Agustin Gonzalez

For study, work, vacation or, perhaps, because they met a foreign couple through an online application. There are several reasons that can end in a marriage contracted outside the country, but the one that must be validated if they wish to remain with their civil status of married in Chile.

How to legalize a marriage abroad? You can register it without any inconvenience as long as the wedding has been celebrated according to the requirements established by Chilean law, that is, regarding the age of majority; free and spontaneous consent; not being married in Chile; not having mental impediments or legal prohibitions.

How to register a marriage celebrated abroad?

Both to validate the marriage celebrated abroad in Chile or outside the country, it is the Chilean contracting party who must apply for the procedure The foreign spouse may only do so after the death of the Chilean spouse, presenting the corresponding death certificate.

The registration of a marriage performed abroad can be requested throughout the year at the respective consulate, outside Chile or at the offices of the Civil Registry in Chile.

In addition to the marriage certificate issued by the authority of the country where the marriage was celebrated, the Chilean spouse(s) will need to present a valid identity card or passport, or an updated identification document from the country of origin, if one of the spouses is a foreigner.

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Validating marriage in Chile

If you were married abroad, but are now back on national soil, you will have to go to a Civil Registry office.

What documents are needed? To register a foreign marriage in Chile you will have to present the original marriage certificate duly legalized by the Chilean consulate in the foreign country and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile (Agustinas 1320, Santiago), or apostilled, if the country where you got married belongs to the Apostille Convention, without the need for additional certification.

If the translation is done in the country of origin of the founding certificate, it must also be legalized or apostilled, but if the translation will be done in Chile, then it must be done at the Department of Translations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Now, if the marriage certificate was not legalized by the Chilean consulate in the country where you got married, nor apostilled, you will have to register the marriage at the Civil Registry Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is located at Agustinas 1380.

Once the registration process has been completed, will be able to pick up the marriage license at the Civil Registry office that corresponds to them.

Validate the marriage outside of Chile

How to legalize a foreign marriage in Chile, but from abroad? If you remain abroad and wish to regularize your marriage from there, you will have to go to the Chilean consulate of the country where the wedding took place. The marriage will be registered at the local Civil Registry Office.

At the consulate they will have to present the required background information, i.e. the marriage certificate issued by the country's authority and their valid identification documents: identity card or passport of the Chilean spouse and identification document of the foreign spouse.

The fee will depend on what the consulate of each country stipulates. In addition, additional background information may be required during the processing of the application, if necessary.

Once the registration process has been completed, may apply for a marriage certificate celebrated abroad, with legal validity in Chile.

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Choice of property regime

Regarding property regimes, both in Chile and abroad, both spouses must be present If they do not state anything, it will be understood that they have opted for Total Separation of Property.

In addition, in the event that only one of the spouses is present, it must be the Chilean and, in this situation, the regime of Total Separation of Property will be automatically established. In the case of death of one of the spouses, it will not be possible to choose the patrimonial regime.

When the procedure is validated

With respect to the registration of marriages celebrated abroad, it is important to consider that in Chile it will be valid from the moment that the Civil Registry carries out the relevant registration But not from the date recorded on the founding certificate.

How long does it take to register a marriage abroad? Although it will depend on the demand at the Civil Registry, the validation process can take between three to six months, being longer in the case of certificates arriving from abroad.

What are the deadlines for validating the foreign marriage? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says nothing about this, which means that the spouses may register the marriage whenever they wish, but what is clear is that, as long as they do not register it, the marriage in Chile will not be valid in any way.

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Changes with the Equal Marriage Act

Finally, with the new Equal Marriage Act which will enter into force on March 10, 2022, eliminates the condition that the marriage must be between a man and a woman in order for a marriage celebrated abroad to be recognized.

In addition, the rule that required marriages celebrated abroad between persons of the same sex to be formalized as Civil Union Agreements is repealed.

In this way, couples who marry abroad will be able to register their marriages, either in Chile or in the country where the marriage took place, in the same way as a couple made up of a man and a woman.

Getting married outside the borders is an increasingly recurrent reality, while the procedures to regularize the civil status are quite simple. How to validate a foreign marriage in Chile? Now you know that you can do it from the country where you got married, or once you land on national soil.