Hello All,

I am a U.S. citizen and moved to Geneva for my Husband's job. He is an EU/EEA national and I entered on a tourist visa, and applied for my B permit. We received word that my B permit was issued and would be delivered by post. It has been about 2 weeks since that notification and not received; my husband's took over a month to be "delivered" so we are operating under the assumption that my permit could likewise that that amount of time to be delivered.

In the meantime my time in the Shengen Zone is at the 90 mark. I've been assured that I do not need to leave Switzerland as the permit has been issued. I have also been searching for jobs and had an opportunity arise that requires me to interview at the firm's HQ in London. I now would not be legally able to leave/re-enter the Switzerland as my Shengen time is up. Does anyone know if there is a temporary permit I can secure to make the trip and or if a letter from the canton stating that my permit has been issued would be sufficient for travel?

Thanks,

Hi Emily,
This is a complicated area but from my knowledge and having checked a few sources I believe the answer might be quite simple. Sometimes it becomes so confusing and you can't see the wood for the trees.

You say you are a US citizen and you are married to an EU/EEA national. This gives you the ability to apply for a marriage visa which will permit entry and stay in the country for which he is a citizen of. Assuming that country is in the Schengen area, they are all treated the same so the 90 day limit would be removed and you would be in 'Europe' as per the new restrictions of the marriage visa.

All that said, the fact you have been issued a B permit in Switzerland (Schengen area) means you can be in any Schengen country (as per the above example) for in excess of the 90 days. If your worry is about travelling without the actual permit in your possession (you say it is delayed in delivery) then you can go to the Cantonal office and request an official letter confirmation (which they sometimes charge for). Just explain you are likely to be travelling before it arrives. Whether or not you intend to return to Switzerland is irrelevant but of course the date of your B permit expiry would be the limiting factor to your stay within Schengen.

I hope this is useful. Please be aware that it is not definitive and it is my interpretation of the law/rules and regulations as they currently stand.

Best wishes.

What happened with your D-visa? Maybe there's some hold-up because authorities are puzzled that you applied for the proper entry and then went round it and entered as a tourist?

Picking-up Family Reunification Visa Outside of U.S.

@Marv- Thanks for the input. I'll try to go to the Canton tomorrow and see if I can have a letter processed.

@3 Wishes- No issues with the processing, the permit has been issued and processed. I guess for my particular situation (being a U.S. Citizen married to an EU citizen) the way we proceeded with application and entry was acceptable and was what his company via the Canton ultimately advised was acceptable. There is just a delay in delivery.

Thanks

As marv has said, you just need to go down to where you applied for your permit and ask them for a letter confirming your permit has been approved. While you are there you can tell them you haven't received it in the post yet and ask if they happen to have it there. If there was any issue with the post it might have been returned.

Is your name on the post box? This is something that is over looked. If your name isn't on the post box your mail won't be delivered. Last name only is fine.

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Hope I can help as I'm almost in the exact same situation - your visa D will have an expiry date. This is technically the last date you can re-enter the country before you get your B (in your hands).

It's easy to get an extension of the D though, but you need a good reason (and I'm not sure interviewing is a good one, see below), but you can get it done same day if you visit the migration office.

Theoretically, I understand that you don't technically have a work permit until the B is in your hands, but I'm happy to be corrected on this point.

Also, I would probably pay a visit to the migration office regardless (as others have also suggested) as it seems excessively long to wait for "delivery". Ours were "in process, almost processed, being issued" for a heck of a long time (months), but actual delivery should take ~2 weeks or less.

For whatever reason, OP applied for the D-visa but then never obtained it. She instead entered the country as a tourist. There's no extension for a tourist visa. But it sounds like she doesn't need it, she just needs a letter that states her permit has been issued.

Good points. When I first arrive here only my OH's name was on the mailbox and mine kept getting returned until I was "official."

Ah interesting tactic, didn't even know that was possible! But I learn smthg new on EF all the time

Although a few people have gotten permits this way, officially it's not allowed. See the table here on admin.ch:

https://www.bfm.admin.ch/bfm/en/home...rigkeit/u.html

OP is in the minority of people that have had it work - perhaps because her hubby's company was helping the paperwork along. Good for her! If you've been reading EF for any time, you've seen far more people that tried the tourist route and had to leave because the 90 days was up before a permit was approved. At the very least, some have had to go to Germany or France to get the D-visa stamped. I would never advise someone to take the tourist route, though. The D-visa is not that difficult or time-consuming to get.

Anyway, OP let us know how you get on. Should be no problem for you to get the letter, and that will allow you to come and go until the permit is finally located and in your hands.

A print out from the Cantonal office to prove it which is stamped and signed does count and is widely accepted. I used mine to get phone contracts and exchange my driving licence. I expected them to not know what I was getting at but they accepted it like they see them every day.

Hope this helps.

Almost same case happened to me late 2014. I entered Switzerland with D visa and had to exit Schengen zone for an emergency while my permit had been approved in the system but not issued at that time.
I went to OCPM and explained my case. A two months multiple entry D visa was issued on the spot free of charge. All you need to do is to fill in application form (they'll give it to you) and wait in the queue to have your photo taken and that's it! You'll have the visa in your passport when you exit OCP.

At least in Neuchâtel you're given a signed, stamped receipt when you apply. I would have said OP can travel simply with that and her passport... Or am I missing something?


I am English and I know this sort of area is vastly more complicated for Americans...

I have a B Permit which still hasn't arrived by post (applied in August 2014) due to massive delays in Lausanne

Meanwhile I've been able to sort everything out (including driving license/bank accounts etc) by obtaining an 'Attestation de residence" from the "Contrôle des habitants". It mentions which Permit has been issued and the expiry date of the permit.

I am not sure if this document is of any value when you start travelling though.

We weren't given anything at all but I imagine it would have been simple enough to get one if we'd asked.

Weird - ever one I know that's applied for a new permit or changed address got a receipt automatically. :s

And we've never got one ever. OH has had 4 addresses in three communes and I've also changed address and at no time have we ever been issued a receipt.
Very odd. I will do a survey of my friends to see if they automatically got one or not.

Not quite the tourist route, but still he had to return to the States to sort the Type D visa problem out.

Need advice....[permit/visa questions]

Completely different. He was not married to an EU national. The OP is.

So am I and I still needed to get one to enter Switzerland to join him as an American citizen.

But I was really pointing out that they were lucky the canton agreed to process the application without insisting on her obtaining the required visa.

I was once in a similar situation (in Zurich). I went to the main migration office and they issued me a 90 day visa so I could leave and come back. It was 90 chf.