Certified Hukou (户口簿) Translation — Chinese into English
The hukou is the Chinese household register: it establishes who makes up your household, where it is registered and how you relate to the head of household. IRCC asks Chinese applicants for it, and it is written in Chinese only. Asiatis produces its certified translation into English, ready to file.
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Get my quote onlineAlso known as
户口簿 — hùkǒu bù · hukou · hu kou · 居民户口簿 · 户口本 · 常住人口登记卡 · 集体户口 · 户籍证明 · household register · household registration booklet · registre de foyer chinois · livret de famille chinois · traduction hukou IRCC
What is the hùkǒu bù?
The 居民户口簿 (jūmín hùkǒu bù) is the booklet the Public Security Bureau issues to each registered household in China. It opens with a household page — household number, address, name of the head of household — then carries one record per registered person. The Ministry of Public Security notice sets twenty-eight items for the booklet and thirty-four for the individual permanent-population record: name, former names, sex, place of birth, ethnicity, 籍贯, date of birth, ID card number, level of education, marital status, military status, employer, occupation, dates and origin of address changes, and a section for amending entries. It is therefore at once proof of family composition, an address history and a civil status record — which is why a Canadian application asks for it so often.
Variants of the document
| Name | Type | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 居民户口簿（家庭户）jūmín hùkǒu bù — jiātíng hù | Family household booklet | The classic booklet, held by the head of household: a household page followed by one record per person. This is the form Canadian document checklists describe when they say "household register". |
| 集体户口常住人口登记卡jítǐ hùkǒu chángzhù rénkǒu dēngjì kǎ | Collective hukou record | Students and employees attached to their university, their employer or a human-resources centre have no booklet: only an individual record, the organization keeping the household page. |
| 户籍证明hùjí zhèngmíng | Certificate of household registration | Issued by the police station of the place of registration. It serves where the household page is out of reach — the common case with a collective hukou — and translates exactly like the booklet. |
| 户口注销证明hùkǒu zhùxiāo zhèngmíng | Certificate of residence cancellation | Permanent departure abroad cancels the hukou. It is then this certificate that the police station issues, rather than an up-to-date booklet. |
How to obtain the document in China
- 1
Start from the booklet held by the head of household
The original booklet is in the hands of the head of household — most often a parent. You do not need the original for the translation: a clear, complete scan is enough, but it must cover every page in use, not only yours.
- 2
If you are on a collective hukou
Ask the holding organization — university, employer, human-resources centre — for your individual record. The household page will never be released to you in original: you will get a copy bearing the organization’s seal, or a 户籍证明 issued by the police station of the place of registration.
- 3
If your hukou has been cancelled
Declared emigration cancels the hukou. The police station of your last place of registration then issues a certificate of cancellation, which stands in for the booklet in your application. Asiatis does not obtain the document for you: we translate the one you have obtained.
- 4
Choose between Chinese notarial certificate and Canadian certified translation
IRCC accepts both routes: a 公证书 issued by a Chinese 公证处, which incorporates its own English translation, or a translation certified by a translator accredited in Canada. The first requires a process on the ground and Chinese timelines; the second is done from Canada, on a scanned document.
- 5
Have the whole booklet translated
Every completed page goes to translation, including the amendment section, the stamps and the household registration seal. A page left out is a page an officer cannot match against your forms.
What an acceptable translation requires
IRCC requires any document that is not in English or French to be accompanied by a translation into one of those two languages, and for Chinese documents accepts either a notarized or a certified translation. The translation must be complete — headings, stamps, seals and amendment entries included — and may not be produced by the applicant, by a family member, or by a representative on the application. Asiatis assigns your hukou to a certified translator who is a member of a Canadian professional order: the translation carries that translator's signed and sealed declaration, and you have neither a notarial certificate to arrange in China nor an affidavit to sign here. For a Quebec immigration application, the MIFI admits French and English alike, provided the translator belongs to OTTIAQ, ATIO, STIBC or CTINB.
The pitfalls specific to this document
籍贯 is not your place of birth
Under the Ministry of Public Security rule, 籍贯 means the registered place of residence of your paternal grandfather at the time of your birth — and it does not change if your grandfather later moves. Rendered as "place of birth", it contradicts your passport and your form within the same application. The booklet in fact carries both fields, 出生地 and 籍贯, a few lines apart.
与户主关系 states a household link, not parentage
The field states your relationship to the head of household — "son", "wife", "daughter-in-law" — and nothing else. Two brothers registered under their father each appear as "son" without the booklet saying they are brothers. For parentage that can be relied on, IRCC expects the medical birth certificate, the 出生医学证明.
An older booklet still shows 农业 / 非农业
The distinction between agricultural and non-agricultural hukou was abolished by the State Council on 24 July 2014, in favour of a single "居民户口". An older booklet still carries it: the translation must render what is written on the page, without modernizing or erasing it.
The amendment section is the one people skip
The twenty-eighth item of the booklet records changes and corrections: a name amended, a date of birth corrected, an address changed. It is exactly what an officer looks for to explain a discrepancy between two documents — and it is the page people forget to scan.
A collective hukou has no household page
A checklist asking for a "booklet" puts anyone on a collective hukou in difficulty, since none exists. What has to be provided is the individual record, together with a copy of the household page bearing the holding organization's seal, or a 户籍证明.
Romanization must follow the passport, not the pinyin
The names in the booklet are in characters. Their transcription must match the spelling in your passport exactly, including where it departs from standard pinyin or comes from a Hong Kong or Taiwanese romanization. One name spelled two ways in an application is one more question to answer.
What you receive
- Complete certified translation, laid out faithfully to the booklet
- 籍贯 and 出生地 rendered distinctly, with the note explaining the difference
- Relationships to the head of household translated without turning them into parentage
- Names romanized identically to your passport, from one document to the next
- Translator's signed and sealed declaration, meeting IRCC requirements
- PDF delivery — the digital format is enough for IRCC; paper copy on request
Pricing depends on the number of pages in your document. Get your quote online in a few minutes.
Get my quote onlineFrequently asked questions
Do I need the whole booklet translated, or just my page?
Everything that is filled in: the household page, the record of each person concerned by your application, the stamps and the amendment section. A missing page stops the officer matching the booklet against your forms, and that matching is the very point of the document.
How much does it cost to translate my hukou?
The price depends on the number of completed pages — a common booklet runs to two to six depending on household size. The simplest route is our online quote form: you upload the document and get your price in a few minutes, with no commitment.
Get my quote onlineDoes a Chinese 公证书 replace a certified translation?
IRCC accepts both routes for a Chinese document: the notarial certificate issued by a 公证处, which incorporates its own English translation, or a translation certified by a translator accredited in Canada. The first requires a process in China; the second is done from here, on a scanned document.
My 籍贯 does not match my place of birth. Is that a problem?
No, that is normal. 籍贯 means your paternal grandfather’s registered residence at the time of your birth, not where you were born. The booklet carries both fields separately. What does cause a problem is a translation that conflates the two and puts two contradictory places of birth in your application.
I am on a collective hukou and have no booklet. What do I provide?
Your individual permanent-population record, obtained from the organization holding your file, together with a copy of the household page bearing its seal. Failing that, the police station of the place of registration issues a 户籍证明 that stands in its place.
My hukou was cancelled after I left China. What now?
The police station of your last place of registration issues a certificate of cancellation. That is what you will attach to your application, and it translates like the booklet. Chinese consulates do not issue this document: the request is made on the ground or through a proxy.
Can I translate my own hukou?
No. IRCC does not accept translations made by the applicant, by a family member, or by a representative on the application, even where that person is a professional translator.