I recently had a job interview in Martigny. I have been told that I have the job but I still need to review the contract. This would be my second stint in Switzerland after working in Zurich and living in Arth-Goldau over 10 years ago. As a UK citizen, I'm glad to see that it's now a lot easier for EU nationals to get a work permit!

The only problem that I can forsee is that my girlfriend is Venezuelan and we have no immediate plans to get married. We lived together in Barbados where a letter to the immigration department stating that I would be responsible for all her expenses and that she would not seek employment, was seen as sufficient. I doubt this is the case in Switzerland !!

My girlfriend and I have been together for over 2 years. I view the relationship as serious enough to turn down what could be a very good job offer if this is going to be a big battle.

Has anyone else had expereience in obtaining a permit (non employment) for a non EU girlfriend or partner. Tips and advice and links to other threads would be much appreciated..! Please be gentle, this is my first (not counting the same post on the Introduction Thread) post after all !!

Sorry to bombard you all with a question from the off but if the responses are not positive, my time as a member of this forum may be somewhat shortlived !!

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Hi,

I suggest you contact the gemeinde(town hall) in Martigny as they'll be able to give you accurate information. Also take a look at www.ch.ch or www.admin.ch Best of luck

Hi cokernuts, have a read through the following links in french and german; have a look at directive 556 (556.1 and 556.2), which concerns unmarried heterosexual partners.

http://www.bfm.admin.ch/etc/medialib...gen_1206_f.pdf

and

http://www.bfm.admin.ch/etc/medialib...gen_1106_d.pdf

Ebony, now I am armed with the information gathered from the links provided by flyboy, I will be giving the town hall a call next week.

Using my rather rusty German and schoolboy French, it appears that the decision to allow my girlfriend to stay is at their discretion to a huge extent. Hopefully I can go armed with all the information and assurances they need in order to obtain a residence permit for her.

Thanks to you both for your feedback. I will try and post updates as to my progress so other people in the same boat can benefit from my experiences.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Cheers, Cokernuts