Interprovincial marriage registration streamlined

Couples able to wed where they live instead of returning to hometowns

Couples in China no longer need to return to their hometowns or places of household registration to marry, after a revision of the country's marriage registration policy.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, recently approved a draft amendment to the Marriage Registration Ordinance to streamline and improve services nationwide. The new guidelines incorporate successful pilot programs, including cross-provincial marriage registration, into the national system to ensure broader accessibility and greater convenience.

The amendment, reviewed and passed by the State Council, aligns with the Civil Code and aims to regulate marriage registration while optimizing public services. The Ministry of Civil Affairs said the reform is expected to strengthen family structures, protect legal rights and contribute to social stability.

Previously, marriage registration was limited to one's place of household registration. But with more people moving for work or education, many live in cities different from their registered hometowns. The nationwide implementation of cross-provincial registration removes this restriction, making the process of tying the knot more convenient and efficient.

According to the most recent national census, about 493 million Chinese people lived away from their household registration location in 2020, an 88.52 percent increase from a decade earlier.

A pilot program was launched in June 2021 in 21 provincial regions, including Beijing and Shanghai, to address the growing need for flexible registration, particularly for couples living far from their registered household locations.

As of February, more than 492,000 couples have used the cross-provincial registration service. With the policy's formal legalization, couples can now register their marriages at any authorized location nationwide, eliminating previous administrative barriers.

To streamline the process further, the Ministry of Civil Affairs plans to improve digital infrastructure for online appointments and interprovincial data verification, ensuring a smoother experience for couples across the country.

Beyond registration, the Ministry of Civil Affairs is working with other government departments to simplify wedding practices and curb extravagant bride prices and lavish ceremonies.

The ministry, in collaboration with the National Development and Reform Commission, said it will introduce a marriage registration integrity system to ensure transparency. The system will hold registrants more accountable for the authenticity and validity of submitted documents.