Chinese Marriage Notarization Certificate

To process a marriage certificate notarization in China, which certifies your marital status as married, single, divorced, or widowed, primarily for purposes like family visits abroad, settlement, or marriage, it involves different marital scenarios. The marriage must be recognized under Chinese law, such as officially registered marriages or traditional forms of marriage from earlier times. Here’s what you need to prepare:

1. ID cards and household registration books of you and your spouse. If the household registration has been canceled, you need to obtain a certificate from the local police station where the household registration was previously recorded.
2. Your marriage certificate and photocopies, along with photographs of both of you.
3. If someone else is handling the process on your behalf, you need to provide a power of attorney and the agent’s ID documents.

A few important notes:

• If you’ve lost your marriage certificate, you need to obtain a “Spousal Relationship Certificate” from the marriage registration authority, as per the regulations of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, for the notarization.
• For de facto marriages that are not officially registered, you must officially register the marriage before you apply for notarization.
• For marriages conducted according to traditional customs, you can process notarization if you can verify the marriage.
• Chinese students who got married abroad and wish to have their marriage notarized in China must provide their foreign marriage certificate for the notary office to proceed with the notarization.

These materials are for reference only. Since the conditions of different applicants and the requirements of different provinces and cities vary, you should first prepare these basic materials. Then, based on your specific situation, consult us further. This will make our communication simpler and more efficient.