Hi Everyone,

I know i've seen some threads simliar to this topic, however i'm at my wits end here as i can't quite find the answers i want anywhere.

I am an American living in the US currently. I have been waiting for my long stay (student) visa for almost two months.

Today i call for the status, systems are down & no updates on visa status can be provided.
I asked the consulate what circumstances i face if i must enter prior to my visa approval as my travel date is next week.

I was told i can enter as a tourist, so i don't really need the visa to enter, but i may be stopped at border control because they'll likely see i'm waiting on visa approval. If i make it through borders, good for me.
Next i need to register with the authorities and request a residence permit. This is where i may run into issues as my visa is not yet approved. i'll essentially be at the mercy of the authorities at this point.

Has anyone experienced this situation?
How do i find out if my visa is approved if i decide to leave before it is approved?
How do i obtain my visa once approved?
Where would I go to obtain the residence permit?
Which comes first the chicken or the egg?!

Any help is much appreciated. First hand experience, even better!

Thanks!

Had a similar situation. My VISA was not ready and I had already bought my plane tickets. I had no problem entering as a tourist. You can stay up to 3 months on that. Once I was here and my papers came through, I had to go and pick up my Visa outside Switzerland. I had my ready in Stuttgart, DE. Is there a contact with your school that you are working with?

Legally you can not study in Switzerland without that student visa. We had a big discussion into it here on the forum on that matter. Though there is some question as to entering the country and then leaving to collect your visa and returning and presenting that visa to the authorities when you arrive in Switzerland.

I got my visa a week ago after a 2.5 month wait and I would have got it earlier if I had a place to stay in the country before I sent the application.

Getting into the country should be non-issue, your a tourist at that point but once you register I've heard from people (University, Swiss Consulate, Foreign police) that they know of students turned away and kicked them out at that point. At the same time I know of a few that did go that route and had no issue at all.

The Swiss consulate notified me by email and phone call that my visa was ready.

Once approved you can ask for the visa to be sent to another Swiss embassy for pick up. Nearest is Berlin or Paris I believe.

Don't know.

The whole process is a fun catch 22!

I'm Canadian btw so my experience should be similar.

Good luck!

oh darn! i posted a bigger reply and it seemed to not go through.

Any way. Thank you for both of your replies!

@jerallie
I don't have a contact at the school, its a cetification program and not a large University (which often have visa officers). They seemed to not be involved in the process at all and when i began asking questions they recommended i get in touch with the authorities. Ironic they're not more involved with the success of my application because they so want my money after all...

So i'll have to see if i can get my visa in a near by embassy. That seems to be the most hopeful option...

The consulate told me today to get in touch with the authorities in Bern because the process is taking too long. Finally they realize - over two months now.

I'll see what happens! Thank again!

Just as an update, I successfully entered Switzerland and am currently a few days away from beginning my student program. Border patrol asked how long i was staying and i said the "three month tourist period..errr..90 days.." and the officer was sure to remind me that 90 days is what i should pay attention to as three months can be longer than 90 days. Gotta love their accuracy.

STILL no visa. The authorities have told me to go ahead and start my classes (ie pay the school money for a course that i may not be legally allowed to finish), however they still cannot guarantee my stay in Switzerland until the official decision is made by the reviewer- obvious. It's odd, the Migration office and County office are way more laid back about the process than the Consulate and website information allow you to believe. They are both very friendly and seem to genuinely want to help you. On the other hand, i really see no reason why the NY Swiss Consulate exists. They provide no help whatsoever in the visa process. I could have just as easily mailed my application to Switzerland; this is about the only help they provided to me. It's now been almost 14 weeks that I've been waiting. This process is unbelievably slow. Showing up to the Cantonal/Migration Office and County office in person helped as it seems (by their reaction) that my application was just sitting in a pile not yet even reviewed. However it's a good thing i had someone with me who spoke the local language. I asked one of employees if they spoke English and they stated German or French only. Call me crazy but how can you only speak those two language at a MIGRATION OFFICE?! You have refugees coming from all over and you are going to tell me you will only speak two languages? Either way, the visa review process is a huge problem in Switzerland, even Swiss people i speak with agree. I'm just glad i'm not running from a home i can't return to. Things could be worse.