@ Mojado... it could be that they are still looking into it, you mention that the person wrote C-Prüfen. Down here it took them a few months to process my request for a C, including police interview, various back and forth with documentation and visits to the gemeinde (I also did not give the documentation up front they ask later)... it varies a lot depending on the Canton.

I still think you should case up like Alirezakarimi says, but make sure you take it easy... if you show them you are pissed off... it will probably not go in favour of your good integration.

I wish it was that. A short update on the issue: after four days of going to the migration office and telephone calls with people that transfers me to other departments and then bouncing back I was finally told that my request was boldly rejected and that it is strange that the person who received my application refuse to take my documents. As stated above I have to send a separate letter to apply for a C-Permit.

maybe reject is not the right word. I could be you didn't follow the right procedure by not doing the letter and the correct form... I say this because they also sent me an invitation to renew the B... even though I was eligible for a C... (no mention of the C at all) so I has to inform myself well before the date that the old B was up and do the application. (Excuse me if this is a wrong assumption)

It sounds like you have a chance to apply again for the C submitting the whole documentation (as they didn't even look at it!), good luck... yes a bummer that they don't give you all the info about the C application etc in advance... (but par for the course here, you have to inform yourself and no excuse to say, you didn't tell me)

Also just to underline (sorry if i break balls ;-)

c-permit is definitely not automatic after 5 years for EU citizens (at least in my canton) you do have to apply especially... otherwise they send an invitation to renew the B

From the Basel-Stadt site... time to process... = more than 3 months

http://www.bdm.bs.ch/bewilligungen.htm

Bewilligung: Erteilung der Niederlassungsbewilligung (C-Bewilligung)
Verwendung: Der Erhalt der Niederlassungsbewilligung ist abhängig von Ihrer Staatsangehörigkeit, Ihrem Aufenthaltszweck und der Dauer Ihres bisherigen Aufenthalts in der Schweiz.
Formular: » Formular anzeigen
Bearbeitungszeit: < drei Monate
Arbeitsschritte:
- Vorprüfung
- Prüfung
- Entscheid
- Abschluss

Again I wish you all the best of luck!!!!

Now I understand that it's probably a different process. What bothers me is that I mentioned several times in the migration office that I wanted a C-Permit and my documents were not taken. I would have expected to be told that I had to submit a separate requests from the very beginning. Come on, it's the migration office, they are supposed to know, it's their job, where if not there could I get first hand information?

Let this thread be a reference for future EFers in the same situation.

Me and my wife were planning to apply for an early c permit as well. We are based in Zurich as well. I read the official document which lists the documents you need to send for the application. The third point mentions the proof that you were employed 'durchgehend' in these 5 years which is unfortunately not the case for me. I had 1 month break when I was changing my job at the end of my second year.
Did you work without any breaks in these 5 years? And if you had multiple jobs, did you just send the reference's you got from the previous employers to prove that you worked for 5 years or perhaps the 'AHV-Kontoauszug' ?

I didn't have a break between the jobs. I submitted the reference letters from previous and current employer. Honestly, I don't know whether it is problem that you have a one month break or not.

When I submitted the documents for C-Permit, I was told that If the application is rejected, I will get a written explanation of the reason. ( And I will get the 122 CHF back. ). So, if the Application (Gesuch) is in hands of the right person, he should provide you with the reason for the rejection.

Is there such a thing as having the right to be a resident in this country?

Maybe I'm wrong, but as a foreigner, it is clear to me that I'm a guest here. This is not my country and I have no right to demand permanent or temporary residence here.

I certainly don't feel like a guest here. I am rooted here with my Swiss husband and the wee Swiss-ette. I earn money here and pay my taxes accordingly, I'm active in the community and speako da lingo.

I have my feet firmly under the table in Switzerland. In fact, my native UK feels a bit weird and foreign after so many years away from it.

So I'm wrong then?
Can you back-up your feelings with some hard-facts?
Honestly, I would like to know if there exists a right to be here.

If I get my finger out and finish my application and whatnot, I can be naturalised here. I haven't done it up to now because I'm a lazy bugger but I fulfil the criteria to have the right to stay here and become a Swiss.

Looking at it another way, on what grounds do I not have a right to stay here?

So what you are saying is you could have the right to be here through naturalisation but haven't done it yet. In other words, it would be thanks to becoming a Swiss national that you would obtain that right but not before.

A residence permit gives you effectively the right to live in this country, it's not something yo get on your own but rather granted by the authorities. Of course this right can and will be withdrawn under certain conditions. I know I'm not entitled to a C-Permit, but according to the Swiss law I have the right to request it, which is different to demand it.

I don't feel as a guests here, as I have to fulfill obligations during my stay like paying taxes, paying for my residence permit, abide the law and so on, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

Same for us Swiss who married abroad to Non-Swiss - no difference really.
In those days the only way I could stay in the UK after my work permit run out, was to get married and get British nationality. As we wanted to be together (and still are after 41 years), we did what was required, and happily this is what we wanted to do.

But belonging there was separate, it was to do with my heart and my attitude, my willingness to adapt and make the best of the differences, and learn the language fast. I know many other Swiss, French, Germans, Italians, and others, who never did belong nor truly feel very welcomed - but they were the main agents of this.

I'm not saying that at all. If you fulfil the criteria set out by the Swiss government, you have a right to stay here. Everyone's circumstances are different.

I guess you can learn about your own rights if you look at the relevant websites. That's how I normally inform myself but perhaps I'm just weird.

It could be an issue if one has not worked continuously through the 5 years. One month is not really not going to make a difference but if there is a 1 year gap or so, they consider it as not sufficiently integrated into the labour market.

I have also some question about my chances to apply for "Vorzeitige Niederlassungsbewilligung für Drittstaatsangehörige".

I am non EU citizen, I have done my master here (2.5 years) and now I work with an open-ended contract, since 6 months.

The 2.5 years of my study should count towards the 5 (or 10) years for C permit, if I hold B permit for 2 years after the study, according to this document.

http://www.bfm.admin.ch/content/dam/...regelung-d.pdf

Now my problem is that I have a L permit, despite the open-ended contract. On my query from Office for Economy and Labour Kanton Zurich, they said it was normal for a non-EU citizen with open-ended contract to recieve L permit for first 2 years.

So in worst case, my study years as well as the first 2 years that I would be working on L permit would not count towards the C permit.

Does somebody have a similar experience?
I have not contacted migration office yet, but I think I would.

Sorry to burst your bubble, the document you link states it clearly:

The seeker has had for 5 non interrupted years a B-Permit. Previous stays are not considered: education, study, medical treatment, etc

What he/she said. I had a student B permit for a year as I did my MBA, and that did not count towards my eventual C permit.