Indian guy with a Chilena

Hola,
My Chilean girlfriend of 4 years said "si" when I popped the question. \o/
Now comes the hard part.

All is well except for the very ambiguous requirements when it comes to documents for the civil registration under SMA. Especially with the 30 day intent notice.

So here is our checklist/plan/status so far

1.) She has obtained documents proving her single status, birth certificate and police verification. Since the documents are in Spanish, she is getting them translated and legalized. (should be done in a couple of days).

2.) Meanwhile, my mom paid a visit to the registrar in Chennai (where I come from) to enquire about the requirements. It turns out that both individuals has to show up even for the 'intent to marry' registration that is done 30 days before the solemnization. I was of the impression that wasn't the case.

3.) Since I've been staying in Bangalore for quite some time I intend to check if we can register ourselves here and have a social gathering in my hometown instead. Will this cause any problems as I am not a native of Karnataka? I have also heard that atleast one of the parties should be residing in the same area as that of the register office. How true is this?

4.) We'd like to get registered sometime in the last week of April. This means I need to show up at the registrar either in Bangalore or Chennai (assuming I sort the 'both parties should be present' problem out) next week to register our intent to marry. Do I need to show up with originals of her documents as well? Or are scanned copies enough? Obviously this is not a problem for my documents.

5.) We don't have plans to settle down in India as of yet. There is a chance that I might move to the US for sometime starting June-August. She will be joining me there from Chile (not India). Considering the schedule we are on, it is very likely that we won't go through the Visa process for the US together. She will have get her dependent visa from the US embassy in her country.

The timeline I have looks something like this,
1.) ~March 25 - Visit the office registering our intent (She won't be here)
2.) ~April 2nd week - She arrives in Blore
3.) ~April 25 - We register ourselves and I will no longer be a bachelor.

Does this look too rushed? The problem here is her tight schedule. She has a time window of 3 weeks in April where we can do all this. How realistic is this plan?

If this plan doesn't work out, we will have to do this again some other time. However, there is a high chance I won't in India after June. Now let's say I fly out in June and we decide to get registered in India sometime in November. Do I (or both of us?) have to be in India 60 days in advance?

Now consider 5.) in the list. This means,
* I get my US Visa processed as a single man.
* I move there for a few months hanging out in Chile whenever I can.
* The two of us come to India and get ourselves registered. I am guessing I have to be here 60 days in advance? (30 day residence + 30 day intent to marry notice)
* She takes these documents and applies for a visa to the states from Santiago

Will we face any difficulties with this? What's the better option of the two?

Sorry for the wall of text. I would be lying if I didn't admit we are stressed as ****.

A couple of friends of mine got married, where she registered intent before he arrived (he had sent over lots of documents), then he came to India for like 3 weeks, they got the official marriage done at the local court, and he went back to his job in Europe. (Now he lives in India with her)

But every marriage registrar may have different opinions on what exactly is required or permissible. And every state may have different rules. And different interpretations of the same rules.

If you've been staying in Bangalore for a while, you should certainly be able to do the official deed there, and just do the social events in Chennai. All depends on what your local official thinks is necessary to prove residency.

My intent was filed by my spouse to be alone. Gets you ready for marriage. Can you find a different registrar.?

Just back from the register office accompanied by my Kannadiga friend.

The officer there said something really weird,

* She needs to have a local address proof

How is that even possible? Also, she has to be here 30 days in advance. He also said that one of us should be staying in the same jurisdiction as the office as well.

Am pretty sure that the office is a Vogon in disguise.

Okay, next anecdote (though please do remember, the plural of anecdote is NOT "data):

Another couple of my acquaintance were a mixed Hindi-Muslim couple, trying to get marriage registration in Delhi. They had been married several years already in J&K by a traditional ceremony with a paper in Urdu, but for visas or something they wanted the civil type paper. The registrar in Delhi tried to dissuade them several times, and they felt strongly that it was because they were mixed-religion. So then they went back with some of their feisty law student and young lawyer friends to look sternly at the registrar, who then suddenly seemed to find all the necessary forms and accept their papers without more ado.

Huevon, it could all go to plan within your dates but it does seem very rushed. We were in a very similar situation last December - in India for just about 30 days and trying to get this done. I went to the Registrar's Office in my jurisdiction (Coimbatore) and the place was a bit of a mess. No one seemed sure about whether it was both of us or just one of us who needed to be there while registering Intent.

I gave up trying to register in India when we found out online that we could register under SMA at any Indian embassy. We've just given Notice of Intended Marriage in London where we both live and the process has been smooth so far. Details here.

What's the address on your passport? If its Chennai then you'll have to get this done in Chennai, not Bangalore. Can you get an agent in Chennai to get involved? Apparently they can ease the process. Whether or not you get hold of an agent, I'd very much suggest you go down to Chennai from Bangalore and go to the registrar office yourself as soon as possible (You have anywhere between 30 and 90 days from the date of registering intent to marry, to the date of solemnisation, so why wait till March 25th?), show them your face and speak to people and tell them that this is coming. Ask them to recommend an agent to you themselves - they will.

• You are a resident of Banga ore, you have to get married there. This Chennai business is fraught with peril.
  
  
• US is a big country; If in India, each state has it's own rules for SMA; Don't you think so would US, with 50 states; and the biggest US state being half as big as India ?
  
• Since you are going to be in US, you can try getting married here. But, do not try a change of status using the marriage certificate. You'l have more hurdles than 400m steeplechase !
  
  
• You could get married in Punta Arenas It's breathtakingly beautiful !

KISS = Keep It Simple