I received my registration renewal in the mail and I needed to get it smogged this year (FYI, I needed to go to a STAR station to get it done.)
Yesterday, I plugged in my OBD reader to check my readiness monitors and they were all ready to go so I went to the nearby smog place after work.
I kept an eye on their procedure while there. They looked at the underhood stickers, did a brief lookover under the hood around the air intake area, and used a mirror to look under the vehicle, i'm presuming to verify the cats were still there. No engine bay covers were removed.
I suppose the SAIS bypass could be done in CA as long as you keep all the covers on and tuck away the wires as much as possible. The amount of checking will vary from station to station but it's a possibility.