Hi All,

I have searched the forum and still can't really answer my question so thought I would give a new thread a go.

I am a Non-EU and have a B permit. I work as a postdoc in Fribourg.
My fiance wants to join me in Switzerland (obviously!) and so I am trying to find out our options regarding a permit for him. I contacted the SpoMi (Foreign Police) and was told that it would not be possible for him to get a permit (except on his own merits, through finding a job open to foreigners etc). The reason they gave was that I am only here temporarily. It was accompanied by a request to only communicate with them in French or German. So I emailed again (with the help of a lot of French-speakers!) and said that I have a contract for 2 years and the possibility to extend it to 5 years. I told them my salary and said that I would attest to financially support him. The next reply was no better with them saying once again that as far as they are concerned I am here temporarily and so it wouldn't be possible.

I should point out that we were expecting the process to be difficult, but didn't expect a "no" straight away! This seems to be somewhat different to the experiences of others in the forum and so I was wondering how best to proceed. Are marriage and/or a firm job offer our only options?

As all cantons seem to differ so much, any advice from "les fribourgeois" would be especially appreciated.

pretty much. as much as might think you have a B permit, you don't! you have a STUDENT B permit. to everyone it looks like a proper B, but in this case and when dealing with the Controle de habitants, they know exactly what it is! we called them B minus permits.

catons don't differ at this level. it is a FEDERAL clause.

in fact i believe that as you are both (?) non EU'ers then marriage is probably going to be the only option. getting him a job here is going to be difficult.

Thanks bill_door.....
The advice I have from everywhere else is about the same
Guess this means we may need to get back in touch with the Swiss Embassy in NZ - given that every bit of information concerning my own visa situation and work permit application was wrong, I am not holding out much hope of a useful answer from them.

So, are there any other problems concerning the "B minus" permit I should know about?!?

Yes - as I found out last year, you can't work outside the university with it either.

to the regular joe they wouldn't even notice the difference. your situation and the fact that time servered on a B minus does not count towards a C permit are the only things I know of that are different.

Bumping this thread for further information.

I am also a Non-EU national, and I have a permit B living and working in Geneva. I moved from Canada after a company offered me a job and sponsored my relocation to Switzerland.

My fiancee and I have plans to get married next year and our intent is that she would move to Switzerland once we are married and after we complete a “Family Reunification” visa (as per the recommendation of the Geneva cantonal office).

Once she arrives here after we are married, will she be eligible to work immediately? Or does she need to find an employer to "authorize" her to work. I am afraid that if it is the latter, then she may have difficulties finding an employer to justify hiring a Non-Swiss/EU national.

TIA