Finally...!!!
International marriage is never easy! Especially for us who have the gene of FNAO*...!
We first needed to decide WHERE to get married (meaning 'register')...
To answer this question, we checked respective government offices in JP & HK, just to realise that they are apple and orange, they don't go along with each other and are unable to tell how the other tastes!
We researched all available resources from the net, studied so hard as if we were preparing for entrance exam...we got some hints, both pros & cons.
hmmm...we need a middleman to tell us from real experience & both perspectives- The Consulate-General of Japan in HK! Thanks to Jin's extensive communication and persistent follow up, we go t the answer - let's do it in Hong Kong!
Major Pros for Hong Kong - easy! efficient! internationally recognised! (HONG KONG...I Like HONG KONG~! )
- Easy - Carol only needs to present the HKID card, Jin needs the passport and a "single status" certification.
- Efficient - Once all documents are submitted, after 15 days, we can go ahead to confirm & hold our wedding ceremony and get the Marriage Certificate on the spot.
- Internationally recognised - there is a Marriage Certificate & in English, especially convenient if we need to move from here & there within the globe (who knows!) .
Well, it was not 100% easy though.
The HOW, especially the process of getting Jin's 'single status' ceritification was kind of difficult...difficult in the way that very limited info was learnt. No matter how detailed I asked, HK's marriage office was unable to give me the exact thing they need (e.g. issue from which insitution, what kind of letter) @#%$^#$@^
It's not only me...
Jin woke up early in a freezing lazy Sunday morning to get the household record from local government office...triple confirmed with the General-Consulate in HK for info I could not get from the HK marriage office, packaged everything so well to minimise my efforts...I am pigeon Carol .
For all the efforts that we put, finally we passed the 15 days. (marriage intention submitted on Feb 14) and submitted all necessary documents. How great to learn that our marraige is approved!!!!!!
It's only the begining but Stage 1 passed. Keep adding oil!!
* FNAO stands for "Failure Not An Option", it's the motto of our company.
1 comment:
Gotta give some more credits to Carol too.
'Twas not only my efforts in getting what needs to be submitted to whom. I cannot blame the government. Carol did so hard in going over to the HK Registration Office and JP Consulate back and forth and back. With all her efforts in her mother tongue of Cantonese, she was not able to fetch the most appropriate efforts, especialy from JP Consulate of what Jin needed to prepare and submit to HK registration.
Carol had asked Jin to call JP Consulate in order to discuss in person; this was the breakthrough. JP Consulate personnel explained to me so precisely of what I need to fetch from the government office in JP so that the JP Consulate can prepare the required documents for HK Registration Office. In fact, they were very helpful for me since they even proactively asked what I need to prepare for the next step.
So, all in all, this is our resulting status of "We are READY!" from all of the efforts done by both parties, working so hard for each other who misses each other several thousand miles apart.
Our physical distance is so far, but our spiritual distance is right next to each other. I dearly felt the strong bond we have together, and this made the activities on both end to achieve this status smoothly.
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