Hi, I am an EU citizen with wife from a non-EU country (one which does not require any visa to visit Switzerland.)
I have got a B permit and stable job here, so I would like to know what procedure would be good to follow for my wife to join me here as a dependant.

I have visited the Kresiburo and they told me “no problem, just come here and register after she arrives in Zurich”
I guess that would be OK for the Kreisburo, but the issue is with immigration and entry into the country.

I tried asking the Zurich migrationsamt and got 4 different responses so far
1/ you need to register on our website and apply for permission before coming
(I looked on the website but the it was not clear how to apply or what to apply for)
2/ you can come on a short stay, but need to go back to original country to apply for permission to come long-term
3/ you can come and you should register as soon as you arrive
4/ you can come but make sure to register before your 3-month stay period ends

It may sound confused, but it would be nice to have a definitive answer from someone who has had the experience to say or could advise me, as I could not get that so far from the “authorities”. I guess it comes down to a choice between either
A/ Just come anyway and change from short stay to dependant B-permit or
B/ Apply for permission to come before entering the country

I would suggest B option just to avoid going back and forth, unless your wife would like to spend some short time here before she goes back and decides to apply for longer stay. Just in case she wouldn't like it here

I, a non-EU national who doesn't need a visa to visit Switzerland, came to join my husband (also a non-EU national) last May. I only registered myself with the local authority and proceeded with my resident permit application upon my arrival. We are happy that nothing went wrong and I have got my Permit B within a month.

By the way, before I travel I sent an email to the Embassy of Switzerland in my country to confirm about the procedure, in writing. Sometimes we may get different answers if verbal enquiries are made. Hope this helps crise2!

Thanks for the answers, it's interesting that there is no clear answer as some say you must get a visa before coming, others say this is not needed.

it would be nice if there was a clear answer, but apparently we can't get one, judging by the number of similar threads on the forum.

I asked the Migrationsamt again, this time they first said "I don't know" and went to ask someone else...... if the population of Zurich is 30% foreign, how that they can say that..

Finally they come up with a list of required documentation, so I am following their suggested procedures to avoid causing any problem, without knowing if this is really necessary.

she's married to EU and therefore afforded the same rights as her husband, surely?

Ooooh, I like your story! What do you think will happen if we get married in CH? (Me on my tourist visa and him on his B permit.) Will I have to go back to my country of origin till I get my dependent permit, or what? Oh this is silly! I wish they had a different system for honest people who can't help moving to CH and save these horrible procedures for immigrants with questionable (or not so questionable ) motives...

I am an American dependant in a spouse/partnership with an EU citizen, who is employed here.
My process was:
1.) Apply for the Schengen visa at the Swiss Embassy in home country. (There are forms available online which can be downloaded in advance to save you time.) You may need to provide substantiating info on your job, your marriage, and financial commitment to one another.
2.) Wait for the visa to arrive. (Mine took 3-4 months.) During this time you are not supposed to enter Switzerland, but I know some people do.
3.) Arrive in Switzerland on your visa (mine was a 3-month Schengen visa), and register within 10 days at the Population office in your town. They will process your Permit B paperwork.
4.) Your Permit B will arrive, typically in 1-3 months. It is an annual visa that can be renewed so long as the other spouse is employed. The spouse visa typically prohibits working in Switzerland.

Best of luck to you!
Rocky

Hey, Rocky (or anyone else) -- could you please point me in the right direction for exploring the option of (improperly) entering Switzerland during the pendency of one's visa application? I'm in a situation similar to yours, but married to a Swiss citizen. I could wait 3-4 months like you, but I'm afraid my wife would prefer having my company.

Hi Lasuer/Rocky,

I was in the same situation as Rocky. I am US Citizen, my husband Canadian with a Swiss B Permit. I applied at the Swiss Embassy in US for my permit and my husband's company here in Switzerland applied for my "familiannachzug" (aka B Permit based on marrige) here in Switzerland and I was told I had to be out of Switzerland until it was issued, however during this time (like you didn't want to be away from my husband for 3 months) and since I had a US Passport and able to visit Switzerland up to 90 days I came back to Switzerland for 90 days and left again prior to the 90 days being up and returned to the US to wait for my permit which took another 6 weeks. Once the visa was issued, I picked it up at the Embassy in US and entered Switzerland again. Was a very painful waiting game. I don't know what is right or allowed but this is what I did.

Hestia

Hi, I just recently went through the process.

I am a US citizen married to a EU citizen who works in CH. She holds B visa (5 years).

My process: I just arrived in Switzerland; went down to the Gemeindehaus of our town and registered. I brought copies of my passport, wedding certificate, criminal record, and birth certificate.

Since I was still living and working in the US I just went back and carried on in the US until my visa arrived. My wife took care of the extras, i.e. my name on the lease, giving proof that we had money in bank etc. as the requests came.

All in all, within 3 months, I recieved my B Auslanderweis permit, which is 5 years, and provides me work privileges (it was automatically included). I've posted on my experience so you can go and search for that thread. All of this occured in January, so my experience is recent.

Per advice I've read on this forum, I did NOT call or write the Swiss consulate in the US at all.

I moved about a month after I recieved my B permit once a job was identified.

So for all is good, I work at a pharma in Basel in a job i just started 2 weeks ago and live in Zurich area.

Hope this helps!

The information from Parkadam is interesting, are you saying you did not approach the Swiss consulate, also did you not contact the MigrationsAmt?

Did you arrive at the same time as your wife? It seems to make a difference whether you arrive at the same time or separately, I could not understand why this would be, but another post from a few years ago seems to say this is the case.

If that`s the case, Does it work if the person who is already in Switzerland goes out to meet their spouse and re-enters the country together?

Lauseur, I think the other EF posts are the best source of info on the unofficial visits. I spent my time waiting for the visa on the beach in the US, but did come to visit my partner in Eastern Europe, outside of the Schengen zone. I simply didn't want any missteps to derail my visa.

Parkadam, I am totally jealous that you automatically got a 5-year permit with work priviledges. I recieved a 1-year permit "sans activite" which prohibits me from working unless I get sponsored by an employer here. Are you on a B permit or an L?

Sounds like avoiding the Swiss Consulate in the States is the way to go!

Rocky.

There is a difference here. Parkadam is married. Switzerland is a bit old fashioned .

Hi,
No I did not approach the Swiss consulate or the MigrationsAmt. All I did was show-up (literally, got off the plane) with the required documents at the gemeindehaus. I got back on the plane 48 hours later back to NY and just waited, while I did my work from there. I was traveling to CH about once a month anyways to see the wife and interview.

I did not arrive the same time as my wife; she had already been working here for about 8 months before I arrived, and we married in New York about 3 months before I arrived (civil); our religious is coming up in July (and I'm very excited). I was waiting to get a job first before I moved here.

I'm not sure I understand your question about arriving together; i'm not sure that has anything to do with it. My wife visited me many times in NY and we didn't have the opportunity to travel together.

As the poster above noted, it is because I'm married to an EU citizen who is holding a 5 year visa. EU citizens EEA/EFTA automatically get the 5 year B visa and their spouse will usually get the same, as it occured in my case. '

I'm from New York, about the only thing I had to do there was visit the NYPD at one police plaza to get the good conduct certificate and I did stop off at the italian town-hall in my wife's hometown over christmas to try to get a documentation that our marriage was registered in Italy; this didn't work for idiotic reasons, but turned out I didn't require it anyways.

I got my birth certificate from the New York cityDOH website since that is where i was born.

let me know if you need anything else; currently living near zurich (Dietlikon) and working here at roche in Basel. So...I'm up for drinks after work in Basel or Zurich (or Dietlikon) if anyone ever wants to grab me and/or my wife !

I'm already having issues getting aclimated (all my fault) and would love to meet someone to complain! (isn't this the american way?).

However, I don't miss NYC and I don't think i ever will; i was very fustrated there. I did need this change. I just have to adapt.

Ciao.

ah yes the other thing I should mention is that your all documents should have the Apostille.

Wasted mucho time (entire afternoon) doing that for the marriage certificate, the good conduct certf., my birth certif. my blood type certif. (just kidding on the last one) . In NYC, there is need to first get it noterized in one building (on centre street as I recall) then I had to go over to the New york state, department of state (off of John street) to get the apostille.

By the way..all this info I got from this forum and with advice from the posters here; so I'm just doing my best to show my gratitude by paying it forward.
..my disclaimer is this is my personal experience in the past months 3 months; i just moved here one month ago; so what may be my experience may not translate to others.


ciao.

This certainly applies in France - we decided to commute and settled in France. I'm non-EU and we were told I have the same rights as my husband, who is EU.

hi, parkadam, thanks for the helpful info ... a couple questions:

1. I never saw anywhere that a criminal record was necessary. I'm hoping this was just you taking extra precautions, going the extra mile. If not, how long did it take you to obtain that? I'm in NYC too.

2. I submitted my documentation of our marriage through the consulate. I'm hoping that wasn't a grievous error, based on what you all are saying about avoiding them. But one thing I was explicitly told was that the Apostille wasn't necessary (for our marriage cert and my birth cert). I actually have gone through that process in the past, and know it's a pain, so I was relieved. Where did you hear or read that you do need to get it?

Thanks again & cheers

Hi,

As i didn't go through the Swiss consulate in NY, I don't know what they require, so I can't comment. However usually when dealing with certain documents accross international lines an Apostille is usually necessary.

You may not have to give the criminal record now, but you may receive a letter from which ever canton you reside when you enter the country and register at the gemeindehaus. You will have to register at the gemeinde this I think within a 8 days or so of your arrival into Switzerland. Not all cantons I hear require the criminal record extract, but Canton Zurich usually does.

Once you arrive, the canton may also have a bunch of other requirements such as showing that you have a certain amount of money in the bank account (if you're doing family reunification), the lease with you name on it; letter from you land-loard givin you permission to live in the apt. In addition to that...specific for me, was that they also wanted documentation that my NYC wedding was documented in Italy (in my wifes hometown; with an italian extract).

Best to have the criminal record extract (certificate of good conduct) so that you're not in a spot where you'll have to get it from here, could be a pain. You may or may not need it, but best to risk-mitgate and have it. Get it apostillized as well. If you do go to NYPD providing that you live in NYC, you can only do this at the puzzle place..aka 1PP; allow turn around time of two weeks. Then you'll have to go get it apostillized as i previously described. When you pick-up your certificate at 1PP, Do NOT LEAVE ..until a SUPERVISORY officer on-duty puts a stamp and SIGNS that stamp on the certificate. They'll just give it to you with some schmoes initials, that won't work with the NYC notary..you'll have to go back an get that signature, as I had to do. So save yourself some time.

I think its important to emphasize you'll be dealing with multiple tiers here. You may do stuff with the swiss consulate...but then when you get here, the Canton will perhaps want something else (as I described), then there is the gemeinde in which you live. As an example the gemeinde will enforce the requirement for mandatory health-insurance and they will keep the record of that, etc, etc. Sometimes not all the arms talk. So that's one of the reasons I just did it the way i did it.

but again...I didnt deal with the Swiss consulate..you may want to ask them what can be done from your end and what to expect.

I have a question that I hope to clarify in the EF.

What if I have a misdemeanor from my teens, (I am 40 now). Should I include this information on the "Declaration of Penal Record" even though it has been so long ago?

Thanks