Hello everyone,
My fiancee is coming to Geneva for study next month and she is going to live with me (I live in Zurich). I asked the immigration office in Zurich and they told me that she has to get the residence permit in Geneva first until we get married.
The problem is that she does not have the house rent contract in Geneva (which is necessary for getting the residence permit). Did anyone experience the same situation before OR any suggestion is welcomed. Thanks in advance!

I think what they're trying to tell you is that she'll have to live in Geneva as that's where her student permit is for. I assume she's non-EU and therefore guess that the same conditions would apply as do for most non-EU's who work here. That is they have to live in the same canton as their workplace is based in. So if she's studying in Geneva she has to live in Geneva.

What she'll need to do is rent a place in Geneva to be able to register there. She might be able to change cantons later and move in with you, but Geneva and Zurich cantons would both have to agree to this.

That's a long daily commute as well. Does she really want to have to do that every day?

Thanks for you answer! It seems that you are quite experienced on this
We are thinking about 'rent' a postbox in Geneva (which could be registered as her temporary address in Geneva). Do you have any suggestion on that?
For the daily commute, she does not need to go every day. Besides, nothing is more important than being together, right?

Actually there are a lot more things that are more important than being together at the moment. Like making sure you/she meet the conditions set by her permit approval.

I've no idea if a postbox would work as an address for a foreign student. I would think however, they're going to want to see a rental contract for somewhere in Geneva and probably a postbox wouldn't meet that criteria. Still you can ask the Geneva migration office and see what they say.

It might be better for her to rent a room in Geneva as her base and then visit you when she doesn't have to study. Try here:

http://www.wgzimmer.ch/en/wgzimmer.html

or see if the uni/school she's going to be attending has any accommodation info for their students.

You seem to think she can just live where she likes, but that's not the case. Approval for her permit has been given by Geneva and I doubt it will allow her to live anywhere else in Switzerland. That's why Zurich told you she has to be in Geneva until she marries, then you can apply for her to be able to live with you there. If you wanted to live together before marrying then she should have applied to a uni/school in Zurich canton.