How to get married (UK national to Chinese national)

• If resident here and you intend to marry a Chinese national, you will need a Certificate of No Impediment (CNI).  You must be resident in China for a minimum of 21 continuous days before making a notice of intention to marry. (The 21 days is counted from your last entry stamp into China, previous stays of 21 days in China are invalid).According to the Marriage Law of the People’s Republic of China, no marriage may be contracted before the man has reached 22 years of age and the woman 20 years of age. (Source link: http://www.novexcn.com/marriage_law.html ).

•  To obtain a CNI, you will need to go to either the Embassy or nearest Consulate, with your passport and your partner’s passport or ID card, complete a notice of intention form and sign an affidavit to state that you are free to marry.  If previously married, then we need to see either a divorce or death certificate.

• The notice will be displayed for a further 21 continuous clear days, starting the following day of application.  If no objection is given, a CNI will be issued in both Chinese and English languages.  By Chinese law you must marry in the place of your fiancé (e)'s hukou.  If their hukou registration is outside the Consular Jurisdiction that you reside in, you will need to contact the local Marriage Bureau in their Province, to find out if they accept the Embassy or Consulate’s paperwork where you made the application.

• The CNI can be obtained in the UK, contact your local registrar's office for further information.  Once the notice has been displayed in the UK, you will have to take the paper to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to have it legalised, and then to the Chinese Embassy/Consulate in the UK for further legalising.

If you need more information about this issue, please see the document Marriage to a Chinese National . 

How to get married (UK marriage to non-Chinese national)

• If two British citizens want to marry, two notices of intentions will have to be displayed and two CNIs will need to be produced, resulting in two fees being charged.

Cohabitation

• We offer cohabitation affidavits. This will allow the partner of a British National to apply for the same visa if the couple are not married.  To do this, both parties have to come into our office with their passports and sign an affidavit stating how long they have lived together. 

• Marriage Deposits with the GRO in the UK

We can arrange for your marriage certificate to be deposited with the General Register Office (GRO) in the United Kingdom. This is not a legal obligation and has no bearing on the validity or otherwise of the marriage. It simply means that you are able to obtain a certified copy of your marriage certificate directly from the GRO, shouldy you need to do so in the future. There is a charge for this service.