I don't know if this will be any help, but here goes...

I had a friend get married to a Chinese woman here in Yunnan, and when they went to get the official marriage certificate in Lijiang (location of the bride's hukou), my friend was required to present a piece of paper which stated that he had not previously been married. I know that he had received this paper from the US embassy in Chengdu, in person, with no trouble whatsoever. He just told them the situation and they said that the paper would be ready when he came to pick it up. He was required to go in person. That was around December in 2008.

The embassy really should be able to help you with this, so I guess my advice would be to call them back and tell them the exact situation you are in, why you need it, and to be very persistent about getting help.

Best of luck to you.

You can get a statement in English and in Chinese from the US embassy in Chengdu that says you are single. Now the statement doesn't hold much legal bearing, but I needed it in order to get married in China. You basically show up to the embassy with your passport, swear that you are single, and 5 minutes later they will give you a statement in English and Chinese that says you are single. I do not know if this form can be used for anything but marriage, but as the fee is small (check online for the exact amount) it may be worth doing. By the way, the translation into Chinese provided by the embassy is not accepted by the Chinese government, so you will need to get the "Certificate of Marriability" translated and notarized by an officially recognized translator.

The form is simply a statement that you write including specific wording. Then have it notarized in the state where you live. You send your statement to the state gov notary office where it will be stamped certified and notarized. Then you send this to (see) Chinavisa.com in Texas. They attach a Chinese document to it for use in China. The fee is small for this. I think the whole thing was under $50. I have an example of my statement if anyone is interested. PM me.

Thanks to everyone for your support and advice. I was on vacation in USA for 2 weeks and I did success in getting this done and stamped by Chinese consulate in Houston.

Now when I return to Kunming in the next month I will try my new paperwork and see if they happen to accept it. I am trying to make a will for my Kunming assets and they required this "proof".

Again, big thanks....even simple things can be quite complex in China...mostly due to the differences in our types of government I suppose.

When I got married here in China I went to the consulate in Chengdu and got a 'Certificate of Marriageability'. You need a divorce decree, death certificate, or swear you have never been married.

When I returned to Dali an idiot bureaucrat refused to accept it because the consulate put their official stamp on the original document and not on the translation that the consulate provided. She wanted me to go back to Chengdu! I called the consulate and they called the recalcitrant official and somehow got her to accept the document.

It would seem that this document should be proof that you are in fact single, but don't count on it!