Do we need to register a US marriage certificate for the father to be in the birth certificate?

Legal General Legal Matters
1

Hello everyone,

I am married with my wife in the USA and we plan to have a baby in Taipei soon. I have read all relevant posts in the forum about this issue but I am left with a question.

Will the original marriage certificate will be enough for the hospital to add me to the birth certificate or is it absolutely mandatory to have it registered in Taiwan first?

I asked at the hospital and they said it needs to be registered (if I understood correctly, my legalese mandarin is iffy), but I have also asked some friends that had babies in the same hospital and they said the original marriage certificate was enough.

Who is right?
Thanks

2

Honestly if I were you I would just get the marriage registered here if it’s possible for you to do so without too much trouble. It can be done in less than an hour and then you’re guaranteed to have the process go smoothly.

This sounds like the kind of thing where you would have to spend a lot of time going back and forth with hospital administrators who have never seen a case like this before and will insist on seeing a Taiwanese marriage certificate. You absolutely need your name on the birth certificate to apply for your child’s CRBA to get them US citizenship, so I wouldn’t risk getting in a situation where the hospital won’t let you do that.

Having gone through this process recently that’s just my 2 cents. I don’t know the exact legal correct answer.

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3

Does it only take an hour?

I need to translate it to Chinese and bring it to the HRO, should be quick but I assume there’s gonna be hidden obstacles. Btw, can we do a homemade translation (wife is professional translator)? Nowhere said anything about sworn/certified translation.

Anyways we will try to get it done in time but I’m asking in case I don’t.

4

You were married in the US? Maybe a US citizen can comment on the process for using US documents in Taiwan.

Translation may not be necessary for English documents.

You may need to have your marriage license authenticated by your country’s foreign affairs and then stamped by the Taiwan embassy in your home country, or something like that. I forget the exact steps.

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