(ECNS) -- Shanghai is mulling plans to require couples to make an appointment if they want to start divorce proceedings, local newspaper Shanghai Morning Post has reported.
The city's Pudong District has already followed the lead of other cities in China by introducing a controversial quota policy, so that on each workday only a limited number of divorces are allowed.
The policy change comes after a new marriage regulation was put into effect on February 2, increasing the workload of staff at the frontline of the civil affairs department.
According to the new national regulation, marriage registration officers working for the civil affairs department are required to interview the husband and wife separately, instead of together, as they had previously done, during divorce proceedings.
The interview aims to guarantee that both partners fully understand the articles of their divorce agreement. In addition, the new policy also requires a written record of this.
Sun Xiaohong, deputy head of the Shanghai marriage administration, said the new policy has given lawyers and social workers more opportunity to intervene in irrational decisions to end marriages. But, it has also increased the time taken to process a divorce application, according to Sun.
An official at a marriage registration center said time taken to complete divorce proceedings had increased from between 25 and 35 minutes to between 45 to 55 minutes, leaving couples waiting longer.
To improve efficiency, an official at the Shanghai marriage administration said couples may need to make an appointment to start proceedings in the future.
