Chinese Notary Certificates & Tokyo Embassy

[Dave&Aya 0]

We submitted Birth and Divorce certificates in the form of Chinese Notary Certificates, obtained by the local city in China. Along with these were certified translations in the format prescribed by the USCIS and NVC and Tokyo Embassy.

The Tokyo Embassy responded with this rejection:

We have received original notarial birth certificate and divorce certificate issued by the China’s Notarial Office. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept these documents as required documents of immigrant visa. Because all Chinese documentation to be used abroad is processed through the notary offices and issued in the form of notarial certificates, which contains total 4 pages. The first page is Chinese Certificate, the second page is the translation of first page, the third page is to certify the translation of first page in Chinese and the fourth page is the translation of third page. Please obtain the correct format of your wife’s birth certificate and police certificate send to us in order for further processing your case.

Has anybody else gone through this? The Chinese Notary Office doesn't know what is required, even after being shown the request from the Tokyo embassy. The Tokyo Embassy web site does not mention this requirement anywhere.

I tried including links to the NVC and USCIS and Tokyo Embassy requirements, but this forum system prohibits new users from being that helpful.

Again, we provided the original Certified Notary Certificates (which ONLY had the Chinese version inside of them) and we also supplied a Certified Translation, done by a translator in the US, and that included the required certification language and signature.

What can we do to meet the needs of the Tokyo Embassy?

Edited October 30, 2012 by FOC-NRT-SEA

[Pitaya 2,577]

We submitted Birth and Divorce certificates in the form of Chinese Notary Certificates, obtained by the local city in China. Along with these were certified translations in the format prescribed by the USCIS and NVC and Tokyo Embassy.

The Tokyo Embassy responded with this rejection:

We have received original notarial birth certificate and divorce certificate issued by the China’s Notarial Office. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept these documents as required documents of immigrant visa. Because all Chinese documentation to be used abroad is processed through the notary offices and issued in the form of notarial certificates, which contains total 4 pages. The first page is Chinese Certificate, the second page is the translation of first page, the third page is to certify the translation of first page in Chinese and the fourth page is the translation of third page. Please obtain the correct format of your wife’s birth certificate and police certificate send to us in order for further processing your case.

The document that they describe sounds exactly like the "Notarial Certificate" (AKA White Book) type of documents (Birth cert., divorce decree, school transcript, etc) that we had to have to present to the US consulate in Guangzhou. They were accepted without a problem.

Has anybody else gone through this? The Chinese Notary Office doesn't know what is required, even after being shown the request from the Tokyo embassy. The Tokyo Embassy web site does not mention this requirement anywhere.

I tried including links to the NVC and USCIS and Tokyo Embassy requirements, but this forum system prohibits new users from being that helpful.

Again, we provided the original Certified Notary Certificates (which ONLY had the Chinese version inside of them) and we also supplied a Certified Translation, done by a translator in the US, and that included the required certification language and signature. The Notarial Certificates (White Books) we provided had the four pages exactly described above by the embassy, NOT a separate translation done somewhere else. That may indeed may be where you are having your issue.

What can we do to meet the needs of the Tokyo Embassy?

Welcome to the forum.

Check the stickie at the top of the China regional forum for a list of Chinese Marriage Visa Terms and Definitions for more info.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/94-china/

Good luck on your immigration journey.

Edited October 30, 2012 by A&B

[bigdog 376]

Welcome to the forum.

Check the stickie at the top of the China regional forum for a list of Chinese Marriage Visa Terms and Definitions for more info.

http://www.visajourn...forum/94-china/

Good luck on your immigration journey.

[Darnell 8,479]

these are called 'white books' in our loose nomenclature here at VJ.

Here's a thread with info:

white books - http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/228853-notarial-birth-certificate/

basically, find a human that's listed in yer wife's hukuo book,

or more importantly, someone in China that lists HER in THEIR Hukuo book,

and have another stab at it. That human can handle all of it for yer wife, in China.

fwiw, this is the 'format' that Guangzhou IV expects, is very common for the US Consulate/IV Unit in Guangzhou, handling immigrant visa applications. I'm guessing that the folk in Tokyo were stumped, called Guangzhou, who sent them a copy of a recent white book with an explanation.

this 'local Chinese notary office' in her city, whilst confused, may still be helpful. Ask them WHERE to get a notarial translation of the document that their office issued, for immigration purposes. Many times it's just ONE office in the district or in the province that handles the creation of the white book. My wife got really lucky, that office is 2 km from her house and the head boss is a remote cousin on her dad's side.

Good Luck !

Edited October 31, 2012 by Darnell

[Dave&Aya 0]

We did previously obtain the "White Book" versions of the Birth Certificate, Police Certificate, and Divorce Certificate. Those were the correct, official ones from the city.

We had those translated in the United States and we submitted a "Certified Translation" with the certification required by the USCIS and NVC.

So, Tokyo has the "White Books" and the Certified Translations.

Even though they have those in hand they are asking for the "4-page" Notary Certificates. (See the original post at the top of this thread.)

We don't know what Tokyo means by this, or what we are to do. We showed the Tokyo request (again, top posting of this thread) to the city Notary office in China and they were confused by it. The China Notary office said that they don't know about any "4-page" version and that the standard "White Book" is what they always supply. They agreed that they could add an English translation and bind that into the White Book. But that would still not quite be this "4-page" version.

Has anybody heard of the "4-page" Notary Certificate, or have they been requested by Tokyo similarly?

[Darnell 8,479]

the white book I reference contains exactly what the IV Unit in Tokyo is spewing on about.

Please review the white book thread from the link I posted earlier ?

fwiw, the version of the white book that I am referencing, requires NO TRANSLATION into English, as an English Translation is already in there, as well as a Notarized Statement from an Official Gov Translator stating that the translation is complete and accurate.

Edited November 1, 2012 by Darnell