "Notarial Certificate of Birth".

Fingers crossed this is enough.

Thanks for all the input. Randy, the example Certificate in your link was probably the key. It is what got us saying Notarial Certificate of Birth, instead of Birth Certificate. Those are two very different things in China. Lesson learned on that, miscommunication at it finest. sigh... lol

I thank you as well - there is a GREAT deal of confusion regarding the "birth certificates", and this experience will hopefully help cut through some of that in the future.

Even if it is deemed NOT "enough", I think it will demonstrate that you went to the right place and asked for the right thing - and that it was the best you could get. And I'll bet that THAT WILL be enough!

[Jon and Fangfang 5]

So, we had the interview yesterday in Guangzhou. Unfortunately all the work we did to get that paper I described was not enough. In fact, I have never heard of someone being as rude as the Chinese lady that was checking all of my wife's documents. She literally didn't look up to see if my wife was giving her the right papers or not, and was of no help at all sorting through anything. So, here are some bullet points.

• First, they will not let me in with my wife. I even called USCIS for help and they just said no. I explained that my wife speaks English, but won't be able to read all the documents and find what is being asked for. They told me don't worry, that is common and the counter people will help to find the right documents. FYI, I had everything in clear envelopes and labeled in one 3 ring binder.
• The counter people that were supposed to be "helpful" spent most of the conversation insulting my wife and telling her she was to slow in finding all the documents.
• They asked for "Affidavit of Support" instead of form I-184. I had it labeled I-184, so my wife wasn't sure what they wanted. When my wife asked if that was the right form, the lady responded "this is your interview, not mine, so you tell me if that is the right form." I am sure the lady couldn't have been that mean, but I also doubt my wife is exaggerating to much on it. Anyway, they didn't take this, so now I have to send it via courier. Frustrating, but whatever at this point. We will send it.
• I had our paper that said the date of birth, city of birth and both of my wife's parents names on it. The lady looked at it and said it is useless, she will only accept "Notarized Certificate of Birth" My wife explained they have the same information, but that only made the lady more angry.

On the plus side.

• My wife said the US man that actually did the interview was very nice. Asked her several questions, and said thank you for each answer or proof via pictures/documents we provided.
• The IO told my wife we need to provide the I-184 and the "Notarized Certificate of Birth" and gave us a paper that explained what each one is in Chinese. We are using that paper to go to my wife's home town again today and she the bureaucrats there exactly what we need, and that it does indeed exist. lol Since they told us they have never heard of it before and so they won't do it. My wife said she asked the IO three different times if he was sure that all we needed is those two forms. He said yes, it is sure, send those two forms via courier and they would tell us what to do next. I am hoping that is just send the passport via courier and we are done. But, we'll see, I am not holding my breath on anything anymore.

All I can say is, never give up. While this one rude lady probably is forcing us to do something unneeded, we will just do it and move on. Hopefully in a month this is all history and we will be finished.

Thanks for all your help to this point, I'll update again once my wife gets or doesn't get her "Notarized Certificate of Birth" from her home town.

Jon

[人肉的渣 你妈死了 1]

Sorry for what has happened to you. I was having some difficulties in getting the notarized birth certificate as well cuz my mom didn't keep an biological birth certificate and it was with wither the hospital/police office back in my hometown, which is far from I grew up and my parents live (Wuxi). So we ended up having a certificate from Wuxi police office where my parents' Hukou is, certifying that I was their daughter. Also with a "certificate of the only child" 独生子女证 which she was able to get from the Wuxi police office, and we took all the documents to notary office in Shanghai cuz that's where my hukou is and was able to get it notarized. Hope it helps.

[Jon and Fangfang 5]

Thanks rxh241. Unfortunately the Chinese lady in Guangzhou didn't seem interested in the paper we got that said my wife's data or birth, city of birth and both of here parents name. It also included my wife's Chinese ID number. The lady just threw it back at my wife and told her "what is this? This is not what I asked for." My wife is meeting with Suzhou police today, and then will head back to her home town next week to try and get the correct document. If she can't get it, then I will submit the same paper again, and hope that we get someone in Guangzhou that is in a little better mood. lol It has all the proper information and more, I don't understand why the title of the document is more important than the actual information in the document.

Quick question for anyone. Is their any negative ramifications from me submitting the document I got that lists DOB, City of Birth, ID number and parents names again? Obviously it would cost me time if they reject it again, but is their a penalty for doing it? I am not trying to trick them, I just honestly believe we will never get the properly titled document from her home town. The guy there said he never heard of this before, and told us the one he gave us is better and is enough. Guangzhou lady disagreed. Her hometown also refuses to give us a written document that says they will not give us the document we are asking for.

Thanks again,

Jon

[RandyW 149]

Thanks rxh241. Unfortunately the Chinese lady in Guangzhou didn't seem interested in the paper we got that said my wife's data or birth, city of birth and both of here parents name. It also included my wife's Chinese ID number. The lady just threw it back at my wife and told her "what is this? This is not what I asked for." My wife is meeting with Suzhou police today, and then will head back to her home town next week to try and get the correct document. If she can't get it, then I will submit the same paper again, and hope that we get someone in Guangzhou that is in a little better mood. lol It has all the proper information and more, I don't understand why the title of the document is more important than the actual information in the document. Quick question for anyone. Is their any negative ramifications from me submitting the document I got that lists DOB, City of Birth, ID number and parents names again? Obviously it would cost me time if they reject it again, but is their a penalty for doing it? I am not trying to trick them, I just honestly believe we will never get the properly titled document from her home town. The guy there said he never heard of this before, and told us the one he gave us is better and is enough. Guangzhou lady disagreed. Her hometown also refuses to give us a written document that says they will not give us the document we are asking for. Thanks again, Jon

You need to document your efforts - names and title, what office, dates, what you asked for, and what you were told.

The notarial birth certificate 出生公证书, or chu sheng gong zheng shu IS what is required. If they are refusing to issue this for you, you need to provide enough information to the consulate so they can contact them directly.

[Little John 3]

Reading this topic was like the same bad dream I had.  Honestly the Chinese government divisions operate so differently.  Similar to this story, it was planes, trains and automobiles; then we found out how to do it.  This was Guizhou, Lioning, Jiangsu, and ZheJiang  Providence so I would not guarantee it would be the same for all.

 The method that finally worked for the birth record, first went to Notary office in Guiyan, Guizhou.  The notary give us a form to be filed out for birth record. We then traveled to her home town and met the local notary. From this point, we had to get her mother and father to come to the local notary with their ID and Houku. Then the village notary filed out the paper and put his seal. (if a document in china don't have a round red stamp its no good). We then traveled back to the Guiyang notary to give paper, Houku, Passport, ID....then they finally did it with no issue.

Keep in mind this process was typical with everything.  Police records, same thing city Houku register is in.  Divorce/marriage papers, the city that the divorce/marriage took place. So needless to say i got a tour of china and everywhere she ever lived.

Here is a list of Notary Paper (White Book) that we got, granted we did all this at the notary office because their translation and documentation was more respected.

Divorce Decree, Our Marriage books, Her Houku, my sons birth certificate (even though he had a CBRA),  Previous name certificate.

The funny thing on the previous name, during a census they misspelled her name and it went on public record. We found out at the last minute when I was reviewing the translations and asked why it was different.......off to the races again. 

 

Anyway for anyone out there reading, this process is grueling. I hear people say they have problems and some that say they don't.......me and obviously the originator of this post had the bad experience.