At http://www.bfm.admin.ch/bfm/en/home/...llte.0021.html it says:

Well, I'm British. My partner is an Australian citizen who has never yet set foot in Europe, more's the pity. Does this mean she wouldn't qualify to enter Switzerland and work, if I accept this job I'm contemplating in Zurich?

- k

I believe that, due to the fact you are living together and not seperately, you should be ok.

Someone who's been through this should be able to confirm during the next day or so.

Australians are not quite treated as second class citizens here (but maybe they should )

Not quite. What will happen is that your wife will be delivered a residence permit following the prescriptions of the new Aliens Law (Ausländergesetz) which as of January 1st, 2008 allows non-EU spouses to be employed as well.

Or perhaps it means she can, but it's due to provisions under Swiss law, rather than under the intergovernmental agreement?

Thank you - that's exactly what I needed!

Can't give you a definitive answer, but we're in the same situation. At the Gemeinde (sp?) in Kloten, they told my wife she would need to apply for a permit (and began the process of doing so) even though I am EU and we are married (and we had our marriage certificate).

That wasn't what I was expecting - I was under the impression she would be automatically given the same permit I will be. However, maybe it's happening this way because we'd both only just arrived, and I don't technically have a permit yet ? The bloke I was talking to also expressed surprise that my wife's passport wasn't stamped when we entered the country (even though it was the last time we visited - we think that might have happened because we arrived via the UK ?).

CS

I do not think that it took the 2008 change for that: I am German, my wife is Chinese. We tried to get her work permit based on her education but the immigration office changed it ("since you two are married, this way is easier for us") to "Familiennachzug" and she got her work permit this way two years ago...

In both cases it is delivered under "Familiennachzug". However prescriptions for labor market access were different prior to Jan.1st of this year.

Thankful for this forum, and I have the same situation/question similar to Kosh + drsmity.

Me and my son are holding portuguese passport, but my wife is an aussie too!

I came to Zurich with my son (also portuguese) on Aug 07 (my wife is still in overseas and will join us this Feb). Then we registered to the local town hall (Wiedikon) on Sept 07 so that my son could attend the local school (integration class) and I could start job-seeking. Between this period, the Migrationsamt send me twice through writing and asking me whether i have got a job. Also required me to get the health insurance for myself and my son (fix it up in Dec).

So yesterday i presented the Migrationsamt des Kontons Zurich with my work contract (without ending period) and the official was quite nice and told me that they will send me invitation letter, within a month, for B/EFTA 5 yr period and will cost 65Fr for each person.

To my understanding, we have to secure our status (B/EFTA) first by getting a work contract or set up business (?? i don't know much about it but i think its not so easy at all for first comer to Swiss). Otherwise like me, there is no clue on getting a L-permit in my case!

So for 2nd step, I then need to consider my wife when she arrive in Zurich this February. I have a few questions I would like to ask and hope somebody could help me out!

1. My wife will come as tourist this Feb, so can she apply the permit (B/EFTA) in Zurich. Or whether she need to go back to Australia to apply for it?

2. What is the details of new Aliens Law (Ausländergesetz) as descripted by Shorrick?

3. And what is "Familiennachzug" as pointed out by Treverus?

Thanks in advance and hope i could share my to new comers based on my situation.

Hi!

Reall important! Your wife should not enter with a tourist visa if she wants to stay!

The reason why you enter Switzerland has to be correct, otherwise you seriously need to go home and get the correct visa to enter the country correctly!

I had to drive my wife once to Stuttgart, where the nearest Swiss consulate outside of Switzerland is in order to get the papers correct... and this only works if you are currently residing in the EU (and even this was basically a favour as they can ask you to get back to the country withing the EU you are residing in). Otherwise you have to get back all the way to Australia!

Where is your wife currently. Given that you have a permit and there is a (I assume) child from the marriage, she can enter the country although it does help to get the correct visa from the Swiss consulate in the country she is currently resident in.

2. There have been changes made in the law to make it somewhat more difficult for non-qualified non-EU citizens to enter and work.

3. Familiennachzug is effectively rejoining the family at a later date.

Thanks Treverus & Richard !!

Yeah we have been married for the last 15yrs and my son is already 13yrs old. My wife is currently living in Hong Kong with her mum cause my father-in-law has passed away 3 mths ago.

Please correct me if I am wrong, so logically speaking, is that if an EU + a non EU spouse (let say my situation of an aussie wife), only the EU family member could come to Swiss first for finding a job & secure the permit, and not possible for both of us to land at the same time? Too bad I have to separte with my wife for the last few months!!

As my wife can come to swiss as a tourist without a visa (Australia passport for 90 days), she decide to come in Feb and have a try to lodge the application through the Gemeinde for the dependent B/EFTA permit (whether a working permit or not is not a big issue).

If she is lucky enough for the official in Zurich to accept the application, then it will be good!! Otherwise, she will leave the country within 90 days and lodge the application in either Australia or Hong Kong Swiss Consulate cause she held citizenship in both places.

It is such a wonderful place here and and everyone is really helpful....thanks a million!!

In principle an EU/B is delivered only then when the spouse has already residence in one of the EU states. But since is very new, and not quite a common situation, we'd be grateful if you let us know how this goes on to better help others.

Hello,

I have a question regarding obtaining a resident permit for Switzerland. We have spoken with the migration office, etc. and no one is able to give us a straight answer. I was hoping someone on this site has experienced the same thing and has come up with a solution. My fiance is a German citizen and he is currently working (with a valid work permit for Switzerland) in Lucerne. I am trying to get a work or resident permit but with no luck. Does anyone know the facts or which visa form I should try? Many thanks! This has been a very frustrating few months! Any advice much appreciated!

Unless we have more details such as nationality, domicile and such it is going to be very hard to say anything at all.

I am a Canadian citizen wishing to reside with my fiance (a German citizen) within Switzerland. I have been enrolled in an intensive German course for a while and we are looking for the best option (visa application) to get a resident permit for myself. I am also looking for employment. Any advice would be very helpful.

Getting married would make things a lot easier . You could also officially register your partnership which gives similar rights to married partners.

I am a non-EU married to a french citizen. In november 2007 my wife got her EU/B 5-year permit while I got a B 1-year permit, which does not give me the right to work. We are living in Geneva and prior coming to Switzerland, we were living in France. I just had a temporal french residence permit.

A-ha. So if you only had a temporary residence permit in France and were not given a work permit this would indicate that the law is applied ad literam.

Good to know.

unfortunately it happened that way...