Question

Asked by Liz from usa | Aug. 11, 2015 01:23

About:Marriage Registration in China

Is it more efficient for two U.S. Citizens to get married in China verses Hong Kong?

We are not able to head back to California for a Marriage license at the moment so we have decided to get one in Shanghai where we both work and reside. We also want to combine or shift my visa onto the more stable residence permit, hence the rush. We recently heard that it is better and more legit to obtain our marriage certificate in HK as there's less paperwork and the marriage certificate is in both English and Chinese which will require less fussy notaries in the future. Is it possible to obtain a U.S. Marriage license as well once we move back to the states? It it better to get married in HK verses Shanghai?

Reply

Answers (2)

Answered by David | Aug. 13, 2015 04:02

0 0 Reply

Liz, I personally think it's better to get married in Hong Kong. The process is simpler and you don't have to provide the single-status certificate issued by the US embassy. However, when you get back to America, you can't apply for a US marriage book because you are already married by then.

0 0 Reply

Answered by Liz | Aug. 13, 2015 08:37

0 0 Reply

Hi David, thanks for replying! We actually asked the U.S. Consulate and they said that the U.S. does not recognize marriages in China so technically we can get married in PRC as well as U.S. Thus making it convenient to use either marriage license in each country respectively. Getting married in PRC is actually quite simple and can literally be done in two hours since we both have residence permits, no health check certificate is necessary either. True, it's a bit of a hassle to go to the consulate for the single status certificate but then you only need to go to the marriage bureau afterwards and voila, you're married in China.

0 0 Reply

See more answers...

Related Questions: