I am an American citizen married to a Taiwanese citizen. I gave birth to a baby boy a few weeks ago, and prior to giving birth I had checked to see if they were able to give both an English and Chinese birth certificate - to which they replied they could. After the fact they were in the process of creating the English birth certificate and told me that they were unable to do it and that we had to go through a lawyer. I have 2 Chinese birth certificates and no English birth certificate. In order to get my son’s U.S. passport I know I need to have an English birth certificate. Is there any other way for me to do that. Can I translate the birth certificate myself and then have it authenticated or notarized at AIT? The only difference would be his name because obviously he would have his English name vs. his Chinese name. Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated.
My kid had a Chinese birth certificate. I went back to the hospital, and they wrote an English one, no problem. So try again, talk to someone different.
Moreover, CHECK WITH YOUR EMBASSY because the hospital birth certificate (in Taiwan) could well be irrelevant as it’s not a legal document.
You need to get Household Registration. THAT is the formal Taiwanese registration document that is used to get an ID card, voting registration, and so on. When you do get your kids HR, insist on giving him an English name as well as a Chinese name. If they object, state that aborigines can do so, and if your kid cannot then that’s racist, and demand to see superiors. Call the top guy in Taipei if you have to.
My kid has an English birth certificate. My country does not recognize it, they only recognize the HR, which is in Chinese only, which means when we go home I need to apply for his passport, then register a name change, then reapply for a passport again - I think. Pain in the bloody arse.
Try again. Somebody was yanking your chain. I got both with no hassles. It can be done.
http://acs.ait.org.tw/report-birth-abroad.html
I got both for my kid when he was born. Right at the hospital. No muss, no fuss. I probably had to show my passport or something. Certainly not my birth certificate, which I haven’t seen for many many years, although I probably have a copy somewhere.
Someone’s talking to you through a giant hole in their arse – although here in Taiwan, I know that’s a bit of a stretch. 
I should have stated in my post that I got both worthless birth certificates in the smallest “city” in the country, also the one furthest from Taipei. So you most definatly should be able to get it in a real city.
In Changhua they gave us both with no problems. I’d be calling BS on this one.
The same in Zhongli, they just gave it to us. Easy.
Even those small birthing clinics give out the birth certificates in English. Sounds like some clerk is just being too lazy, or has never been asked that question before.
we got an english one with ours as well. No problems, i thought it was standard practice.
no problem here either. you need to talk to someone higher up.
Thanks to all who have posted in this thread. It’s reassuring. I get to go through all this in about 5 months 
I’ll avoid attaching a picture of our sonogram 
This part of Forumosa is a great resource. Thanks for all the info, everybody. I used to only visit Cars & Motorcycles, but I’ll try not to be a stranger here in Parenting.
Reviving this thread - wondering if anyone has gone through the process of having a baby with one Taiwanese parent and one American parent in Taiwan recently?
We have the baby’s hospital birth certificate in Chinese (I haven’t asked for an English copy yet). The hospital gave it to us with her name simply blank and said we need to go do Household Registration where we can decide on and fill in the name.
My plan is do HH Reg with her English name and her Chinese name, then take the HH Reg over to the hospital and ask them to issue an English birth certificate with her English name per AIT’s requirements, and then I think we should be good to go.
If anyone has any other advice let me know.
The hospital will put any name you want on the English birth certificate, which isn’t a useful document for anyone afaik except the HHR, who will use it as “proof” of your child’s English name when you register. Get it before you leave the hospital.
Yeah… that’s how we got both of ours. Jie-jie (5yo) was born in a clinic and didi (9 mo) in a big hospital. Both could issue official Chinese and English birth certificates.
Good luck
Update on this… I was able to get the English birth certificate with no issues, but the Household Registration office in the sleepy village my wife is registered in are not being very helpful. They are telling us that only aboriginals are allowed to have their ethnic name registered along with the Chinese name, which I believe is not true per Article 4 of this Act:
https://law.judicial.gov.tw/LAWENG//FLAW/dat02.aspx?lsid=FL002325
We mentioned that the Taiwan-born children of other foreigners have had their English names registered and they said, “oh great, can you tell us which town/office that was so we can call them and find out the process?”
Lol.
So my ask for you all is: has anyone successfully done this (English + Chinese name on the Household Registration for a Taiwan-born child with one foreign parent), and if so, are you willing to share the township or district you live in so I can look up the HHR office number and ask them to call? Thank you!
Oh, @okonomiyaki I’m so sorry I saw this only now, six months later. I would have shared my son’s HHR office number with you - and dug out a copy for you to use if necessary. Have you sorted this out yet?
I would also appreciate this information if possible.
Thanks.
We’re in the process of registering our son in Taiwan and the old country. We went first to the GIT with an notarized english birth certificate with his “real name” on it. No we’re waiting for the german birth certificate to be sent to Taiwan. We plan on bringing this to the her. I’ll keep you updated how it went if there’s interest.