Home › Guides

Translating a Chinese marriage or divorce certificate

Updated 2026-08-08

A Chinese marriage certificate is short and structurally simple. The problems it causes are not translation problems: they are about which copy you have, what the number encodes, and what the certificate does not prove.

What you are holding

The 结婚证 (Marriage Certificate) is issued by the civil affairs authority at registration, in a small red booklet with the national emblem. Two identical certificates are issued, one to each spouse. Both are originals; neither is a copy of the other.

This surprises reviewers used to a single certificate with a registrar's copy, and it means a filing that needs "the marriage certificate" is satisfied by either booklet — though some institutions ask for both, precisely because they are separate documents in separate hands.

The 离婚证 (Divorce Certificate) follows the same pattern, and is issued only for administrative divorce by agreement. A divorce granted by a court produces a judgment and a mediation statement instead, not a 离婚证, and translating a court judgment is a different job.

Marriage certificate, field by field

The inside also carries the standard printed declaration that the marriage complies with Chinese law — since 1 January 2021, the marriage provisions of the Civil Code. That printed text is part of the document and gets translated.

Divorce certificate, field by field

A divorce by agreement is accompanied by a 离婚协议书 (divorce agreement) covering property and custody. If custody is the point of your filing, the agreement is the document that proves it — the certificate only proves the divorce.

What the certificate does not prove

Worth being explicit, because filings often need what the certificate does not contain.

• It does not prove the marriage is still subsisting. It proves it was registered on that date. Where current status matters, institutions ask for a certificate of marital status or a notarial certificate of marital status.
• It does not contain addresses.
• It does not list children.
• For a single status requirement, the relevant document is a 无婚姻登记记录证明 (certificate of no marriage registration record) or a notarial certificate of single status, not a marriage certificate.

Mistakes that matter

Translating only your own booklet's holder block. Both spouses' details are printed in both booklets. The 持证人 field is what differs. Translate the whole page.

Reformatting the certificate number. J110101-2020-001234 is one string. Removing hyphens or "tidying" it breaks the value a verifier would search.

Rendering 登记日期 as the ceremony date. In China the registration date is the marriage date. There is no separate ceremony record.

Assuming a court divorce has a 离婚证. If the divorce went through a court, there is no certificate — there is a judgment (判决书) or a mediation statement (调解书), each with its own structure and its own case number.

Dropping the embossed seal because it does not photocopy. It is on the document. Describe it.

Seals

[Round red seal: Civil Affairs Bureau of XX District, XX Municipality,
 Marriage Registration Special Seal]
[Blind embossed seal across the photograph]
[Signature] (registrar)

Photographs are described, not reproduced: [Photograph of the couple affixed].

Consistency with the rest of the package

The marriage certificate is usually filed alongside the hukou and the birth certificates of any children. The three have to agree:

• Both spouses' names, in the same romanisation used on their passports.
• Both dates of birth, matching the hukou and the passports.
• The identity card numbers, matching character for character.
• If the hukou shows 已婚 with a registration date, it should not contradict the certificate.

FAQ

Which spouse's certificate should I translate?

Either — they are identical apart from the 持证人 field. If the filing concerns one spouse specifically, translating that spouse's booklet is the natural choice, and if you have both, translating both removes the question entirely.

Does a Chinese marriage certificate need an apostille?

Only if the receiving authority wants the document authenticated. For use abroad the usual route is a notarial certificate of marriage from a Chinese notary office, apostilled — see apostilles on Chinese documents.

My certificate is from the 1990s and looks different.

Older certificates used different layouts and some were issued as a single sheet. Translate the fields that are printed on the document you have; do not add fields from a later form.

I need to prove I am single. Which document?

A certificate of no marriage registration record from the civil affairs authority, or a notarial certificate of single status. A marriage certificate cannot prove a negative.

Is a religious or customary marriage recognised?

Registration with the civil affairs authority is what creates a marriage in Chinese law. If there was no registration, there is no certificate, and a filing that needs proof of marriage needs a different route.

Related guides

• Translating a Chinese hukou (户口本), field by fieldEvery field on the household register and the resident page, including the ones that are routinely mistranslated — 籍贯 is not birthplace, and 户别 decides what the document proves.
• Translating a Chinese birth certificate (出生医学证明)Every field on the Medical Certificate of Birth, the number format that must be copied exactly, and why the parents' details are the half of the document that actually does the work.
• Translating a Chinese notarial certificate (公证书)How the notarial booklet is structured, what the certificate number encodes, the standard notarial wording, and the difference between a certificate of a fact and a certificate that a copy matches the original.