PR from China, Inconsistencies in Address Info |
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boundary47
Senior Member Joined: 01 Dec 2009 Status: Offline Points: 317 |
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Posted: 19 Jan 2010 at 4:28pm |
I'm applying to sponsor my wife and her daughter from China. Those familiar with immigration from China will know of the "Hukou", or household register, which CIC requires to be translated and a copy submitted with the Principal Applicant's documents.
My wife's daughter is a university student who spends part of each year living on campus, part with her mother, and part with her father. Her Background Declaration IMM 0008 Schedule 1 identifies all of these places. But the Hukou in which the daughter's name appears is the one for her father's home, and her Police Certificate also lists her address as the one in her Hukou. The daughter's mail goes to her mother's home, so she lists that as her home address. I know it's common for Chinese to live in places other than the Hukou in which they're recorded. But is this likely to cause problems for immigration? We don't want to alter the daughter's background declaration to make it consistent with the Hukou because the Hukou doesn't represent the facts. Any suggestions? B47 Edited by boundary47 - 19 Jan 2010 at 4:28pm |
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ForeverAndADay
New Member Joined: 04 Dec 2009 Status: Offline Points: 37 |
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Hey B47,
I am in a similar situation, but with my wife. She can only retain her and her fathers hukuo. This is because my wife is from a villiage area and ot attend a better school in the city she would need a Hukuo there, so her father had them put on his old friends.
However, that was a long time ago and my wife doesnt even know and who are not willing to let us photocopy hukuo, so we only have 2 pages from it. So we have no choice but to write an explanation for this.
My understanding is the Hukuo is a pretty unorganized process where is not that hard to get on someones Hukuo.
I believe the Hukuo only states "other address" you reside at not address.
I am sure immigration understands the hukuo and how it may not always provide clear/concise facts. As you mentioned, it is well known the people usually dont live at any place the hukuo specifies
When was your wife's daughters hukuo last updated? If it was long before she started living on campus etc it could help. Explaining the timeline clearly on a seperate sheet and backing up your facts with mail, info the school could provide that she does indeed live on campus etc will help. I dont think it should be a problem with immigration.
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boundary47
Senior Member Joined: 01 Dec 2009 Status: Offline Points: 317 |
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Thanks for your comments.
I've looked into this more deeply as a result of the problem with the addresses and dates. It appears that the Hukou system is used to establish eligibility for various privileges and benefits, including for example, the right to attend school in the city, as you noted. In the past, it was used to keep people from migrating from poor regions to rich ones, and it still has that effect. It also seems that in places where a lot of property redevelopment occurs (e.g. like Shanghai and Beijing), families leave more names on Hukous for properties they think are most likely to be taken for redevelopment, because the compensation provided depends on how many people are on the Hukou. All of this means that the Hukous are sometimes used by the government to control the population and establish eligibility for social benefits, and by ordinary people to gain advantages. Both detract from its status as a reliable record of residence or family composition. In my step daughter's case, the Hukou was updated a few years ago, but the information put into it was not an accurate record of residence, even at that time. I will put in a short explanatory note as a supplement to her immigration forms. After hearing how inaccurate Hukous are as a record of residence and family composition, I'm not too worried about this. Surely the immigration officials in Beijing, of all places, will know how Hukous are "gamed" for advantage, and will not be surprised that the residential address does not line up with the information in the Hukou. At least we have all pages of her current Hukou, and it's translated and notarized by the public notary in Shanghai. Good luck with your case. B47 |
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ForeverAndADay
New Member Joined: 04 Dec 2009 Status: Offline Points: 37 |
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Yeah I wouldn't worry at all. If everything is logical and makes sense to immigration, they likely won't question it. On another note, does it matter where you have your documents notarized? Are there certain qualifications we should be looking for?We are going to a place that states they specialize in international notarization.
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boundary47
Senior Member Joined: 01 Dec 2009 Status: Offline Points: 317 |
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If you're sponsoring her from China, there aren't many documents that must be notarized. Check the region guide carefully - don't just rely on what everyone says. The requirements for notarization for Principal Applicants from China have been relaxed in the past year, and many of the people who are still following up their cases applied under the old requirements.
There are a few documents that must be notarized, and ALL must be translated "accurately". Only a few require translation by accredited translators (e.g. Police Certificates). We translated many of the documents ourselves. My wife's Chinese is excellent, and her English is passable. We had access to translations of Hukous and many other typical documents (she found them online in Chinese language immigration forums in China), so we did many translations ourselves using the same format as those from the Public Notary Office, or just copying the format of the original documents. In some case, we think ours are more accurate than some coming from the Public Notary's Office, which sometimes look suspiciously like literal rather than accurate translations. I have had some documents translated in Vancouver by an organization called "Mosaic". They're professional and very reasonably priced. In China, my wife has had some translated by accredited translators in the Public Notary Office. B47
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