Reply To: Getting married in Chengdu – any tips?

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Getting married in China is as romantic as visiting the Post Office and getting a stamp on your application. The wedding photos are fun – nothing to do with the wedding and may take place before or after you get married. The big event is a party in a restaurant. Dressing up is compulsory if she hasn’t been married before but tradition and guest numbers tend to slide if it’s her second time around.

The UK government does not like immigrants. It only takes a few days to get a response but all the visa applications get couriered to Beijing. Read up all the advice on the UK Border Agency website and work on the basis that they will turn her down if they possibly can. So do your paperwork before you come with, for example, a letter from your employer with information on your ability to provide for her. They may well try and trip her up by asking ‘what guarantee can she provide them with that she will return to China if the marriage fails’. I provided a certified translation of the deeds to a property in Chengdu and that worked. You will almost certainly get to be interviewed as part of her application. They conduct separate interviews with no consultation so get your story straight and make sure that you both understand each other’s background. Her command of English language and English culture is going to have to be up to speed – check out the requirements or you are going to be living in Chengdu for the rest of your married life.

Be prepared for a turbulent couple of years – Chengdu girls like to wear the trousers and she will happily spend vast sums of money on things that she considers essential without consulting you simply because it would never have occurred to her that you would want to participate. Make sure that she has an affordable method of chatting to her mates and relatives back in Chengdu.

Find out where your local branch of Wing Yip is in the UK and make sure she can get access to her idea of food because she will almost certainly consider UK Chinese restaurants to be rubbish.