Hello,

I am a US Citizen living in the US. My fiance is French and in France. We have been engaged for a year and a half now and are anxious to finally tie the knot and live together. We will live in France close to the Swiss border (dept 38- Isere). I informed my American company of my hopes to transition to the company's Swiss branch (in Vaud (Vosges/Lonay)) as I would be getting married soon. My company could not be more thrilled and wants to send me over ASAP. They have made up my contract to begin September 1st, but I do not think the formalities will be completed by that date. So far both the French Consulate and the Swiss Embassy have been very unhelpful in informing me what steps I need to take. Both offices seem confused about what I should do since we will not be married until I actually move over there (so potentially mid September, although I am hoping to begin work on Sept 1st). Therefore, I am now contemplating a quick trip to France in the coming weeks to get hitched so that we can begin the paperwork process.

So as a recap:
American citizen currently living in US
Marrying French citizen
Will live in France
Will commute to work daily to Switzerland (from France dept 38 to Swiss canton Vaud)
Inter-company Transfer

Can anyone tell me about the G Permit for commuting EU citizens? As the spouse of an EU citizen am I entitled to this permit regardless of which French department we live in and/or how long I have been living in France? (I have read conflicting documents online!) Would another type of visa or permit be recommended instead? Does my company need to do anything first with the local government before offering me this position? Is there a risk that I will be denied a visa/work permit at all? I am very lost and any direction would be greatly appreciated!!!

Also, my position is in Healthcare Technology (BioTech, Pharmaceuticals, etc.) but it is entry level (I have been working at the company for almost 1 year). The CEO of the company informed me that my salary would be adjusted for the increased cost of living, but I have not yet been told a figure. Could anyone give me a Gross and Net salary range of what to expect?

Thank you so so much in advance!

I would say that on the basis of an ad literam interpretation of the law I'd say no, as the text is pretty specific in mentioning "nationals of the contracting parties" and is mum as far as (non-national) spouses are concerned. How stringently this is interpreted I do not know, a telephone call to the Aliens' Office in Vaud would probably answer this.

If you read French, it's art. 7 of the Free Movement Agreement

Another question you need to ponder on is this: commuting at rush hour it'd take about three hours each way from the closest point in Isère to Lonay....

Thanks for your reply. I am aware of the commute. I was over there a few weeks ago and there is a new autoroute between Chambery-Geneve which when we took at 7am only took about 35 mins, and then I was counting another 1h25m after geneva- so about 2 hours. I am prepared for a three hour commute, however, as my commute in the US is currently 3.5hours. The most important thing for me is to be with my soon-to-be husband and to have a job- the commute is just a negative detail. Do you know where I could find the telephone number for the office in Vaud you referenced? The Swiss Embassy in NY gave me a geneva number and a lausanne number for the "office de la population..." but nobody has answered for 5 days straight (with very frequent calls being made to each!).

I am reading through the article on Free Movement and to me it seems hopeful (particularly Art. 7 e):

"Art. 2 Non-discrimination

Les ressortissants d’une partie contractante qui séjournent légalement sur le territoire
d’une autre partie contractante ne sont pas, dans l’application et conformément aux
dispositions des annexes I, II et III de cet accord, discriminés en raison de leur

nationalité."

"Art. 7 Autres droits

Les parties contractantes règlent, conformément à l’annexe I, notamment les droits
mentionnés ci-dessous liés à la libre circulation des personnes:
a) le droit à l’égalité de traitement avec les nationaux en ce qui concerne
l’accès à une activité économique et son exercice ainsi que les conditions de
vie, d’emploi et de travail;
b) le droit à une mobilité professionnelle et géographique, qui permet aux ressortissants
des parties contractantes de se déplacer librement sur le territoire
de l’Etat d’accueil et d’exercer la profession de leur choix;
c) le droit de demeurer sur le territoire d’une partie contractante après la fin
d’une activité économique;
d) le droit au séjour des membres de la famille, quelle que soit leur nationalité;
e) le droit d’exercer une activité économique pour les membres de la famille,
quelle que soit leur nationalité;
f) le droit d’acquérir des immeubles dans la mesure où celui-ci est lié à
l’exercice des droits conférés par le présent accord;
g) pendant la période transitoire, le droit après la fin d’une activité économique
ou d’un séjour sur le territoire d’une partie contractante, d’y retourner afin
d’y exercer une activité économique ainsi que le droit à la transformation

d’un titre de séjour temporaire en titre durable."

Am I reading this incorrectly? Thank you again for any insight!

Your right to reside (and work in Switzerland) would only arise as a consequence of Art 7e if your husband would move here to live and work, and further with the condition that at that point in time you should have been married with him and be a French resident.

I should have mentioned I was referring to art. 7 of Annex I to the FMA which regulates cross-border work (same document further below).

This is so depressing!
So then, if I am ineligible for the G Permit , I would have to apply for a B Visa/Permit, even though I have no intentions of residing in Switzerland and will be the spouse of an EU citizen ?

You need to ask them to be sure - this is only my reading of the law.

You can only apply for a B permit if you actually reside (or plan to) in Switzerland. You cannot hold one while being domiciled abroad and working here.

If you haven't already, why not get the Swiss based branch of your company to contact the immigration authorities in Lausanne and talk this through with them? Same time zone, someone there presumably speaks the lingo. They might have more pull than you trying to this on your own.

You'll find the answers to your questions there :

http://www.vd.ch/fr/themes/economie/...aire/permis-g/

Just from my own personal experience, so don't take this for gospel, but this is what I have found so far....

I am a non-EU (Australian) married to an EU citizen (Irish). We moved to France, and I got a job in Basel. There was no problem getting either a Carte de Sejour in France - spose of EU citizens are autoimatically entitled. Once I had that, there was no problem for me getting a G permit to commute across the border.

There are hoops to be jumped, as with going through any bureaucracy, with the longest time being taken for the carte de sejour to actually be ready, but I actually found the whole process of moving here and getting the various permits much easier here than in the UK - not to mention the residency permit being free in France, rather than having to pay £800 for it!

The actual G permit process, I can't help with, as my employer dealt with that, but I had it within a week of them applying for it. The permit is one year renewable, but there has never een a problem with it being renewed.

Hope this gives you some hope that the process does work!

That is so helpful! Thank you!

On the link that is previously mentioned, it says that you must live in France for atleast 6 months- eek!

Did you live in France for 6 months before obtaining the G Permit? I have lived in France twice before for long periods of time and each time it took about 8 months before I received my "carte de sejour". Do you know if a recipisse de carte de sejour would work for the application? Or did you have to have the actual carte in order to get the G permit?

Also says that for non-EU citizen it is delivered only on an exceptional basis, which is also something you need to keep in mind...

I was living in France for 5 months before I got my job in Basel, not through any type of planning, it was just the timing of moving, me looking for a job and one becoming available. I d on't know if that affected my permit application in any way.

Yes, you're right, the carte de sejour can take a while - I think mine took about two to three months before it came through, but technically the 'recipisse' is also supposed to serve as your temporary carte de sejour, so it should provide an indication for the Swiss that your carte de sejour is forthcoming, but as for if it would actually be accepted, there is no way of knowing until you try.

Is your company going through the Swiss G permit application process for you? This should make it a lot easier. If you want to try the application with the recipisse de carte de sejour, try also offering other documentation that might help prove your residency status, such as rental agreement/mortgage/house ownership papers, etc. But like I said, as my work took care of the whole application process in Switzerland, for me, it was very much just give them the papers, and a week later I had my permit. If your company will take care of the Swiss permit, things can be a LOT easier!

Yes, my company has been working with their lawyers and the local government to see how to best address the working permit situation. I am ineligible at the moment for a G-Permit because I havent lived in France for 6 months (I'm still in the US!), but they have offered me a bit of a work-around which I am hoping will work out. We will see!

I was (am) in a similar situation. I am American, married to an Italian. I received a job offer in Switzerland. Even though I am married to an EU citizen and have a permanent "carta di soggiorno" (not a temporary "permesso di soggiorno"), my employer still had to apply for a visa for me and prove to the Swiss government that I had specialized skills and that a Swiss or EU citizen couldn't be found to do this job.

I also asked about getting the border/commuter permit because we just discovered that I have the right to live not only in Italy but in other EU countries as well, including Germany. But that wasn't an option because it didn't really matter where I was going to live, it mattered that I was going to be employed in Switzerland. Therefore the visa (along with all the proof that my employer couldn't find a Swiss or EU citizen to do the job) had to be obtained.

My big mistake was not applying for and obtaining Italian citizenship after I got married. I've been married since 2005, and I could have had Italian citizenship by now. If I had Italian citizenship, it would have been much easier. Shoulda coulda woulda...lesson learned.

If my husband found a job in Switzerland before me, it would have also made things a lot easier. Is there any way your future husband can work and live in Switzerland? Once he is in, it will be a lot easier for you.

In the end I did get my visa, but I was really worried that I wouldn't. My employer has had a visa denied in the past.

P.S. Just a tip...After you get married, apply for French citizenship as soon as possible.

Thanks everyone for this chain of posts. Just thought I would add my experience as well in case it helps anyone. We are in a not too dissimilar situation with me being non-EU and my wife being French. I lived in France a while ago but moved to Switzerland on a B permit for work and did not renew my Carte de Sejour (CdS). As my wife recently found a job in Basel, we decided to live across the border and, as per Mepriana's advice, I went to the mairie in St. Louis to get more info. The process turned out to be quite simple; the lady there gave me a list of documents (salary slips, proof of address in St. Louis, medical insurance, etc.) to bring to renew my CdS so I went back with all the right documents a few days later and I now have my temporary CdS! And it has only been two weeks or so! Probably because the mayor of St. Louis has special rights or something like that...and also because I used to live in France.

In the meantime, my company has been sorting out my G permit and my wife has received her permit through her company. Amazing how fast things move when they do move...partially makes up for all the days spent queuing at various prefectures and embassies!!!

If ever someone french-speaking wants a second opinion, apart from that of our very own, wonderful Shorrock_Mk2, then the Groupement de Frontaliers are worth contacting. They know all this stuff backwards, unlike almost everyone else. Joining is cheap & worth every centime IMHO.

I've heard a lot of good things about this "groupement de frontaliers" from other expats who speak French well enough to work with them.

Personally I haven't had many problems with it but then I don't work in Switzerland...but my husband does...

Although living in France has taught be a lot about patience.

Something else to remember if you are getting married in France...

It takes at least a month to do it...and it is kind of like the Carte de Sejour process...

There is a list of papers that you must give them...

Officially translated copies of everything...

And sometimes a few documents that you need to go to the Embassy or Consulat to get...

You can get this list by going to your mairie and asking for it...

Then you can apply for your Carte de Sejour which could take a few months but the Récipisée usually (for me at least) arrives in less than a month...

So by the time you get to France, apply to get married, get married, apply for your carte de sejour, and then get your Récipisée, your G permit may be good to go...

Anyway, that was how it went for me (except for the G Permit which I don't need because I work in France)...

And for anyone who is interested...

The carte de sejour is renewable every year (so far for 4 years)...at some point it is supposed to be renewable every 10 years but not yet...

The length of time it takes to become a 10 year permanent resident or citizen in France seems to be getting longer and longer...