The thing is, people who are unhappy with their living situations speak the loudest. You don't hear about the people who make this work. It's perfectly acceptable for this to be a deal breaker for you, but yes it can work it and work out happily. I would be over the moon if my MIL lived closer to us or even with us. She isn't invasive, but she is so helpful and we get along very well.

I have to say though, it seems like you two are from very different cultures and you may encounter even more cultural differences with this living situation. Even growing up in the same bigger cultures, each family has its own culture of its own. My dad is invasive, he doesn't have boundaries. I don't care, I was raised that way and am used to it, my husband though? It drives him up a wall that my dad will ask nosy questions and just assume if it's something we don't want to share we won't. My guys mom though? She's overly cautious in the other way. I could have sworn she hated me the first few years because she never asks questions, she never just assumes she's part of a family gathering unless directly asked every single time. Like seriously, if I say I'm cooking dinner for the whole family to you, I'm telling you I want you there, you're family, but she would think I was saying I was doing it and didn't want her there. I know it's long winded, but if you do decide to stay with him, you will need to be very sensitive to these differences in how you handle things because she will be there living with you all the time, and I think that these differences in communication and different family values are a lot of what contributes to mother in law and wives not getting on as well as they could.