Getting Married in China - What You Need to Know

Getting married to a Chinese partner is very straightforward and doesn't require enormous amounts of effort or expenditure. Here's a simple guide to tying the knot in the Middle Kingdom.

You need to be aware that though China theoretically allows two foreign nationals to get married on its soil, it is almost impossible to complete the paperwork to do so. So if neither of you is a local, you'll be better off planning a wedding in a more accepting location.

If you are looking at marrying a Chinese national though - here's the process.

Notary Public

First stop is to visit a notary public, wherever you can find one. I flew back to London because I wanted to conduct the whole process in the UK rather than in Saudi where I was living at the time, but you can find a notary public in almost any city if you look.

Once you find one, you'll need to swear (with legal penalties for falsifying your statement) that either you have never been married and are legally unrestricted to marry, or that you have been married and are now divorced legally and have no barriers to marriage.

The notary will then document this and stamp the paperwork to certify your testimony.

It's not expensive I paid about $100 US for the service.

Foreign Office

Then you need to take the paperwork to your foreign office (in the UK this is in Milton Keynes) or your embassy (if you are resident in another country and don't wish to return home - but only if you are legally resident, tourist visas won't do it) and have them stamp the paperwork to say that you've been to a recognised notary.

Again this isn't expensive and I paid around $80 US for this.

Chinese Embassy

Finally in terms of preparation you need to take your paperwork to the Chinese embassy and have them certify it, this step is more time consuming than the others (it took 3 days as opposed to same day turnaround for the other steps) but also comes in quite cheap at around $80 US. They'll also translate your paperwork into Chinese so that it can be understood when you come to get married.

Once you have the paperwork stamped by all three, you're good to go. Head to China, make sure you have the paperwork and copies of your divorce certificates (if necessary) and then have your partner provide their national ID card, divorce certificates (if necessary) and their hukou (national identity document/living permit) and head to the capital city of the province they come from (not where they live).

Registry Office

All Chinese marriages take place in registry offices, though some religious minorities will also have a celebration in their place of worship afterward (note: all religions are a minority in China). There's no need to book in advance, just turn up on the day with your papers (on exceptionally busy days you may be asked to come the next day but that's rare).

It will be just you and your partner, family don't come to the marriage itself nor do friends. You will sit and wait to be called, then you will have your photographs taken (cost 20 RMB - about $4 US), enter another room and fill in two forms (identical but one needs to be completed by you and one by your partner - in practice my wife and I filled in our own details on each other's forms as I can't write Chinese and while she can write English it was more convenient to get me to do it, while she wrote on my form) and then you're married.

If you're lucky, and I was, there will also be a notary public somewhere in the building who can translate the marriage papers into English and certify them for you.

Getting married in China is a very simple process, though a somewhat unromantic one compared to Western traditions. Follow these simple steps and everything should go smoothly. Please note though that these steps conform to Chinese law (the country is a signatory to the Hague convention on marriage) and you will need to check whether they conform to the laws of your own country too.