Hi,

I have been accepted as a doctoral student at ETH Zurich and last week someone from the institute has applied for work/stay permits for me and my wife at the Zurich canton. I am from India. I am hearing two versions of what I should do next.

Version 1. Apply for a D visa immediately at the Swiss consulate in Mumbai and the processes in both Mumbai and Zurich will go on in parallel since there is a fair bit of paperwork between the two places during the process.

Version 2. Wait for the approval from the Zurich Canton after which I just take an appointment with the consulate in Mumbai and go in and get my passport stamped.

I am confused about this since it might take 3-4 weeks at the minimum for my approval to come from Zurich and then if the visa will take another 3-4 weeks in mumbai, i will miss out on my joining date of 1st May.


Also, if my wife is also applying for a dependent visa along with me, how long does the process usually take. The authorities at ETH-Zurich have applied for a residence permit for my wife as well.

Please advise.

thanks
technix

can someone please help out on this one?

the main question is, having obtained a position and a work contract, when should i apply for my visa at the swiss embassy in india given that my employers have already applied for work and residence permit in the canton of Zurich? and what is the timeline/procedure for applying for a dependent visa for my wife?

Please help me out here.

The visa and permit application are linked. You will be contacted by the authorities in due course.

Thanks Swissbob. that is a relief that I do not have to anything until the permit application comes through.

I have received the confirmation from the authorities regarding my visa (Ermachtigung Zur Visumerteilung) and have been asked to go to the local consulate in Mumbai to collect my D-visa. I will be traveling to Zurich in the last week of April to start my PhD at ETH Zurich.

However, my wife has been asked to appear in person at the consulate with the original marriage certificate and application for D-visa. Now, the people at the consulate say it might take up to 12 weeks for my wife's visa.

the complication is that my wife has to travel to London for work on may 20th and will be in london for a month.

My question is, if i request for the approval to be sent to the swiss embassy in london, can she get her passport stamped in London itself? or does she have to travel to India and then get her passport stamped?

to paraphrase, can she apply for the visa from mumbai, India after producing all the original documents and then collect the visa from London once the approval comes through?

She will be in the UK on a academic visitor visa and ideally her work does not require her to come back to India after the trip.

It should be possible to collect the visa from any Swiss embassy.