Hello All, Thank you for taking the time to help me.

I am a US citizen living and working in Switzerland with an L permit. went back to the US March 1 to welcome my first born child into the world. My fiance and I also got married during this trip. I returned to Switzerland on Saturday (April 20).

My contract ends at the end of September 2013. I would like for my wife and our newborn to come over to Switzerland at the beginning of June.

Sould we file for a family reunification visa or should they come over with a tourist visa and we work to extend that?

I really need everyones help on this. Thank you in advance for the help.

Congratulations all of your life changing successes!

With respect to your L permit...this answer could go two different ways depending on if you are going to try to stay here after September 2013.

In general, If you do not have plans to stay after that....I would skip all of the formalities and just have your wife join you on July 1 2013. This would give her and baby 90-days as a tourist. The extra 30 days between June and July simply are not worth the hassle of getting the D-visa and a regroupment permit.

If you think you have an opportunity to extend...you might want to consider the whole process.

Hope that helps.

Thank you very much for your advise. I understand your point about waiting until July, but we would really like to be together as soon as possible. Do you have any experience or knowledge on what is involved with extending a tourist visa?

That is the trick...if you need something longer than the 90-day tourist visa...you should have knowingly needed to apply for a Schengen visa in the anticipation of a longer stay. Applying to extend a tourist visa is not really an option.

If you don't mind the paperwork and time required to go through the regroupment process...go with that. But Start it NOW. And there is no guaranty that her residency permit will be secured since you have an L that will expire relatively soon. I just don't think it is worth it if you are not staying past September.

For the sanity of the new parents...it really might be better to just wait till July 1. What are you options for extending your stay?

Totally agree with ttamsale.
First you need to decide if you really want the 4-months visa and all the hassle that it entails, versus the automatic tourist 3-month visa.

If you do want the full 4-moths June-September, then applying for a dep-visa is really the only choice. The tourist 3-month visa is only extended in exeptional cases (meaning eg you are in hospital and cannot leave the country), not for bad planning. So the authorities will reject the application for extension if the reason for extension could have been anticipated beforehand. Bad planning, or less admin hassle is no reason in their eyes.

It is not possible to extend a Schengen visa, with a very few small exceptions such as being certified sick and unable to travel. You will need to get your wife some kind of Swiss residence permit, if you wish her to stay longer.

Thank you all for your candid and helpful responses. I think we are going to push for the D permit an go from there. The thought of being apart for longer just sounds horrible to us.

Does anyone have any recommendations as to an organization that can best help us in applying for the visas for my wife and daughter? Is there something I can do here in Switzerland to help things run smooth and fast?

OK...in support of your efforts, follow these links. It will get you started. Where in the US is your wife? Some locations require that you visit the embassy or consulate directly. I think, even if it is not required, if it is possible she should visit them directly. IS your paperwork at the local geimendhaus? Again...what are the chances of you extending here?

Here is the link for the official stuff on your wife's end. http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/...nf/visusa.html

This link is the application you need to do...now.
http://www.eda.admin.ch/etc/medialib...y_template.pdf