Hey,

I am from India and I came to Switzerland in August 2011. My resident visa is about to expire in a month and I received a letter from the Kanton that they cannot renew my visa as I haven’t learned the German language (A1 & A2 level) yet.
Whereas I was told that I have to learn the language in 3 years.

Can someone please confirm the time period in which the language is mandatory to learn.

Did you sign any "Integration Contract" saying how much time you have to learn a language ?

Yes, i did sign a contract but it is in German. But I was told that I can the learn the language in 3 years whereas my friends were told to do it in a year. I have just completed 6 months here but I have to get my visa renewed as its is expiring this month. Also, I received a letter from the Kanton saying that they cannot renew the visa as I have not learnt the language and if I have, I need to submit my attendance proofs. Whereas my German classes are starting next week.

I have B permit- trailing spouse.

I'm confused why your permit is expiring this month - I haven't heard of a six month B permit. (permit, not visa - a visa lets you in the country, a permit lets you stay in the country)

Regardless, maybe you should go to your Gemeinde and try to discuss this with them - six months does seem like not a lot of time to complete the A2 level (assuming you can't attend a class every weekday morning or something like that)

Here is the relevant FAQ (in German, of course) for your Canton (St. Gallen, right?). From my reading (and my German isn't great), it sounds like every contract is negotiated differently, so you should find a German speaker to figure out what your contract says. http://www.sg.ch/home/sicherheit/Aus...ng%20FAQ_2.pdf

I think the expiry is tied up with the main permit holder and considering it could have taken nearly 6 months for the spouse to come over, I can very well imagine a 6 month permit.
Coming to the original post , It seems that OP was asked to take up german lessons and is aked to submit proof of taking up lessons and not produce a certificate that he/she has alreadypassed a german examination.
OP : You should have enrolled for german lessons as soon as you came here. Only option left is to visit gemeinde and show them the reciept/registration that you have now enrolled and apologise for not doing it earlier. You have been here only 6 months so they might be considerate.

Yes, my husband came here in March but I got my permit in August and our permit dates are same. I guess, I should consult the gemeinde.

Thanks for your help and time.

I am little bit confused here.
If you are on dependent permit then your permit should be renewed along with your spouse. It should not be considered indenpendent unless you wish you go for an independent permit.
if not then there should not be any constraint that you need to learn German within 6 months of your arrival. As far I know this is not normal scenario.

Also I am not aware of anyone getting a 1 year B Permit on arrival. It is usualy L Permit for 2 years and then it gets converted to B Permit.

As everyone suggested, I would suggest to clarify with your geminde

good luck

Hi, I don't think it's required for B permit dependent to learn German for renewing VISA. I dont understand why you have to learn it even within 3 years??

Yes, I have been asked to learn the language. Me & my husband got 1 year B permit and we were told that this will be renewed every year. Whereas my husband got his permit in March and I got my permit in July 2011. But it was mandatory for me to learn the language not for him.

It seems strange that they expect me to learn the language in 6 months.

I guess, I should speak with the Gemeinde on Monday before it escalates.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Some cantons have requirements of an integration contract - this thread has a little more info - Swiss Integration Contract - and the pdf I linked to has some FAQs specific to the canton that the OP lives in about this.

And yes, some non-EU get a B permit on the first shot. Some (like me) are less lucky!

Let us know how it goes . Good Luck.

Sure. Thanks much

Any news ?

Not yet. They (St. Gallen- Migration office) will update me in another 10 days.
Keeping my fingers crossed.

Will update the status as soon as I get any response.

Thanks

Finally!!!! got my visa.
Thanks all for your help.

Please close the thread.

Congrats...and now start taking german lessons seriously

Hahha... yeah I have already started that. Thanks