Are foreign divorce judgments recognized by domestic courts?

Divorce judgments made by American courts require recognition by Chinese courts, or the court that made the divorce judgment requests recognition and enforcement by Chinese courts in accordance with international treaties, in order to have legal effect. Let's take a look at a detailed introduction to the relevant content together.

Are foreign divorce judgments recognized by domestic courts?

A netizen turned to a lawyer and said, "My husband and I divorced in the United States. I am Chinese and my household registration is in Shenzhen. My husband is an American. The year before last, we were divorced by a US court. Recently, I wanted to register for marriage in Shenzhen, but the Civil Affairs Bureau said that they do not recognize the US judgment and need to go to a domestic court to apply for recognition of a foreign divorce judgment. What should I do？

Divorce judgments from other countries cannot be directly used in China and need to be recognized through legal procedures before they can have legal effect in China. So, the Civil Affairs Bureau cannot register you for marriage solely based on the divorce judgment of the US court, but needs to go to the court to recognize the divorce judgment through judicial procedures.

How should foreign divorce judgments be applied for recognition by domestic courts?

If one of the parties to the divorce judgment is a Chinese citizen, then Chinese citizens who have obtained the effective foreign divorce judgment can apply for recognition to the domestic court. There are several details that need to be clarified with you:

1. Which court in China should I apply for recognition of foreign divorce judgments?

To apply to a domestic court for recognition of a foreign divorce judgment, you need to apply to an intermediate people's court.

Firstly, choose to apply to the Chinese People's Court in the applicant's habitual residence;

If there is no permanent residence, apply to the Intermediate People's Court where the applicant's registered residence is located;

If the applicant is not in China, apply to the Chinese People's Court in their original place of residence.

2.Who can apply for recognition of divorce judgments from foreign courts?

In principle, Chinese courts only accept applications for recognition of divorce judgments where one or both of the spouses are Chinese citizens. The applicant can be a Chinese citizen or the spouse of a Chinese citizen.

3.What materials need to be submitted to apply for recognition of divorce judgments from foreign courts?

Based on the practical experience of Shenzhen's foreign-related divorce lawyers, the parties involved need to prepare materials to apply to domestic courts for recognition of foreign court divorce judgments:

1） Application Form (You can contact our lawyer to obtain a professional application form template for free.);

The application should include:

The applicant's identity information; When will the judgment be made, by which country's court, what will be the result of the judgment, the circumstances of the summons and response, the reasons and requests for the application, and other circumstances that need to be explained.

2） A copy of the applicant's passport or ID card;

3） Foreign court divorce judgments and mediation documents;

4）If the applicant is the plaintiff, relevant proof documents that the foreign court that made the judgment has lawfully summoned the defendant to appear in court must also be provided;

5）If the judgment does not specify the effective date, a proof document issued by the judgment court that the judgment has taken effect is required;

6）If a lawyer needs to provide an authorization letter.

If the above documents are foreign-related, they need to be notarized by the notary department of the country and authenticated by the Chinese embassy and consulate in the country, and a certified Chinese translation is also required.

4.Can the domestic court recognize the issue of property division when applying for recognition of foreign divorce judgments?

Domestic courts recognize foreign court divorce judgments, mainly examining whether the marriage relationship has ended, and issues such as child rearing and property division are not handled by domestic courts.

If you want to handle issues such as child rearing and property division in domestic courts, you need to file a separate post divorce property dispute lawsuit to resolve them.

If you have any legal issues regarding foreigners in China, or related legal provisions regarding foreigners working in China, you can contact our lawyer for consultation. Hotline: +86-400-057-3132 or +86-13530053568

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