1. The Ministry of Interior (hereinafter referred to as “the Ministry”) has formulated these regulations to facilitate the household registration offices’ processing of marriage registration, and to respond to the amendment made to Article 982 of the Civil Code promulgated on May 23, 2007. which requires the registration of marriage.
2. Those who apply for marriage registration shall be both parties to a marriage, starting from May 23, 2008.
If the parties to a marriage were married before May 22, 2008 (including May 22, 2008) or their marriage has already taken effect, either party to the said marriage may apply for marriage registration.
3. The household registration office shall process marriage registration according to the following requirements. In the event that an applicant authorizes another person to apply for the marriage registration, approval from the household registration office shall be obtained in pursuant to Paragraph Two of Article 47 of the Household Registration Act.
(1) If both parties or either party to a marriage have/has current household registration or had household registration before in the Republic of China and the parties were married within the territory of the Republic of China, the parties may apply to any household registration office for marriage registration.
(2) If both parties or either party to a marriage have/has current household registration or had household registration before in the Republic of China and were married overseas, the parties may submit the relevant documents and apply to the overseas embassies, representative offices, economic and cultural offices of the Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the “Diplomatic Mission”) or agencies established in Hong Kong and Macau by the Executive Yuan or the designated organizations or entrusted civil organizations by the Executive Yuan for authentication. The authenticated document will be forwarded to the household registration office of the applicant’s place of domicile or the household registration office of the applicant’s last place of domicile before the last moving-out registration, or alternatively the applicant may apply in person to any household registration office for marriage registration.
(3) If both parties have never had household registration in the Republic of China and were married in the Republic of China, the parties may apply to any household registration office for marriage registration. In the event that the said parties were married overseas, they may apply to the Diplomatic Mission or agencies established in Hong Kong and Macau by the Executive Yuan or the designated organizations or entrusted civil organizations by the Executive Yuan for authentication by submitting the relevant documents. The authenticated documents will be forwarded to the household registration office designated by the central competent authority, or alternatively the applicant may apply in person to any household registration office for marriage registration.
In the event that a party to a marriage suffers a serious illness, which requires hospitalization or intensive home care, or is taken in at a correction agency, which prevents the said party from applying for marriage registration in person, the party may apply to the household registration office of the place of the medical institution, the party’s place of residence or the place of the correction agency to book a date for marriage registration. The aforementioned household registration office shall appoint its staff to the designated place on the date of registration, and bring back all marriage related documents after the parties express their intention to get married and complete the marriage registration on the same day. In the event that the party makes application to a household registration office for marriage registration other than those specified above, the household registration office, which receives the application may request the household registration office of the place of the medical institution, the party’s place of residence or the place of the correction agency to help authenticate the facts. The authenticating household registration office, after verifying the facts, shall transmit all relevant documents to the household registration office in charge of the application on the same day in order for the latter to process the marriage registration, and moreover deliver the original documents by letter to the household registration office in charge of the application for filing within three days.
4. The parties to a marriage are required to apply to the household registration office for marriage registration in person on the day of marriage registration. In the event that the parties cannot visit the household registration office on the day of marriage in person, the parties may apply to the household registration office for marriage registration by designating a date of marriage registration within three days before the designated date of marriage registration. The household registration office shall complete the marriage registration on the designated date. The aforementioned date of marriage registration is not limited to the working days defined by the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration of the Executive Yuan.
5. The household registration office shall check the following certificates before processing marriage registration:
(1) Identity certificate:
1. If the parties to a marriage have current household registration, their national identification cards, stamps (or signatures), household certificates and their respective 2-inch upper body, facing the camera color photo taken in last 2 years shall be checked. If the parties’ marriage is effective by getting married overseas and they authorize another person to apply for marriage registration, the authorization form authenticated by the Diplomatic Mission or agencies established in Hong Kong and Macau by the Executive Yuan or by the designated organizations or entrusted civil organizations by the Executive Yuan, the national identification card as well as signature or seal of the authorized agent (that is, the authorized person stated in the authorized form) shall be checked.
2. If the parties to a marriage had household registration before or have never had household registration in the Republic of China, their passports or the resident certificates issued by the National Immigration Agency of the Ministry in accordance with the law shall be checked.
(2) Marriage certificate
1. If the parties to a marriage were married within the territory of the Republic of China, their marriage certificate (refer to Attachment 1 for format) shall be checked. The aforementioned certificate shall state both parties’ full name, date of birth, national identification number (passport number or alien resident certificate number), address of the registered household (address of overseas place of residence) with the signing or stamping by two or more witnesses.
2. If the marriage takes effect overseas, the supporting document and the Chinese translation of the marriage certificate or the marriage registration with the local government which is authenticated by the Diplomatic Mission or agencies established in Hong Kong and Macau by the Executive Yuan or by the designated organizations or entrusted civil organizations set by the Executive Yuan shall be checked. If the supporting document or the Chinese translation is noted, “conforming to the law of the place of act,, the supporting documents for the marital status certificate may not be required.
3. If either party to a marriage is a foreign national, the Declaration Form of a Foreign Spouse Adopting a Chinese Name as well as the supporting documents and the Chinese translation of the marital status certificate, which have been authenticated by the Diplomatic Mission shall be checked. The expiry date of the marital status certificate shall be six months after the issuance of the certificate by the original issuing agency. The same shall apply to persons from certain countries promulgated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who have already obtained the alien permanent resident certificate issued by the National Immigration Agency of the Ministry.
4. Except as otherwise stipulated in Item Three, if a Republic of China national marries a person from certain countries promulgated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the registration of marriage shall be first completed in the country of the foreign spouse. The parties shall prepare all marriage certificates and apply to the Diplomatic Mission for an interview. The parties shall then apply to the household registration office of the Republic of China for marriage registration with the marriage certificate authenticated by the Diplomatic Mission. If an applicant cannot produce the marriage certificate issued by his or her country of origin without fault on the applicant’s part which is authenticated by the Diplomatic Mission and the National Immigration Agency of the Ministry is satisfied that the parties in fact live together or the household administration agency has established that the parties have raised biological children, the requirement for the marriage certificate may be waived.
5. The Chinese translation of the marriage certificate produced overseas shall be authenticated by the Diplomatic Mission or notarized by a notary public in the Republic of China.
6. If a party to a marriage is from Mainland China, the marriage certificate and the Exit & Entry Permit for the Taiwan Area of the Republic of China, which is stamped with “Pass the interview. Please process the marriage registration.” issued by the National Immigration Agency of the Ministry shall be checked. Any document produced in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau shall be authenticated by agencies established in Hong Kong and Macau by the Executive Yuan or by the designated organizations or entrusted civil organizations by the Executive Yuan. The expiry date of the marital status certificate of the Mainland China spouse shall be six months after the certificate is issued by a notary division in Mainland China.
If a person is a Republic of China national who has no household registration or is a stateless person, and is unable to produce a marital status certificate, the written certificate by the person’s two closest relatives to prove that the said person is still single shall be checked. If the supporting document is produced overseas, it shall be authenticated by the Diplomatic Mission.
(3) If a minor gets married, the consent form from the minor’s legal guardian shall be checked.
(4) If the household registration office deems it necessary, it may in writing request the relevant authority to assist in investigating the real marital status of the applicant and providing the information gathered from the investigation. Nonetheless, if it is an urgent situation, the household registration office may adopt other speedier and more efficient measures.
6. Since May 23, 2008, if the parties to a marriage apply for marriage registration according to Article 3, the household registration office may issue the marriage certificate (the format of the application form for the Chinese and English marriage certificate is set out in Attachment 2, and the format of the Chinese and English marriage certificate is set out in Attachment 3) at the same time upon the payment of the fees by the applicant. In the event that the parties to a marriage intend to apply for a marriage certificate after the marriage registration, any household registration office can issue the certificate.
The application for the marriage certificate in the preceding paragraph may be made by another person with proper authorization. If the application is made by an authorized person, the authorization form, and the original identification certificate as well as the signature or seal of the authorized agent (that is, the authorized person stated in the authorization form) shall be checked. The authorization form produced overseas shall be authenticated by the Diplomatic Mission. The authorization form produced in Mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau shall be authenticated by the designated organization established by the Executive Yuan or by the entrusted civil organizations by the Executive Yuan.
7. If the parties to a marriage were married prior to May 22, 2008 and already completed the marriage registration with the household registration office, the parties may apply to any household registration office for a marriage certificate or apply to the original household registration office, which processed their marriage registration for a copy of the marriage supporting documents.