Heilongjiang, China’s northernmost province, simplified its procedures for registering foreign-related marriages starting April 1, according to local officials.

Officials said that the Heilongjiang Provincial Civil Affairs Department decentralized the registration process for foreign-related marriages to the various municipal civil affairs bureaus.

The initiative means that couples who want to wed — where one is registered as having permanent residence in Heilongjiang while the other is registered outside the Chinese mainland — now don’t need to register their marriage with the provincial department.

Instead they need to apply at the marriage registration office of the municipal bureau at the local partner’s Heilongjiang household registration location.

Certificates and documents needed for marriage registration

For Chinese citizens:

*Household registration certificate. Note: the marital status on the household register shall be consistent with the actual marital status of the applicant, which shall be single, divorced, or widowed.

* Resident identification card

*Marital status certification issued by the government at the county level or above in the locality where the applicant has his/her residence registration; or by a government department, a school, an institution, or an enterprise at the county level or above which is the applicant’s place of work.

For foreign applicants:

*Applicant’s passport, or identification certificate or nationality certificate

*Residence Permit for Foreigners signed and issued by the public security department, or identification certificate issued by the foreign affairs department, or entry permit and residence permit for foreigners who come to China for a short stay

*Marital status certification issued by the notary office of the applicant's country and confirmed by both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (or a department authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) of the applicant’s country and the Chinese embassy or consulate in the said foreign country; or marital status certification issued by the embassy or consulate of the said foreign country in China.