Thank you for the great information. Would someone be able to clarify a few things that are not clear to me.

I am an Italian citizen currently living in Australia with my 2 children. My partner has lived in Switzerland for about 40 years as a permanent resident (and has C permit). We want to go over to join him and stay for about one or two years initially.

I was told by the Swiss Consulate here that as an Italian EU citizen I can work freely in Switzerland without a permit. Does that mean that I can apply for a B permit? I work for myself and run a couple of online businesses so I would not be looking for traditional work as such.

I was thinking that family reunification would be the best approach, however I can't find a definition of "spouse" in this case - does it mean wife or is a de-facto partner also accepted. And would there have been a time period that we would need to live together before being considered a couple under the Swiss rules (we have not lived together long term as yet) and been together for 2+ years.

I would also like to know how easily would my children be able to go to the local Swiss school (they are Italian/Australian citizens).

Be great if someone has been in the same situation and can give me some idea of this.

You get a B-EUR permit, unless you are entitled to a C permit derivatively.

I am a Swiss citizen about to bring my British wife to live in Switzerland. The consulate here told me there are no approvals, I just show up and register at the commune where we own an apartment.

I can tell you that your children can freely go to local schools. Switzerland is treated as an EEA country for many purposes and your (and your dependents') rights derive from that. While my LLM in European Law is more than a decade old, I don't have to do any research to answer that question.

"Do I first have to secure employment in Switzerland or may I immigrate before?

"EU/EFTA nationals may enter Switzerland for job-searching purposes. No permit is required for stays of up to three months. If no job can be found within this time, the appropriate local or cantonal authorities will grant a short-term residence permit (type L permit) valid for another three months' job search. If after this period your job search has remained unsuccessful, you may request for your short-term residence permit to be extended. Extensions are granted up to one year. However, this short-term residence permit does not authorize EU-8 or EU-2 nationals to start a job. They will need to apply with the cantonal labor market authority for a residence permit (see point 2)"


http://www.bfm.admin.ch/bfm/en/home/...16.html#a_0016

Thank you Andy... that sounds positive and reassuring...

Indeed. Unfortunately it's wrong as it only applies to married couples. Of course, as an EU citizen you can still come to Switzerland but you'll need to prove a means of support and jump through a few more hoops.

True enough: "partner" is ambiguous and I didn't detect the possible distinction. OP may or may not be regarded as married or equivalent for immigration purposes.

But the citation of EU rights remains the same: only difference is the loss of derivative Permit C status.

Under ECHR Art. 8(1) binding on Switzerland, the children have a right (not unequivocal but a right nonetheless) to be with their father. Likewise Chen/Zhu case (ECJ, but persuasive for interpreting the EU treaties). And OP has independent EU rights. Worry about the rest after he gets here.

And as for schooling: assuming they are Italian too where's the issue?

These aren't the bad old days: I remember Otti, nice guy, Italian, I knew him in Baar (Zug). Couldn't get divorced in Italy (no divorce in Italy in the 1960s, nor in Switzerland if the law of nationality wouldn't tolerate it) and couldn't live with his Swiss citizen girlfriend (hey, that would have been scandalous in those days). Worked for two decades in Switzerland: who would put up with that Victorian nonsense today?

Of course if they guy had been rich he could have gotten divorced in a third country. Nevada even. Like my Maltese friend.

I didn't find on this forum or on the Swiss and municipal government Web sites the answer to the procedure and list of documents required for a Swiss citizen bringing an EU spouse to live in Switzerland. I rang the Montreux population office and got the following answer in respect of retired persons (additional information might be needed if the spouse is planning to work):

I need to bring the usual registration forms (downloadable from http://www.montreuxofpop.ch/ ), my Swiss ID card or passport, her British passport, 4 photos of her, our marriage certificate (probably redundant since I have to bring our livre de famille also; I ordered it from my commune of origin in Aargau) and a bunch of francs. Also proof of solvency. I told them since I could afford to by a flat in Montreux I must be solvent but they want my pension statement too. I'd give them my AVS statement but I only get 211 francs a month from AVS: chump change.

(I remember many years ago when I was living in Vessy and my (Swiss) mother came to visit from New York. I asked the local authorities what she'd have to do if she wanted to stay. They told me that she'd need to ask permission since she was from another canton. I asked if permission was ever refused and they said no. Since then (1992) Switzerland has abolished that formality, and that despite the fact it never ratified Protocol 4 to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, CETS No. 46 http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Co...03/2010&CL=ENG ) That Protocol has not been ratified by the UK either, and that because of laws in force allowing the UK Government to restrain persons it deems terrorists from traveling or moving, typically between the mainland and Northern Ireland (Exclusion orders under the Prevention of Terrorism Acts).)

Hello guys I need your help (if possible) in the following questions.

I am an EU-17 citizen and I am planning to move in Zurich (I have some job offers).So,

1) If my employment contract is >365 days I get definitely the B permit for 5 years or the validity of the permit will be equal to my contract (e.g. 2 years)?

2)Can anybody provide a link for the application of EU-B permit in canton Zurich? Or anybody has a scanned copy?

3)How much I will wait to get my permit?

3)Which is the renewal process of B permit after its expiration?Do you have to make the same application again as initial or it is a more "automatic" process?

Thank you in advance!!

Answered sooooo many times it really is getting boring now. Did you try searching?

come on Bob, they know not what they do.

I just found out that nobody cares if I renew my permit or not. I deregistered in March, I have re-registered in April but I still have a permit which was deregistered on 31st March.

The only people who actually care is the people handing out licence plates! So I have wrong kanton plates on the car and nothing on the bike as it's been stolen..! Yes, I am still riding around

thank you for this summary!
What about romanians? - the country is in EU, but its citizens dont have the same rights like "a full EU citizen"..its like we have the right to walk, not to work..

Thanks for the useful info. I'm moving back to Switzerland in a couple of weeks and very happy about it!

I only have a low quality scanned copy of my contract at present. Do you reckon it'll be good enough for the kreisbüro people? The boss man is often away so it might take some time to get the proper one.

Also, anyone have a link to the current price list?

Thanks a lot!
Owen.

I am confused with our current situation.

I have B, German citizenship and am employed with a 6-figures salary. I have successfully applied my Bulgarian girlfriend for a L Permit because she is going to a language school.

The L permit was for 2 months (I guess because when she applied we had confirmation for 2 months more language school).

I also signed a Garantieerklärung. The L permit is due running out this month.

I have sent a letter asking to change the ending L permit into a Dependent B.

We just received a letter that they can only offer L for 12 months, and she is not allowed to work. I signed another Garantierklärung as requested, stating the same as before (how many more do they want??!!)

She is 29, has a MBA and worked for several big american companies back in Bulgaria.

The only way she would be allowed to work if an employer proves she earns enough and is better qualified or no Swiss person was found, thats mentioned in the letter.

I see her every day suffer of this situation, she just cannot stay home and wants to work.

What can we do? Isnt there a quota regulation for Bulgarians and Romanians? Would a civil partnership or a marriage solve this problem?

Canton Bern.

Regards

Correct.

Yes, there is, and they must also follow employment restriction processes as per non EU.

Marriage would. Instantly.

Not sure about CP in Bern.

Swissbob, many thanks

It is not at all as "bad" as for non-EU nationals. There are three restrictions. The quota is one of them (independent of the non-EU limits).

Local workers are given priority. In order to hire an EU-10 citizen, the employer must have been unable to hire a person integrated in the Swiss job market (Swiss or a foreigner). This is a much weaker condition compared to that applied to non-EU people, still it is an obstacle.

The last obstacle is a check of salary and working conditions.

Marriage is likely to solve everything. If you've got a B, the wife gets a B and no restrictions can be applied.

EU-10 wives on a "dependent" L are subject to salary & working conditions checks, no local preference or quotas apply.

Given the OP has got a B permit, they would be fine...

http://www.bfm.admin.ch/etc/medialib...ngen-fza-d.pdf

Thank you Sarik!

How is it weaker? In effect the position must be advertised for 3 months without attracting local candidates. For non-EU the only difference is the job ad must also provide for EU applications. Still 3 months. Still an effective bar to employment.

.... as long as they get married.

I considered it easier to compete with the few million people already present in CH in comparison to the hundreds of millions of potential candidates in all of EU+EFTA. That's theory, in practice it may indeed make little difference.

I see your point and agree entirely but believe it or not, most EU citizens are not desperate to come to Switzerland.