Hi everybody,

I am a non EU PhD student here. I want to invite my wife to stay with me but no really clear about the financial requirement.

My salary is about 2700fr/month after tax. I went to the immigration office and they say that salary is enough to inviting my wife and I need to rent an apartment having at least 2 rooms.

Now I m searching for the appartment. However still confused what is the specific financial requirement for inviting spouse. For example, if I rent an appartment for 1300Fr I would have only 1400Fr to spend for me n my wife for everything else and it might make my financial requirement insufficient.

Anyone knows about this, please help.

If the office told you that your salary was "enough", then I would think that they would be the best people to answer your question which seems to be "how much is enough?" Why not ask them? I think you'd have more luck with that method to be honest. They will know the requirements better than anyone here.

Hi,
Thanx for ur response. I will surely phone them on Monday. I just wanna look for anyone with experience here.

I must say I do find the requirement for having 2.0 rooms in order to have your spouse come to the country a strange one. I would be willing to bet that there are plenty of people (including Swiss) who live together has a couple in a 1.0 or 1.5 room apartment because they can't afford anything bigger. I wonder how strict they would actually be on that point? Shouldn't it be some sort of basic human right that your wife be allowed to live where you live?

I dont know how strict is that but all people I know never ever try to do against it. I guess there is a problem with less than 2 room appartment is that your spouse cannot apply for the resident permit because 2 people live in a 1 or 1.5 room appartment.

Yes I understand that they are quoting this rule, but my point is this: If the state can tell you that you aren't allowed to have 2 people in a 1.0 or 1.5 (or 3 people in a 2.5, etc.) then surely they should apply this rule to the Swiss as well, rather than just to foreigners?

The fact is that there are Swiss living in the smaller apartments which don't seem to be allowed for you, so what I'm saying is that what is good for the goose should be good for the gander?

Perhaps Richard might have some insight into this point?

Hi Mark,
Yes there is a basic rule in Switzerland that when it comes to a couple the accomodation should be such that there is sufficient room that one can be in a room on their own when the other is home. Interestingly there is no such rule that states how many m2 etc so theoretically you can have a 2 room 25m2 accomodation and that is acceptable but a 90m2 1.5 room accomodation is not! Also there is no real rule when it comes to children so you can have 5 children with parents living in a 2.5 room flat...

If you are earning less than 3300 before Tax then you are below the official poverty line and hence cannot invite your wife for the reason you would not be able to support her. You can successfully argue this but I guess you would not have the means to do that - the bringing together of a family is a basic right. IF you can save a few thousand francs then you will not have the same problem...

Thanks Richard,
I've just called the immigration. When telling the officer about my salary and asking about the financial requirement, she didn't state any specific limit for salary, just said my salary is very narrow. I kept asking but she didn't have any specific limit I'm very confused right now. Anyone has any experience with this?

Ok, so what you are saying is that this rule applies to SWISS people as well? So a Swiss couple can't share a 1.0 or 1.5 room flat? In this case I'm sure there are many who are in violation of this rule.

The point you raised about children is interesting - someone on another thread said his permit was being denied unless he had a 3.0 because he had a wife and child. If you are saying children don't count, then he was getting the wrong requirement.

I have a few thousand now and can borrow some from my parents, how much do you think is enough for my case? Also, if I have about 5000Fr but is deposited for the rented appartment, would it count ?

I've heard from Filipinos inviting relatives that there is a form in the Gemeinde (community office) that one could fill-out to invite family members/relatives. The inviting party here must have about CHF 20'000.- per person invited, in the bank (this is Gemeinde Ostermundigen in Bern).

Knowing Switzerland though, it might be different depending on which Gemeinde you're registered, so it is better to ask at your local community about this.

No deposits are no good, we are talking liquid money. 20K is a frequently bantered figure but this is actually for the financial independce figure that is assumed as required between arrival and finding a job over a 6 month time frame. You will also notice it adds up to 3300 a month... Although there is no official minimum wage it does appear everywhere through calculation
I would suggest if it is for your wife this must do even if the permit is permanent although there is no fixed figure.

Yes indeed it does BUT the Swiss do not need to show accommodation contracts in order to get permits do they... He is indeed getting the wrong advice...

When I first moved here, my husband's "bachelor pad" was a 53 square meter studio apartment in Zurich, and we lived there for 8 months until we moved to Basel. Nobody ever blinked an eye about our living accomodation when it came to my non-EU marriage-related B permit.

Hi,
I know a few people in Lausane having a salary of 3500 Fr before tax were able to invite their wife here. But housing must be cheaper in Lausane though.

I read through international student guide from ETHZ, and a student have to prove that he have 18,000 sFr per year to get a visa. In my case, my salary is about 32,000 Fr after tax, 4000 sFr short for 2 people for that requirement.

To have 20,000 sFr in my bank acc. is very difficult. To prove that we have 20,000 sFr equivalent in my wife's acc back home is a bit easier as we can borrow from our parents. Any suggestion here?

I also used to do a PhD (therefore had the same salary as you) and some students in my lab also invited their wives to come here. Apparently, 2700 sfr is not enough for their wives to be permitted to come so my professor had to increase their salaries (to about 3300). Are you in ETH or in University? Just talk to your professor to increase your salary (at least for a while). I'm sure he will be understanding.

I talked with my prof. The salary cant be increase. Each year, it can only increase 6%.

As I look at the requirements for international student here, they need 18,000 sFr for a year, i.e. 1.500 sFr per month. So I guess I have to find additional source which can cover up me n my wife to that requirement.

The institute also can help in writing letter to the immigration office regarding to this matter. I hope this helps as well.

Seems like no one interested in this thread anymore

I have a question here.
Is this possible for me to move to Aargau if I have a B-permit in Zurich?
I heard that inviting wife in Canton Aargau is easier than ZH itself. I have to check it as well.

Another possiblity that if my wife proves that she has 20,000 Chf to spend. Would it be ok ?

Hi Gnartyuh...look i really dont know how many time you was in the imigration office...but for me was difrent every time...all depend of the people you spoke...depend of the people you have in front of you...for me one time they say i have to live switzerland soon, and they say i cant marry here and others things more..but i try it again.. and well am still here