ldaigle

We are from Houston and will be spending 2 weeks in Chile in December. We've rented a beautiful house in Pucon for a good chunk of the time and would like to have a private marriage ceremony in Pucon. Any recommendations for someone who can perform the service......I've had no luck with internet research. Muchas gracias.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

I'd be most concerned about what the legal requirements are. Call the Chilean embassy in Washington to find out.

I just researched the requirements for getting married in Mexico, not for myself, but for a writing project I was working on. There were legalities there that would never have occurred to me if I were planning a wedding of my own. I mention this because who knows what Chile requires? Looking into that would be my first priority.

Huentetu

Jeff is right. You need to find out if one of you needs to be a resident of Chile too. You may be able to have a religious ceremony without too much paperwork (both in Chile and for registering the marriage in your home country) and save the civil service for when you return home. However, if it were a Catholic ceremony, there are a number of things involved (presenting a baptismal certificate, attending some talks). Marriage and divorce laws are complicated in Chile.

ldaigle

I checked out the requirements with the embassy (below) just need someone to perform civil ceremony there.

there is no process of “registering a marriage” at the U.S. Embassy, per se. In general, marriages, legally performed abroad, (including Chile) are recognized in the United States. More information about this subject is available on the Department of State website at http://travel.state.gov/law/info/mar...riage_640.html.
However, there may be a step that you would like to consider. If you wish to authenticate your marriage certificate for it to become valid for use in the U.S., you will have to complete a, so called, “authentication chain” in Chile, with Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then, the final stage, the Embassy. The reason for that process is that Chile is not part of the Hague Convention Abolishing Legalization of Public Records. In other words, Chilean records must be authenticated in Chile via Chilean Ministry of Justice, Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then the Embassy prior to become valid in the United States. The same applies to American documents that are intended for use in Chile, i.e. they will have to be authenticated by the Embassy of Chile in the U.S. The process is described on our website at http://chile.usembassy.gov (U.S. Citizens - FAQs).

Huentetu

If you have contacted the embassy and they say you can do it, then fine. Your first stop should be the Registro Civil in Pucón as they perform civil marriages, either there or in a home. They are the only ones who can perform a civil marriage. You need to find an available date with them. You will need your birth certificates (ask the embassy if these need to be officially translated), two witnesses who must understand Spanish, and your identity document (passport). A religious ceremony, as I said, is a different ceremony with different requirements. Most people have both, either on separate days or the same day.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

I see Chile's Registro Civil has a webpage, and it contains a FAQ section (all in Spanish). Questions 9 through 16 answer the "what's needed to get married?" questions:

https://www.registrocivil.cl/f_pregu...recuentes.html

You can also click on the OFICINAS link, and then REGION DE LA ARAUCANIA (where Pucón is located) to see the address and phone number of the office there.