China birth certificate not available

[rogerj 0]

Well, another question to the group. We need a birth certificate for Hui & son. We have spent the past two days calling, texting, e-mailing, and asking everyone we know to ask, how and where do we obtain a birth certificate for her and her son. We asked the local police, who referred us to the district police station where she was born, who said no records availale so go to the hospital. She was born at home, not in a hospital. We went to the hospital where her son was born, and were told that records are purged after 10 years (he is 12). We contacted the Notary Public offices (who advertise the ability to provide birth certificates), and were told that their only service was to "certify" existing documents.

Is it possible that in the 9th largest city in China (Changsha), these documents are not available? Does anyone know where we can get them?

Thepacket 3 instructions from GUZ consulate say that there is a way to document "no birth certificate available". Their instrucitons are not actually clear on who is authorized to create this.

HELP PLEASE!

Roger & Hui

[Stephen + Elisha 92]

moving to Embassy and Consulate Discussion (you may wish to post in the China regional forum as well)

[Darnell 8,478]

How very strange.

This is common issue in China - but (supposedly ) is easy to handle -

ya go to the office that registered her hukuo book, and they can issue the birth certificate.

[Darnell 8,478]

Is her hukuo (family registration book ) registered in Changsha? If NOT - she'll need to go to the city where it IS registered, and she can obtain the birth certificates from the hukuo office in that 'other' city.

Sorry you got the run-around - but it really can be issued by the hukuo registration office - it's done ALL THE TIME - is a common thing.

A word of caution though - DON'T GO WITH HER to the hukuo registration office, or they will figure out a way to charge EXTRA for the certificates.

Once she has the originals, get over to a Chinese Notarial Office for Translations - have a few sets made of each birth cetificate - she'll need at least 3 - 1) visa paperwork 2) any AOS paperwork 3) other stuff in the USA.

Good Luck !

Edited October 27, 2009 by Darnell

[rogerj 0]

Help! Hui does not speak English well, and I do not speak Chinese. We use translation programs to communicate.

What office issues the hukuo? She keeps insisting the local police station (who told us no). Where do we go?

[pushbrk 12,107]

Help! Hui does not speak English well, and I do not speak Chinese. We use translation programs to communicate.

What office issues the hukuo? She keeps insisting the local police station (who told us no). Where do we go?

Here is is in Chinese characters. First take the family book 户口本 to one office to obtain a paper, then take that paper to the Notarial office. (Gong Zheng Chu)

带着你的户口本和身份证到你所居住社区的居委会开一张出生证明,然后带着户口本,身份证和出生证明到公证处办理出生公证.

[rogerj 0]

THANKS! Now she understands!!! We go this afternoon to get the document!

[Darnell 8,478]

Yee Haw !! GoGoGadget Hukuo !!!!

Good Luck !!

[rogerj 0]

Well.... Yesterday, we spent an hour on the bus to travel across town (large city, Changsha) to the Municipal offices. We asked the guard at the door where to get the birth certificate. He sent us upstairs to one of the desks. The girl there said no, we must go downstairs to another desk, where in turn, we were sent back upstairs to yet another desk. All told, we were referred to 5 different desks. At the fifth desk, there was no worker. So the nice young man two desks away, came over and tried his best to assist us. He gave us two diffeerent phone numbers, and Hui called them (the absent worker was at home?). Only to find out that we could not get a birth certificate because she was born at home, and no one at the municipal offices is "authorized" to create one. During our 1.25 hour bus ride back across the city, Hui called an aunt, who said simply "get the parents to make a sworn statement, then notarize it, then translate it". This is the intent of the provision of "no birth certificate available" (smart aunt, I wonder how she knew this?)...

So today, this was completed rather quickly.

Thanks everyone, for your attempts to help us! My advice for others in Changsha (possibly other China cities), it appears from my experience that unless there is a hospital record of a birth, there will not be a birth certificate.

Roger & Hui

PS: We were originally introduced through a local marriage agency. We have friends that work at the agency, friends that worked there in the past, and are even somewhat friends with the owner. We inquired, and they all agreed, that her birth in the home so many years ago would not have initiated any credible birth record, so the sworn affadavit supported by copies of her other documents stating her birth date, is our only course of action. We were also told that one of the main reasons for the birth certificate is to prove her parentage, in case her parents ever seek visa's to America.

[Darnell 8,478]

Does your wife and her son have passports yet? I pray you don't have the same size of hurdles to jump through !

[rogerj 0]

Yes, passport is valid.