AlexWales: Thanks, yes I suppose for Non-EU, third world nationals, the process is definitely more longer. On the forum, I came across more longer processing times for other people. However, mine was a bit faster as I was already in Switzerland since 5 years.
curley: Thanks for the info! Yes, I will be expecting that soon in the mail, after we get married next week
Just to update regarding the final phase of the marriage process:
Jul 5: Received confirmation from Zivilstandsamt that my civil documents have been verified by the Embassy in my country. Now, we need to make an appointment with Zivilstandsamt within 10 days, meaning latest by 15 Jul.
As my permit is due expiration on 31 Jul, on Jul 7 we visited Amt fur Migration and got the telephone number of the lady there who previously handled my permit case. Then on the same day we visited Zivilstandsamt and asked Zivilstandsamt to speak with that lady at Amt fur Migration. When Zivilstandsamt called Amt fur Migration, unfortunately that lady was not in office. However, after we left Zivilstandsamt, a few minutes later Zivilstandsamt called us and said that they had talked with Amt fur Migration and we can get married before 31 Jul. Zivilstandsamt then gave us an appointment for 13 Jul.
Zivilstandsamt informed us, that since my German is not very good (I can understand basic A1/A2, but speak only A1), we need a translator (dolmetscher/dolmetscherin) for the appointment. Apparently in the Zentralschweiz area only Caritas Luzern handle such tasks. On Jul 8, I went to Caritas Luzern and told them that we need a translator on 13 Jul at Zivilstandsamt, but Caritas told me that I need to inform them at least 4 working days in advance (as 2 days of the weekend were in between). Then we called Zivilstandsamt the same day (8 Jul), and they asked us to check other places for translators and let them know by the next working day (11 Jul) if we were not able to find one or not, otherwise they would have to change our appointment date.
My girlfriend asked her friends for translators, and I franticly called many places in Luzern (even in Zurich or Bern), but we were not able to find anyone within this short period of time. After this we realized that, only Caritas Zentralschweiz was authorized for this task and knew licensed translators. Eventually on 11 Jul, we called Zivilstandsamt and they shifted our appointment to 15 Jul. Then immediately I went to Caritas on the same day, and they hooked us up with a German-English translator on 15 Jul, with a cost of 125 CHF.
Jul 15: The translator came on time to Zivilstandsamt, a few minutes before the appointment time. We went inside and I was asked to show my passport, permit and my girlfriend showed her Swiss ID card (not sure what is the correct name in German for that). After that both of us were asked to fill a few forms, and the translator helped to explain me the marriage rules and regulations.
They also informed me to check my details and particulars (my name before and after marriage, date of birth, parents names etc) if everything was correct. After we filled in the forms, we were told that, we can only get married after 10 days (as they have to put up a public notification regarding our marriage during these 10 days). This means that, we can get married starting from 26 Jul, until the 3 months period, which is 17 Oct.
Then they gave us two options to get married before 31 Jul: (A) 27 Jul at Zivilstandsamt (cost around 320 CHF) or (B) 29 Jul at the Rathaus in Luzern (cost around 590 CHF). We picked the first option (A) for the Ziviltrauung, and I immediately paid the 320 CHF. The lady at Zivilstandsamt also asked us, if we wanted to exchange rings, and we said definitely yes. She gave us both confirmation letters for the marriage registration (Ziviltrauung) date, and a form which had to be filled by our two witnesses and submitted during the Ziviltrauung. In addition, she also gave us a fact sheet in German and in English from the Swiss Confederation which lists the rules, rights and obligations of the marriage (Merkblatt uber die Ehe in der Schweiz: Rechte und Pflichten). The whole appointment process took only 30 mins.
We also had to arrange another translator for our Ziviltrauung. On the same day (15 Jul), I went to Caritas Luzern to inform them for a translator on 27 Jul. Two days later, I called Caritas, and the said they are still searching for a translator (they called a few people, but did not get a response from anyone). The next day, I emailed them, and got a similar response, that they are still looking for a translator. Finally on 21 Jul, I went over to Caritas, and told them we could not change the Ziviltrauung date (due to my permit issue, we have already informed our witnesses and friends who will be attending, and had made dinner reservations in the evening on that day). Caritas said, they were not able to find any translator (in English or in my native languages) on that day, as it is holiday season and many people are away.
As I have been living in Lugano since 5 years, and I am well accustomed to Italian (not a professional Italian speaker, but can understand relatively well and speak to a good extent), they found an Italian translator for our Ziviltrauung. Finally, I asked Caritas to call Zivilstandsamt to confirm with them, if a German-Italian translator was okay for my case, since I am not a native Italian speaker, and my mother tongue is not Italian.
Zivilstandsamt told Caritas that, as I am good at understanding Italian (on some previous visits to Zivilstandsamt I did talk with them in Italian, also in English, and basic German), it is okay from them. So finally, we have an Italian translator, and have to pay another 125 CHF, but everything is finally settled now.
I will definitely follow up with probably one more final post, with the post-marriage procedure.
Ah, the new account that I created was banned. Didn't know that this would happen (should have read the forum rules more carefully). However, I was able to finally recover the old account.