| I got married to a Shanghai woman about month ago and have now experienced the importance of HuKou. They pretty much checked it everywhere where we needed to show the marriage book. The funny thing is that to get a spouse visa to EU is not that difficult but to get the documentation that my wife really is Chinese is taking couple of weeks and several trips to different offices. In general I'm finding out that the local government really doesn't know much about their citizens, only the local offices do and even they rely on the people to show their HuKou. If I understand right my wife's data will be added to my home country's database by the consulate and when they input her name in the visa application a visa sticker will be printed out automatically. I have a US passport and that didn't cause any problem but I will need to get a EU ID card when I go back home so that I don't need to carry my passport everywhere in EU. China still needs lot of work on their HuKou system which I'm now part of it seems. I can work in EU and USA but not in China unless I get a work visa, but I can still stay here as a family member of my wife (L-Visa). In US they want you to have the Social Security# and Green Card as soon as possible so they can start collect taxes and fees, and track what you are doing. |
Hukou System in China