Hitch in bride’s hukou wedding con

A Beijing court has ordered the annulment of a marriage after it heard a non-local woman took advantage of a mentally ill man to gain a Beijing hukou, or household registration permit.

Haidian district court annulled the marriage between the woman, surnamed Wang, and a local resident, surnamed Zhang, on Saturday on the grounds that the law prohibits people who are seriously mentally ill from marrying if they have not fully recovered, according to a press release from Haidian district court yesterday.

Zhang's legal guardian, a man surnamed Yang, took the legal action after he discovered a marriage certificate at Zhang's home in January. Zhang confessed he was doing Wang a favor, and she only wanted to get married for the hukou. The couple married in March 2011, but other details, such as if he was paid to get married or how they knew each other, were not provided in the court's press release.

According to court publicity official Fan Jing, a hospital affiliated to the Capital Medical University diagnosed Zhang as suffering from schizophrenia in February, 2004.

Liu Wenyi, a lawyer from Beijing Kangda Law Firm, said that China's current marriage law prohibits people with serious mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and manic-depressive psychosis, from getting married until they have documents stipulating they have recovered.

"Apparently, they registered to marry while concealing the fact that Zhang has a serious mental illness. Since the medical report does not say that he recovered after his marriage, it [the case] fits the criteria for an annulment," said Liu.

The woman would have obtained her hukou after being married for 10 years, said Liu.

More people are going to desperate lengths to get a hukou, as the legions of people from outside the capital who live and work here are routinely denied healthcare coverage and schooling for their children.

Wealthier individuals can "buy" a hukou on the black market, with prices up to 500,000 yuan ($78,500), according to the Beijing Evening News in March. The hukou, which are allegedly genuine, come from leftover quota from State-owned industries.

Advertisements about hukou vendors can be found on every search engine, with many claiming they can help non-Beijing college graduates stay in the capital.

However, arranging scam marriages, particularly in Beijing's suburban districts, appears to be on the rise. A report by Yanqing county court in March said they had dealt with 20 cases, including one in which a rich non-local woman promised to give a Yanqing farmer 100,000 yuan to stay married to her for three years, the period of time in which a spouse will be granted a hukou in rural areas of Beijing.

In this case, trouble erupted when the farmer asked for a divorce when he fell in love with another woman before the three years were up.

"A Beijing hukou is almost the hardest thing to get currently, as it has become an access ticket to a number of resources and opportunities in the capital," said Tang Renwu, director of the government management department at Beijing Normal University.

"From housing to affordable education in children's public schooling, from kindergarten to gaokao [college entrance examinations], people are entitled to these benefits only if they are registered for a hukou," said Tang, "even the taxi drivers are all Beijing natives."

"People shouldn't consider using [hukou] vendors, as much of it is a scam," said Tang, "but it's time for the government to work out a more transparent and quantifiable system for distributing the hukou."