I think this is the best (explanation/what to do) I have ever seen on this forum.
Thanks KAITAIN

 

Hi dandan.

With respect to your income, the line, "6 months statements of any savings/bonds/ISAs you have " is your friend. Put together an asset/liability account, with copies of title deeds for all your properties and other long-term investments. Detail exactly what income you take from this, and clarify how long it would take to liquidate an asset in your explanatory letter. The ECO is not interested in seeing that you're wealthy so much as that you have sufficient to support 2 people without reverting to benefits.

A rough guide is about £200 - £300 per calendar month as disposable income once rent, food and bills are deducted - you and the ECO can be sure then that, in the event your wife doesn't work (as mine hasn't) you can adequately support both with good accounting and lifestyle changes. This is similar to the amount it would take to get a mortgage approved.

With respect to the Statutory Declaration, I think you need to have your wife contact the Marriage with Foreigners Bureau in her district to find out what they will accept. Each Province has slightly different laws, and what's good for Jiangsu might not be good for others.

Good luck!

 

Great to see you back Kaitain.
As you can see I still use that post of yours as the reference

 

Thanks, Triple H. I still look in from time to time when I've a free moment. My wife's just delivered us a son (2 days ago) so internet time is not very available right now.

 

"My wife's just delivered us a son (2 days ago)"


:bounce: :beertoast: :bounce:

Congrats!!!

 

Re: Showing income for Visa Application in china to come to

Hi guys, I stumbled across this whilst surfing for "marrying in China" because that's what I'm trying to do. Had a lot of conflicting information, perhaps someone can help me sort it out!
Documents mentioned, in various places:-
- Certificate of No Impediment (from UK or China?)
- Single Status Certificate (what's this?)
- Statutory Declaration (as sworn in front of UK solicitor)
- Marital Status certificate (from UK registrar - takes 21 days)

all in addition to the Decree and Passport.

I've been informed that the local rules (in China) vary by province, or even by which office you use within a province, but have been advised that for Guangzhou I don't need anything from the UK registrar - anyone know if that's correct?!

 

Re: documents

Many thanks dandan, When you say that's the easy part, are you implying that the future visa for my future (Chinese) wife will be the difficult part?
If I am in a stable job (I am) and am a house owner (I am) then surely it won't be too much of a problem?

 

Re: documents

Both are actually easy if you've done your preparation.

If you have a satisfactory income and a place to live, which it sounds like you do, then the focus of your work should be on providing proof of your relationship: how you do this depends on how you met and how you have communicated, but is simple in the case of genuine relationships.

That's not correct: bigamy is illegal in China, so in all districts they require proof that you are not married.

 

Does this mean you're married, now?

If so, **congratulations**

 

Sure. We are hoping to do the marrying part in late August/ early September, then the visa after that. Wonder when it will all be done!?

Just looking back at the top post from TripleH / Kaitain and it said "Money - about 4500 RMB". Well, the latest information I have is that the visa is now RMB 8,000 Yuan. Plus another 8,000 if the bride has any children to bring with her!

 

Wow... double the price in only 1 year!

4500RMB is about £300, and was the £260 visa fee plus a handling fee. I assume that the FCO have boosted their recommended settlement visa fee to close to £500?

 

dandan, Kaitain and others:
Perhaps you can help me with a related issue: When getting married, what are the Chinese conventions regarding presents and payments to either new wife or her family? This may sound like a strange question - I've been to China a few times but it's still hard for an English person to fully understand matters like these. All help appreciated!

 

Dowry is usually paid.
I dont have first hand experince, probably Kaitain and Dandan are more familiar with the local customs

http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&rlz=1 ... hina&meta=

 

There are variations by region - in my wife's hometown, dowry is
not paid in any form: in fact the grooms parents give the bride a small financial gift. In her hometown it is normal for the groom's family to foot the bill for the wedding (there were a number of weddings on, so I got to compare notes with other grooms - we chose autumn equinox, which is v. auspicious).

Because I'm a foreigner and the marital home is not in China, a hotel had to serve for "home". This made a number of the rituals, such as the bed dressing, meaningless. So we didn't do them. Because my parents didn't meet my in-laws until well after the wedding, there was no betrothal ritual. Additionally, the post-wedding meal was contracted to being the following day rather than three days hence so that my folks got time to visit Beijing. We had a small technical difficulty with the idea that pregnant women shouldn't participate in the wedding ceremony, too

Basically you should ask your wife/betrothed what the customs in her district are and just do them. This includes what and how much to give.