Birth permit process simplified for migrants

In the past, migrant workers in China have had to rush back and forth between cities to collect dozens of signatures before they could give birth, but an announcement from the nation's family planning authority Monday indicates this will change.

The National Population and Family Planning Commission announcement stated that the procedures required to receive a birth permit would be simplified, a move analysts said herald huge changes for the floating population.

Migrant workers will be able to get birth permits from their workplaces without traveling to their hometowns to seek government proof of their marital and maternity status, according to the announcement.

The move is aimed at saving time and money for couples who do not have a local hukou, (household registration), when they have their first child.

The family planning service permit, known as the birth permit, is a must for residents on the Chinese mainland before giving birth to babies. Without the permit, a new baby will risk becoming a "black member" of a family, as the baby will not be allowed to register with the household, and won't receive a hukou, which is necessary for an education and many kinds of benefits.

To prove it is their first child, husbands and wives basically have to submit proof provided by community administrators both in their hukou registration places and their current workplaces.

"I spent more than a month getting the permit done after I sought help from a friend with the government. I had to travel several times between Beijing and Shijiazhuang, where my hukou is registered, to ask for paper permits to prove I was not married or with children," a resident in Beijing surnamed Wang told the Global Times.

Wang said that both the Shijiazhuang and Beijing officers said the other side was responsible for the permit and refused to give him the paperwork he needed, until just one month before his baby was born in October.

According to the new policy, the administrators at both the household registration location and workplaces are responsible, and officers who attempt to dodge their responsibilities or delay the procedures will be punished. Authorities should also publicize and explain the process, and couples can also ask others to go through the procedures for them if they are unavailable.

It can take a couple more than two months and 800 yuan to get a permit, according to a Legal Weekly report on November 11, and the couple had to visit more than 10 government offices and get more than 40 signatures and government stamps.

Currently the birth permit policy is implemented in different ways around the country. Migrant workers in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province and Kunming in Yunnan Province can register a birth permit for their first baby at their local workplace.