Second-child permission a complex process

Chinese couples wishing to have two children must overcome many hurdles in the application process, the Beijing Evening News reports.

An application for second-child permission approval involves a variety of certificates and filling out many forms.? [Photo / Bejiing Evening News]

Nationally, the country's one-child policy now allows couples to have two children if both spouses are from one-child families.

The entire process is done by hand, not through the web, and involves many people beyond the couple. The marital and fertility status of the couple as well as both sets of parents must be provided in order to prove the second child would legally exist and could be registered.

Moreover, the certifications must be issued by three administrative levels -- the village, county and provincial governments -- in order to be verified by the Urban Neighborhood Office.

Additionally, 10 neighbors must testify for the couple in the final application phase.

"It's all done by hand," said an expectant mother surnamed Wang, "It will be more convenient if all information about marital and fertility status was available on the web."

"The application is quite complex," admitted a staff worker at a neighborhood family planning office. After we approve them, the materials must go to the higher level of the Family Planning Commission."