Hi folks,

I'm halfway through importing my wife to Switzerland. Friday a letter from the Kanton Zürich Migrationsamt arrived asking me to supply supporting documentation for her residency permit application.

Quick facts that may or may not be relevant:

• I'm American with a Auslanderausweis C
• She is South African
• We married in Durban this past August
• She applied for her Auslanderausweis B in Pretoria last month once we had all the documents on her side for the application organized.

While I think I get the gist of the letter, my German is nothing to be proud of. Worse yet, the formal, government German can be really cryptic to me. So, could folks please help me along on the exact requirements for the documentation the Migrationsamt is asking for?

The first point, a copy of the rental contract is easy. The next two are a bit out of my reach. A sworn statement (#2) and a translation of the ZA marriage certificate (#3), I get. But I suspect there are pertinant points I am not picking up.

I'm looking a functional translation, basically. E.g.: "Go down to your kreisburo, pay the man SFr 20.30, put your hand on your head, and swear you are married. Wear a tie. He'll give you a piece of paper, send that in."

Thanks in advance for your help.

Stu

The last one is your wife's criminal record tranlsated into German.

More or less-

They need the following docs:

1) A copy of rental contract
2) A signed affidavit from a Swiss Notary including all the relevent info on the people involved, (Family name, name, DOB, status, nationality) as well as residence location of any children between the parties.
3) A current criminal record of your wife, including a certified translation into German. Should this not be available, a character reference is necesssary.

You can apply to have the deadline extended if there are irregularities etc. which need addressing. Unless they receive a written reply to your application by the deadline, they'll consider it void. You're obliged to tell the truth and be sincere in your application.

They thank you in advance for your future tax revenues, speeding fines, etc etc. (my artistic interpretation).

That's a pint of Guinness please...

Deal! Thanks big time. How do you feel about rugby?

One thing that gets me is that...

• They required the police clearance document on the Swiss embassy's ZA website...
• But the staff didn't want to take it when my wife handed in the application...
• But my wife forced it on them...
• So they have it now....it should be on the desk of the official who wrote this letter...although in English...
• And I never had to translate mine (from the US)

I'm half wondering if this is just a "form letter artifact".

Thoughts anyone?

Small bad on our part, we don't have a copy of the police clearance certificate that we gave to the embassy. We are a bit distressed by this because it took the Durban police eight long weeks to provide certificate. If we have to get another...then...sigh...pain...stress...

We will move forward on the character reference ASAP. She's got low friends in high places that will look good on paper for this. (MDs, city councilmen, etc.)

Thanks again. A pint of Guinness, or more, is comin' your way...

Stu

My wife had to supply the same paperwork for me when I applied for my "Spousal Reunification Visa."

Regarding the criminal record, if there is no record, you don't have to have it translated.

I would have your wife check with the Embassy to see if they still have it in their files. I had to mail it directly to my wife so that she could turn it in with the paperwork in Switzerland. The Embassy does not get involved with that end of the requirements. They only process the paperwork involved with applying for the Spousal Visa. Any other demands by the authorities in Switzerland are handled directly between you and them. So, your wife should send you the paperwork to deliver directly to them.

OK, so this is how it worked out:

• Embassy in Pretoria had the police certificate
• They returned it via courier to my wife in Durban (it had a bit of blood on it, which is kinda spooky. )
• My wife sent document to me
• I had it translated by a notary
• I sent it on to Migrationsamt (at about the two week mark, which was 8 days ago.)
• I sent all other documents, plus a copy of the English police certificate to the Migrationsamt a week prior

The visa has been granted as of yesterday

Thanks again folks for the feedback.

So this good looking wife of yours... does she have a sister?

If anyone could help please do give me some feedback. I am a US citizen hanging here and there in Europe, but want to stay in Switzerland. I was just denied a work permit by the Swiss authorities but came over anyway without a permit for a 3 month visitor stay. My boyfriend is from the UK, but has been here on a B permit for 3 years. We are looking to get married, and find there are six thousand different answers to getting the okay from the Swiss Government. He is currently staying in Kanton Valais. This is a very international Kanton and many of our friends are telling us that friends in the past have done the marriage thing and it worked out. The laws have changed and always seemed to be changing. It seems that each case is different. As i am an American it seems that it maybe close to impossible for us to get married and for us to be able to stay in Switzerland. The process seems long and does not always seem to work. In some cases it does, but I dont think things are looking so great for us. He does not make incredible amounts of money, I have no degree (but have three companies that will hire me in Switzerland once i am married, but dont want to deal with the application process) I speak German, Swiss German and french. But, there is no way that i could fill a job that a swiss national cant fill. I dont know what to do from here. I have to leave soon, but dont know if i should try and apply for another permit this year as i was just denied. And we dont know if it would be easier for us to be married in England or America. I know this is a long winded blog, but I dont know what to do. Please help

Nope, sorry. Outta luck. (But she has some really beautiful friends!)

craft: My I suggest you start your own thread? It sounds like your circumstances are significantly different to mine, and this thread.

I'd also just suggest taking a deep breath and then enumerating your situation in bullet points. Clearly this is a stressful situation for you. The wall-o-text posts can be hard to read and comprehend, and the bullet points can help logically order your thoughts.