I have run into a situation and was hoping someone might be able to offer some insight. My wife and I both live in the U.S. and are U.S. citizens. I am a graduate student and, for my program, I will be coming to Switzerland for a 6-month internship at a Swiss company. The Swiss company filed the visa paperwork for both of us (my wife will not be working while we are there but is just coming for us to be together and enjoy the country).

However, I was just informed yesterday that my work visa was approved but my wife's visa was not approved. The message stated that the Swiss officials invite my wife to come on a tourist visa. The problem though, as many of you likely know, is that the Schengen visa only allows my wife to be in the country for 90 days out of any 180 days, meaning essentially that my wife can only stay with me for 3 out of the 6 months. I was a bit surprised at this outcome

Does anyone have any ideas or advice on anything we could try so that my wife and I don't have to be separated for 3 months (legal, of course)? Is there any sort of appeals option? Any sort of other visa options we're not aware of? My wife and I are very uninterested in being apart for that long.

Thanks for any help or ideas anyone might have.

She could try to find a job and the employer would then be responsible for getting her permit, it is not so easy to do but is possible. Depends a bit on her area of expertise and other factors such as language, education, etc..

I am not sure about appeals, but think it is possible, search the forum and you will find.

The next best option is to apply for a family reunion visa once you are here. You could file the paperwork the moment you arrive, and it should get processed within three months. She then might have to go and pick up the visa from a Swiss consulate/embassy in a neighboring EU country.

You should get someone to help (esp. with translation) from the company and talk to the cantonal migration office. Sometimes the type of the permit, particularly short duration ones, may not allow family reunion.

...oh. I thought you were trading...

As in...?

Guy says, "I got a new Yugo for my wife".

Friend says, "Nice trade".

I am new to the forum and not quite familiar with Swiss humor, what is the joke about?

(googled yugo and apperantly its some eastern european car)

The joke was the that OP wanted to exchange his wife for a visa (or a Yugo). The point is the title "visa for wife" is ambiguous.

If she has a US passport, just cross the border to France/Germany/Italy and back, you get another 90 days stay. There is no law prohibiting one from doing just that. On the other hand, if you are just staying for 6 months, who cares, are they going to root her out if she over stays? As a tourist, they don't really know her where about anyway.

There will be a record of when and where she enters the Schengen zone, and the OP has it correct that she can be here for 90 days out of 180 in the Schengen zone, so the border crossing is useless unless she is doing it to pick up a family reunion visa.

US Citizen with a valid US passport does not need a Schengen VISA! They only stamp your passport on the date of entry.

US citizens can be in the Schengen zone for only upto 90 days as tourists. To continue to stay beyond that, as the OP would like for his wife, they need to become residents, which for the OP`s wife would be through a family reunion visa.

Actually - there is.

that's what I suggested to cross the border and back to get another 90 days.

Realistically, who's going know if the op's wife had over-stayed for her tourist visit.

Crossing the border into Italy, Germany or France won't get you anywhere as you are still in Schengen (which Switzerland is part of). Not only that, but the law says 90 days out of 180 (which in simple words means you can't go out for a day and reset your counter - you need to stay out 90 days).

Yeah, it's not like in Europe we have computers and databases and stuff.

You are completely wrong about this. There in fact IS a law that forbids this. Please stop giving advice that is illegal and just plain wrong.


Yeah, like S_Mk2 wrote, they have databases and stuff and indoor toilets too.

Realistically, who wants to risk their wife getting kicked out potentially of the euro zone for years? They typically don't stamp/ask for your passport when passing between CH and Italy for example.

Maybe you had better luck than the rest of us

Thank you miniMia, his wife would be expelled from ANY Schengen State for at least 5-10 years because of Visa violations!

This with the family reunion visa is another case, easier if you not Swiss, what a joke! But he should go this line, apply for it as she is here. What is the reason for her refusal anyway? It MUST have been explained in writing why she was refused (and also how she can appeal this decision)

The reason is probably the standard one - i.e. the law doesn't allow for automated family reunion on short-term permits... and considering this is an internship most likely the conditions that have to be met (financials) have not been deemed as met...

Mhmmmm, to build up some savings? (It's NOT money I am talking about)