Hi everyone,

I'm moving to Basel next month to start a new assignment in one of the pharma companies.

I currently live with my girlfriend, who is non-UE and has a valid residence permit for Portugal.

It's a short term contract, probably from 6 to 9 months.

Do you think she would be getting any problems to stay with me in Basel during my assignment ? Does she need to apply to any kind of Visa or the Portuguese residence is enough for her to stay?

Thanks !

She can absolutely not stay with you for the term of your assignment. I'm sure you know that Portugal and Switzerland are two different countries.

She can stay 3 months then she must leave for three months.

Generally you need to be married for her to get a visa to stay with you. But you can try and ask at the commune if you can sponsor her stay. They may allow it. Generally they don't. But in some instances they have approved if you can show you have enough money to sponsor her stay.

Thanks for your reply !

Sorry to ask you this, but I've been reading around about this point and it is still not clear for me.

As she has residence in other UE, if she can go back to Portugal every other week (one week on, one week off basis), then she won't have any problems to stay for 6 months, right?

Thanks again

It doesn't matter if she has residence in an EU country. Each country in the EU/EEA is still responsible for it's own immigration.

Anyway, she might well have a problem doing that. The immigration people don't like suspicious activity and that looks really suspicious.

Switzerland is in the Schengen area, but is not in the EU.

You might be able to live together in France, close to Basel. They might be more sympathetic. She might be able to work in France.

Thanks everyone for the information provided.

I'll try to find out what would be the easier approach for us, as she has no intention to work in France or Switzerland, just stay with me during this assignment.

I would be grateful If anyone can share their experiences with similar situations.

Also, take into consideration that your girlfriend might lose her Portuguese residence permit if she leaves the country for longer than 3 months. Also consider things like healthcare/accident insurance - she might not be entitled to it in CH.