So you're actually worse off, aren't you?
In Zürich you don't need a car, and while living further out (and here I take it as a disadvantage), you can't save a penny because you do need a car. Lose-Lose.

it's not funny, it wasn't me and it's totally irrelevant.

(edit: did you actually hunt for a 5.5-yr old post? I envy your free time)

I know and I will definitely wait here in ZH until we get the passport (we are on C) and then move only afterwards.

AG is great! We just made the move from Aarau-almost in the rown, to the next village out.
The difference; before we had a 15 min walk to Aarau train station, now a 15 min tram ride. But from a flat to a house, with not much difference in rent.



I used to commute into Zurich for work, and really easy with the trains.

I lived 5 years without a car. I've done my time behind the bars of a urban area Cities are nice, but being able to escape them in 4 wheels is better....2 wheels even better.

About C permit, I applied last year for an early one. It's possible if you're reasonably integrated after 5 years (job, no crime record, language), it's a federal law. Albeit, the German certificate from the school was not enough. I needed another certificate from some approved examiner. Do it later this year.

We may do the same thing. Good luck and keep us "posted".

I live in Aargau and don't have a car.

Brugg is also very pretty, as is Baden

Depends what you are comparing it to but much of Aargau feels like a retirement center, with extremely old people basically everywhere with Baden being the exception to the rule. Nothing really going on out here, the further you go away from the major cities, the less lively it becomes with most communities so quiet you could hear a mouse fart.

If you think Aarau and Lenzburg are like that I really recommend you don't come to the Fricktal...

I personally live right next to an old people's home!

I moved to AG after 2.5 years in ZH; was told that my time in ZH would be counted - but that I had to wait another 2.5 years (i.e. total of 5 years in CH).

No language certificate as I'm from a country with an agreement (Italy, France, Germany and Austria I think).

Love where I live (near Lenzburg), nightlife is indeed a bit limited (a few clubs, but nothing major), but then again... I moved here just before the COVID mess Lots of shisha bars for some odd reason...

Another advantage was that while my taxes went up a bit, my health insurance went down substantially, thus compensating the tax increase... Car parking also is free here (was paying 200/month in ZH) - yes, I need a car even if living in a city as I do a lot of overland travel.

Working in ZH, my commute is either 30-35 min by car, or 40-45 by train (door to door, as my office isn't near HB, so I need to take a tram in ZH). That said, my employer has gone to a "new normal" mode - i.e. work from home 3-4 days a week, and office only 1-2 days a week... so that's quite nice too

For Brits coming 2020 or earlier, the maximum period is 5 years in Switzerland according to the Swiss-UK agreement of 2019. Worth mentioning if they try and argue you need 5 years in AG.

The same provides for a 4 year freeze for C permits as of right.

Article 14
Permanent residence status
1. For the purposes of determining eligibility for permanent residence status under
national law, the Parties shall not require Swiss nationals or United Kingdom
nationals who fall under Article 10(1)(a), (b) or (e), (2) or (3) of this Agreement to
have resided legally for a continuous period of more than 5 years.
2. Subject to paragraph 3, permanent residence status shall not be affected by
absences from the territory of Switzerland or the United Kingdom for a period of less
than four consecutive years.