How to get replacement Chinese Birth Certificate if no longer a Chinese citizen? No national ID (身份证)

[rootlessExponent 0]

Greetings to all, I hope you are well,

 

tldr: My wife no longer has her Chinese Birth certificate and is no longer a Chinese citizen, and she never had a National ID, so we are struggling to get a Notarial Birth Certificate to satisfy the State Department requirements for a Green Card. What can we do?

 

DETAILS

My British-Chinese wife and I are in the process Consular Processing to obtain an IR1 visa (green card, post 2 years marriage). Our I-130 was approved by the Department of Homeland Security and we have moved on to working through the State Department National Visa Center (NVC). We have nearly all the paperwork needed to file except my wife no longer has her Birth Certificate from China. Apparently, this was lost at the British embassy in Beijing decades ago when she and family immigrated England in the 90s, when my wife was 10 years old.

 

According to the State Department's Civil Document reciprocity schedule for China, my wife needs a Notarial Birth Certificate (Gong Zheng Shu: 公证书) from the Local Notary Public Office (Gong Zheng Chu: 公证处).

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/China.html

 

We have attempted to hire a Taobao agent (www.taobao.com) to handle the matter of procuring a Notarial Birth Certificate (Gong Zheng Shu: 公证书) and were told that we need the following documents:

• Hukou (户口)
• Single Child Certificate (独生子女证)
• The marriage certificate of my wife's parents -- to establish a familiar relationship -- (父母结婚证)
• National ID/Resident ID Card (身份证)

 

We have everything listed above except the National ID (身份证) because my wife left China at 10 years old, before turning 16, so never had one issued. Furthermore, she is no longer a Chinese citizen so there is no chance that see can get a National ID (身份证) now. The three Taobao agents we spoke with say they cannot help us. We really do not know what to do at this point.

 

Is it not possible to get a Notarial Birth Certificate (Gong Zheng Shu: 公证书) because she is not a citizen with a National lD? That does not seem right. I'm sure more complicated cases have been resolved then ours so there must be away through this beureacratic mess.

If it is not possible, how do I get a notarized statement from the Chinese government saying they will not issue a Notarial Birth Certificate (Gong Zheng Shu: 公证书), so I can demonstrate good faith effort to the State Department and send in that "its hopeless" document instead?

 

Has anybody on this forum ever had to struggle with replacing a birth certificate as a former citizen/resident of China or know someone who has conquered this challenge? What should we do?

 

Thank You for time and consideration.

[RandyW 149]

I don't think that the National ID is required, especially for someone who was never issued one. The  (Gong Zheng Shu: 公证书) is issued from the information in the hukou. I suspect that the Taobao agents simply don't want to bother with someone who was never issued a Chinese passport or ID.

 

 You can contact the Notarial Office, or Gong Zheng Chu (公证处) yourself (use Google to find the Gong Zheng Chu in her home city (where the hukou is registered), or you can hire a Western-friendly law firm to do it for you.
 

Google 上海公证处, substituting the name of her home city.

 

See also https://lawandborder.com/china-birth-certificate/

 

Sample application for documents (your province or hukou may vary):

https://bjfy.egongzheng.com/flagship/online//bid/notary.html?notaryCode=223

 - or -

https://www.gongzheng.gov.cn/article/315

 

Be sure to DOCUMENT your efforts ( take names, phone numbers, phone call summaries, offices and law firms contacted etc.) in case your efforts are ultimately unsuccessful. NO ONE will issue a "notarized statement  . . . saying they will not issue a Notarial Birth Certificate". But you CAN submit your own documentation of your efforts,.

 

Edited August 20, 2023 by RandyW

[sseitiess 0]

Did you eventually sort this out? If so, how? I am in a similar situation, so it would be really helpful if you could share your experience!

Edited January 12 by sseitiess