Hello guys,

Big-time lurker, first-time poster.

I have a EU-B Permit, been living and working in Zurich since May 2021. On November 2022 my job contract was terminated and I will be on garden leave until the end of February.

I plan to leave soon for an overseas trip to regain mental health and strength; ideally, I would like to stay abroad for more than 6 months, but I've heard the B permit will be canceled after 6 months without a job.

When I come back, I intend to return to Switzerland and start looking for a job. Here are my questions for you:

1) Should I register with RAV now and let them know about my plans or do that when I come back? I've read I will be penalized for not actively looking for a job: anybody knows the entity of such penalization?

2) I will effectively leave my apartment by the end of the month and I'm planning to ask a friend to use their address to receive mail. Do you foresee any issues in doing so?

3) During the time I will be abroad, I will still have to pay health insurance. What about the 1st and 2nd pillars?

4) An alternative scenario could be to officially leave Switzerland and then reapply for a new permit when I come back. This will allow me to save money on health insurance and any social security contributions. Will I still be able to claim unemployment benefits by doing so? Any cons about this option?

I'm genuinely looking for your help, so feel free to provide your insights and suggestions, even for stuff I might be overlooking.

Thanks in advance!

RAV's job is to get you back into work asap. They'll penalise you heavily for bogging off to travel. And since whatever you get from RAV is based of the last 12 months' earnings, earning nothing for 6 of them means you won't be getting much.

No.

Tom

According to what I’ve been reading on this forum and based off a friend’s experience, they take into account the last 6 or 12 months of income, disregarding the ones without one.

At any rate, does it make sense to let them know about my intentions now before leaving or dealing with it once I come back?

Thanks

Con, you’d have to start over with counting 5 years to C-permit.

You’d need health cover and travel insurance somewhere. Would you be able to get travel insurance in your home country? Do you have an address there? Are you happy to be repatriated there if injured/sick?

Fair point! Thanks

Gardening leave does not equal holiday leave. You are still employed on the same terms as before and can at least in theory be asked to come in at very short notice. Two things to consider:

- If you are not on holidays or approved leave and have an accident abroad you may find you are not covered for medical expenses.

- Depending on the company and the nature of your departure, it would be a reason for the company to decide you had broken your contract and decide not to pay you.

Quick update that could be useful for someone in a similar situation:

- Talked to RAV and they told me it's pointless to register now and that I should do it once I'm back. To clear any confusion regarding the calculation of the money I'll receive, they will only consider months with income, so the months I'll spend traveling won't have an impact, although they will in terms of how long I can receive the benefit for, but that's a different story.

- Since I won't have a physical place of residence in Switzerland while traveling, I was about to move mine to a friend's place, but then at the Kreisburo I found out there is a much better way! At the link below you can register your temporary absence and don't need to provide a temporary Swiss address:

https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/prd/de/...wesenheit.html

- For my mail correspondence, I plan to pay the mail forwarding service offered by the Post and use my friend's address (My name C/O my friend's name)

Hope this helps!

Thanks for giving this update, I learned several useful things!

I hope for you it will work out as you plan. Do you have all this in writing?