Hi all,

After a very complicated process of obtaining a non-EU student B permit in GVA, I thought it helpful to take questions on those looking for the same (or similar) permit.

My situation was particular, since I was previously a Swiss resident (different canton) so although things seemed very... very... confusing at first - both cantonal authority offices had no idea how to proceed - in the end it turned out to be quite simple.

I did not require a Visa to enter so if you are coming from abroad, then I cannot help (sorry) but as for the changing and granting of various permits between cantons, I might be able to shed a bit of light on the steps.

Let me know if you have any questions - after a thorough search of this site, I did not find any other thread speaking to my particular situation so it may be helpful for those looking to make a move within CH to a different type of permit.

-LM

Ok well that is pretty quiet (cue tumbleweed rolling across screen)... maybe not so many "canton changers" out there - well I will leave the link and add some search terms so that any future ppl interested in this topic can easily find it...


B permit - Non-EU
Student permit
Changing cantons
Moving cantons
L permit to B permit
Geneva OCP
Basel Cantonal Office
Canton change procedures

-LM

Hello,

Thank you for making the search terms and making this issue visible . Can you shed more light on the procedure. I am in a similar situation as you were (non EU, L permit (Basel), now shifting to B permit in different canton ( Zurich)). I was told i might need to go back. Is that true ? How many weeks did it take you to get this permit? Can you go out of Switzerland during this time ?

Cheers,
Ar

Thank you for making the search terms and making this issue visible . Can you shed more light on the procedure. I am in a similar situation as you were (non EU, L permit (Basel), now shifting to B permit in different canton ( Zurich)). I was told i might need to go back. Is that true ? How many weeks did it take you to get this permit? Can you go out of Switzerland during this time ?


Ok, I haven't been back here for a bit, so apologies for the delay.

After speaking with many... many officials, my opinion is that the procedure is variable depending both on your previous permit and the new canton's required procedure.

Specifically to GVA (not sure if this holds true with Zurich), there was a "change of canton" form that applied to a variety of situations - change of job, change to student, hmm, I think it was actually change of anything. In addition to that form (M in the case of GVA) - there was a situation specific form (E for students in GVA) that I needed to also fill out.

I sent these two forms - along with the many... hmmm... many other items requested for validation (ie, source of funds, statement of purpose, school attestation, photos, ID, previous permit copy etc. etc. etc.) - but for work - for example I saw that I would have required my new and old work contracts (the new, obviously for the new permit, and the old "break of contract or termination" to show that you are not still "involved" with the old company) - as for leaving the country, I was initially under the impression that I would have to leave and return with a new Visa but being from a non-Visa required country--Canada--(or another reason that I was not told), it turned out to be quite simple. I was "approved" by the new canton and then told that at any time I could simply up and move.

I had timed things to finish at the same time as I planned to "accept and apply in person" in the new Canton so I am not sure about leaving during this period (I stayed... just to be safe), but I get the impression that things were very canton-specific and since my old/at the time-current permit was still valid, the federal and cantonal authorities would not have thought anything of "leaving during the application period" since I was still valid and had only applied at that point - my guess is that if I was denied, I would have simply had to renew my old permit at the correct date or to ask for a temporary extension to get my affairs in order.

Finally, once I moved, I visited the OCP in GVA, had the biometric card made and only then did I de-register from BSL (again, just to be safe and to always have at least one valid permit).

I am not sure if this clarifies much - but through a number of calls to both cantonal offices, I didn't get much insight into the "inner workings" of this procedure and depending on who I spoke with, I often received varying answers - my advice is call, and then call again... and then call again, to be sure that you are clear on what you have to do - always taking down the supervisor's name so that you can refer back to previous calls... maybe a bit tedious, but I personally didn't want to leave anything to chance.

Can you elaborate on what permit you came from and what you will want to go to? And it is important what non-EU country you are from since the Visa/no-Visa requirement changes depending on that (I think)...

Hope this helps.

Feel free to PM me for more info if you would prefer that your personal details are not advertised.

Cheers,
LM

This is interesting to me. I had a C permit in Vaud (under EU quotas tho) and my new commune in Zurich wouldn't register me unless I had proof I had de-registered in Lausanne, which meant I had to go to Lausanne and back in one day. So in Geneva they didn't ask for the attestation from Basel?

My old B from Vaud isn't expired so I have a permit that looks valid if I get stopped, but my C has been written on by my new commune.

Hi all,

I just wanted to detail my specific situation with some details about how things unfolded - I am pretty sure that this whole procedure depends heavily on where you are coming from and what canton you are destined for + as well as what type of change you are making.

Just some anecdotal facts about my experience.
- both cantonal offices seemed to be indifferent about when/how/if I moved from one to the other and they also seemed indifferent if I had duel permits (although I think that it is illegal technically) for a short time.
- through my many conversations with each office, I often received contradictory information and so my strategy was to always take down names and numbers for latter reference to conversations or details that I had been given by each office, or even each officer
- although at first, each office framed this procedure as extremely complicated, the actual events unfolded quite easily and both GVA and BSL seemed "at ease" in a sense about my plans - this could be different though if I were changing employers, if my old permit had been ending (and not renewable), or potentially for a long list of other reasons (I am Canadian, so this could have helped since we don't require a Visa in the same sense as many other non-EU countries).

Hmm, I would say that doing your homework, filling out forms and making copies of all, and calling + then calling again, long in advance of your planned move is the safe way to go- but that each situation (canton/permit type/etc.) will be different and even two exact ppl may have varying outcomes...

As a sidenote, when I paid my original 25CHF to register upon arrival and was then asked to pay another 100CHF for what I thought I had already paid for, the rep. at the cantonal office said "Welcome to Switzerland" - I think that for paperwork/costs/etc., that keeping this in mind is critical to having things work smoothly.

hope this helps.
LM