Hi all,

I'm an American student enrolled at UNIFr for the period February to June 2014.

I applied for a national type D long stay visa as my program exceeds 90 days.

My question is can I live in Neuchatel without problems with the authorities in Fribourg? I understand my visa packet was submitted to the cantonal authority there but I never saw any material that stated I was required to live within JUST the canton (and unfortunately I was just today made known of the need for a Fribourg residential address when I arrive). The address I have listed in the city of Fribourg is that of my program office, and short of renting two apartments and splitting my time between Neuchatel and Fribourg, what can I do here?

Essentially I would be renting a room in the house of a Swiss friend and commuting to school via train. Could I use a postal box (Fribourg) or should I consult the local police upon arriving? Could I use any of the 90 day tourist visa time to offset switching apartments if I HAD to?

If anyone here is familiar with this, I'd love any help!

You do realize it's an hour each way on a very slow train, and only one train per hour, right ?

Yes. My current job state-side is about a 3 hour total commute (driving) in Silicon-valley traffic. Taking a train would actually be an improvement

Seen like that, I suppose I can only agree

Welcome to Switzerland.




No, you cannot live in Neuchâtel without prior authorization from that canton.

Since you applied for a canton Fribourg residence permit, you need first to give the Fribourg immigration office a valid address that will be your official address anywhere in canton Fribourg (e.g. you are allowed to live in Murten-Morat, but not in Neuchâtel).

What you will need to do is to go to Canton Fribourg immigration office, tomorrow and explain them your case. If you haven't been yet, you need to go:

Service de la population et des migrants du canton de Fribourg
a.k.a. in German: Amt für Bevölkerung und Migration des Kantons Freiburg
Route d'Englisberg 11
1763 Granges-Paccot

To go there:

Take Bus # 1 from either train station (Gare-CFF / Bahnhof SBB) (bus stop is in front of "Fribourg Centre" Mall, opposite train station)
or at Rue St-Pierre (bus stop is in front of Fribowling).
Direction: Les Portes-de-Fribourg
(may be abbreviated "P. de-Fribourg")

Get out after 15 minutes at terminus (Portes-de-Fribourg which is the last stop), you will see a McDonald's. Walk 50 meters and there you are.


Postal box won't work.

What you can do is to apply for resident permit in Canton Neuchâtel, but you will need to give them a valid reason why you want to live in Neuchâtel and commute to canton Fribourg.

Understood.

I will be arriving in-country on January 2nd. I will also go see them. Do you predict any other answer but no when I ask about the possibility of living in Neuchatel?

Would a valid reason for doing this be financial? Even with the commute, my place in Neuchatel is much cheaper than finding something in Fribourg (and I would be living with my SO).

Thank you for the info!

Oh Okay, you are still in the States.

No, I'm pretty much sure they (canton Neuchâtel) will accept your request, after all the commuting time is only 50 minutes by train. It's a regional train with a stop every 3 minutes or so (12 intermediary stations between Neuchâtel and Fribourg). But because of X-Mas/ New year holidays, it might be too late to do the transfer thru the Swiss consulate. But you can still call the consulate and ask them if they can still transfer your file to immigration office of canton NE, that way on Jan 2nd, you directly go and register in Neuchâtel, bypassing the Fribourg immigration office altogether. This is a typical Swiss issue, as each canton is in fact like an independent country. You will never face something like that in UK, France or Italy...

Can't thank you enough for the advice. Has made me feel a whole lot better after the initial OH NO moment of finding out there was a problem. Fortunately I live close to two of the three US Swiss representations and I'll stop by San Francisco before I leave to see about making this change!

Any further suggestions? What is the best case I can make to them for approval?

I don't think it should be a problem to live in Neuchatel. Yes, there is going to be some hassle with the formalities. However, I've found the immigration office in Fribourg to be tremendously helpful and doing their very best to bend the guidelines to fit my needs. Of course, it's best to get it sorted with Neuchatel before you come here, but don't worry if you can't. You can certainly live in Neuchatel too.