Hello,

I am Ondrej, 23yrs old, from Slovakia and my PhD at EPFL starts on January 2nd. This will be my first time living in Switzerland. Many of the questions I had were answered by reading older posts and other web pages, but few still remains.

After applying for the residence permit, do I get any confirmation of "being in process" that will enable me to e.g. ask SBB for GA or make bank account / phone / ... activation easier? Or do I need to wait for the permit?

Thank you very much in advance.

When I came in, that's exactly what I got (this was in Geneva, though). I got a confirmation that I asked for the residence permit (an A4 paper) that I marched with to the bank, SBB counters, Swisscom shops.... and it worked everywhere just as well as the real permit.

Snad ti to pomoze,


Juraj

Thank you very much. I will see in a week if it works and write my experience, if anyone is interested.

Dakujem,
Ondro

On issues like opening mobile phone connection do not belive the first response(s) you get. Just ask around for options. With an id-card you can open a prepaid phone. With zemis number a non-prepaid one(not from everyone though). Some also open connection for you if you pay quarantee money (you get it back only after year or so) etc. Just ask around.

Bank account also the same. Some want to charge an extra for foreign address if you do not yet have Swiss one.

The initial document you get from place you register at might not yet have the so called 'zemis number' in it and you can ask for a updated document from the gemeinde when it comes available if you need that one. I think the number is a reference to your number opened in ausländeramt or something like that.

For the residence permit you will need your passport and your housing contract. If you have a temporary place to stay, show up at the local gemeinde (translates as town/commune, where you find the "Fremdpolizei") office within eight days of arriving in Switzerland anyway with the temporary housing contract. Ask the university where yours will be. Providing a copy of your work contract while registering at the gemeinde office can speed up the process.

The town hall will forward your documents to the cantonal migration office, which processes and issues residence permits, and give you an attestation that you have registered. If they need additional documents they will send you a letter. Eventually you get the permit, or a letter that tells you to come and pick it up.

You should take along the attestation when you apply for health insurance since that acts as proof of address. The health insurance is separate from the immigration authorities. As to whether Swisscare is accepted in Bern you have to ask the cantonal health insurance authority.

I can also say when I got my orange simcard they wanted to know my permit number. But Mucho simcard bought from Post, they didn't ask me to show permit but asked to show I.D.

And for the bank I wasn't actually able to open until I got my permit.

Thank you all for your very useful comments. It went very smoothly.

1. I asked for the residence permit B, they wanted: 85 CHF, work contract, ID, confirmation that I am living at that address (does not have to be the lease contract, just an attestation from the householder) and my birth certificate (not sure if this was necessary or they just asked for it and I accidentaly had it, even officialy translated). They could gave me a confirmation that I asked for the permit, but only on the second day and for additional 10 CHF.

2. I ordered yallo mobile prepaid, only ID needed.

3. UBS bank account (type: campus) was easy. At their office near Lausanne Flon they can communicate in very nice English and all that was needed is: confirmation of residence permit application, ID, work contract. The only catch is that to get the full service you must give them your residence permit. They allowed me to send it by fax or e-mail the scan.

That was really useful Ondro thanks.