Hi all,

When I had my B permit, I was offered a contract for the UN but decided to decline as I was required to give up my permit in order to get a Carte de Legitimation. I have since received my C permit so I was wondering if the same conditions apply? Would I have to give up my C permit and if so, would I be able to get it back once the contract ended?

Any input is sincerely appreciated!

Do not know about C permit, but for B permit there is an exception. If you are married to someone with a B permit it is possible to have two permits.

I know somebody that worked at CERN with a "permis fonctionaire" and was married to a person with a B permit.

They wanted to buy a house but he was not allowed to with his permis fonctionaire.

If he would quit CERN he would get a B permit and would be a able to buy a house.

With the help of the Swiss consulate in Geneva he eventually got two permits, but the process was cumbersome. He received several letters that he could pick up his permit only to find out at the office de population that he could not get two permits.

So yes you can have two permits if having just one leads to strange situations (like quitting your job to find a place to live so you can actually do your job )

And that's entirely right - you can't have two types of ID at any one time. The very simple workaround is for the spouse to actually buy the house.

But answering to the main question, yes you have to surrender your C permit and no, you won't necessarily get it back.