Hello all:

I am thinking of moving back to Switzerland in January of 2020. I am Swiss and grew up in Auzelg near Zurich city I left when I was 11.

A little about me:

I left with my immidiate family to live in Brazil. I then went to the United States to study when I was 17 and finished a degree in social work. I work in a hospice now in NJ, it has been 7 years and its time for a change. I have a Brazilian wife and two kids. They are 2 and a newborn.

I speak Portuguese, English and My german is hoch deutsch and decent just need to speak it more and it will come back.

So for my questions.

I don't have work lined up and will try to apply for a few before going but don't expect to get anything before being in Switzerland. What can I expect for "Social assitance" Housing...income...etc I am thinking of going back to Zurich.

Work any advice on what I can find, where to look since german won't be strong until I am back for a little while?

Any other advice would be appreciated just I guess jumping into the deep end and see what happens.

I have a little money saved up, and some family in Zurich area.

Welcome to the Forum.

I'm not sure it's a great idea to uproot your family without a solid plan. Switzerland is not an inexpensive place to sort out your dreams. Fortunately, you're thinking of 2020 so there's time to do your homework.

I'll leave the social help questions to others since I don't know much about it. Personally, I'd not plan on social help to get started. I'd hope for it as a bit of a fall-back if my plans didn't work out the way I thought they would.

If you want to hunt for jobs in English, check out the sticky threads at the top of the Employment section:
https://www.englishforum.ch/employment/

If you have a family and no work arranged when you move here you need a very solid back-up plan to avoid disasters. Social assistance is of no meaning, Switzerland is not going to support you while you after such long absence try to build a living here.

Since you have family here I think it would be best if you would try to find a job from where you are, and then you stay at your family while you arrange housing and all stuff that is needed for your family to follow you.

The stakes are high, don't place your bett on one number.

Social aid would be for you (and any kids who are Swiss), but not your wife, and she wouldn't be allowed to move here if you are on social aid.

Tom

Sure once entitled to it, but of all the countries I know the rules off none of them allows for social support after such long absence, and Switzerland is pretty strict about these things. Can't imagine people can just live and work elsewhere for decades than return and just have society support them.

But I might be wrong offc.

If you are Swiss then Switzerland has no choice but to support you as a developed country looking after one of its citizens and this is a good thing. I’m sure it will be pretty miserly but they cannot leave you to starve.

https://www.ch.ch/en/returning-to-switzerland/

https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home...itzerland.html

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society...-home/43611506

And perhaps most importantly

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/coming-...attle/41091306

In addition to Medea Fleecestealer's list, this link is to a RAV Swiss job service page for Swiss returnees. Also, follow the links embedded in this link:

https://www.arbeit.swiss/secoalv/en/...e-schweiz.html

Returning Swiss, who have been working in a non-EU country, can be entitled to 90 work-days (four calendar months) of unemployment compensation.

However, they don't have to let his non-Swiss wife move here, nor do they have to support her. Same for the kids if they aren't Swiss.

Tom

Correct.
While OP as a Swiss can return home in any shape at any time.

As OP plans ahead, it might be a better idea to get wife and kids naturalized from abroad before coming here.

To come here without a job and/or family enviroment/support is still not a good idea, unless OP is completely broke and has nowhere else to go but "home". Which is not the case.

Hello everyone first off thank you so much for your responses. I just wanted to clear some things up.

I do plan to return with a job lined up in Switzerland Social assistance would obviously be a fall back and I do have a job here now so I have time to search just not sure Ill be able to find one from here...but Ill try...seems easier to go and apply and have family follow when I get things set up. Even the Swiss consulate in Atlanta told me to just go and then find a job...sign myself up with SECO before I go while I am here and RAV once I arrive.

My kids are Swiss by birth and are all registered in Glarus which is where I am registered. My wife also registered as married to me would come on a Visa and under "Family reunification" she would receive social assistance if that ended up happening. Per Swiss consulate in Atlanta GA.

I am finding jobs as "Admin assitant", jobs at the airport Zurich, office jobs where english is enough as well as some jobs that I can use my Portuguese and Brazilian background.

Any further advice tips would be helpful...specifically about job search and application while in USA

Since you are also American you need to know that Swiss banks see that as a taint and you may have trouble getting a bank account here. You'll need to sign a W-9 to allow the bank to send the account details on to the IRS.

You will also have continuing US tax filing obligations and could owe the US tax on top of your Swiss ones, although there are some treaties which will help mitigate that. But start your research on that here

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/inte...-living-abroad

Especially if you get social aid, as that is NOT excludable.

Tom

I would have to file yes on any income I receive...if its under 103k I don't owe. If its over 103k I owe taxes on whatever goes over but within the stacking of 103k tax bracket at this point I could have taxes paid in Switzerland be considered and this would give me a significant deduction.

This amount of 103k changes yearly.

https://www.americansabroad.org/us-t...ummies-update/

<<US Taxes Abroad for Dummies (update for tax year 2018) >>
LOL.
Kind of a double meaning.

Yes, and as social aid is unearned income so you would owe US taxes on it regardless of the amount as it cannot be excluded.

Tom

One of the best things you can do to improve your job prospects is to improve your German, improve your German, improve your German.

Is anything of your education worth anything here?
What do you currently do at your place of work?


Just searched jobs.ch for "hospiz" and it came up with 6 jobs, all of them seem to require some sort of Swiss education.

Cough cough.

See the law on foreigners §42.1:
"The foreign spouse and unmarried children under 18 of a Swiss national who live with the Swiss national are entitled to be granted a residence permit and to have their residence permit extended."

This appears to apply regardless of the spouse's nationality.

start improving your german immediately.

Since you have relatives in Switzerland, I'd try to rent a couch from one of them and come alone to look for a job.
Only once you found a decent one, have the family follow.
Tbh it sounds like it won't be too easy so I wouldn't uproot everything only to end up on welfare.