Hello,
Looking for advice/experience on EU rights after marriage.

My boyfriend(Serbian) and I(UK) met in Austria where i worked for 2 years and he studied for 7. I came back to UK to finish uni' and do a post-grad. He got his first job in Switzerland. He's been in Switzerland for over 3 years now and we've been in a long distance relationship with me having very nice long "teacher holidays" in Switzerland!

Bored + frustrated at the long distance relationship, he came to UK to try to get work (doctor). Stayed for 9 months-did an "observership" but couldn't get a job. As a non-EU citizen (Serbia/Montenegro), he's not allowed to work as a doctor here even though he studied the whole of his medicine degree in Austria - passport is what matters in the end

Anyway, he looked for research work-which he could have done- if there had been no one from UK or EU to fill the vacancy. Unfortunately that was not the case. He got another job in Switzerland (apparent shortage of Psychiatrists in Swizt')

This brings us to now. We decided to make life easier it would be best to get married. We hadn't considered it before, probably my fault because i always thought we would sort out buying house etc.. first- but suppose sometimes things can only work by being flexible.
We thought if we got married, with me being a UK citizen, my boyfriend would get EU rights and would be able to get a job in the UK meaning i could carry on with my job here. WRONG- apparently, i have to "exercise my EU rights" before he can benefit from them !?! I can "exercise" those rights by living and working in another EU country (not UK) for 3 + months and then move back to UK. This has to be done after i'm married. So my previous escapades in Austria don't count.

So, it looks like i'm going to leave my job and move to Switzerland. My boyfriend is on a B permit and has been told it's the last year he will get a permit because he is almost a Consultant now and he only gets a visa because Switzerland are short of Psychiatrists in training. He isn't actually allowed to qualify in Switzerland... grrr....
My question is ..(finally..) If i move to Switzerland and we get married this Summer/Autumn I presume he gets EU rights immediately. How do we get them?? Does he get a new Visa/Permit.. how does it work. I have searched the forums but can only find "Yes, the partner gets EU rights" - How? What do you get?. Then, if he applies for a new job he will be treated as a EU Citizen- i.e full rights?
If I can find a job i'm happy with we will probably stay in Switzerland for a few years.
At the moment i'm just concerned that something will stand in our way yet again. Nothing is ever simple when you're not EU. I really don't want to get married in a big stress. I'm so tired and stressed trying to figure out what to do. Is it really as easy as to just get married and then he's treated equally? Sound too good to be true at the moment.
Any help really really appreciated. In the meantime i'll keep reading on here, but the more i read the more confused i'm getting...
Thanks so much!

Also, whilst i'm in full flow...
What happens to his drivers licence? Can he get an EU one if we're married?

Might not be simple as his current licence is stamped "UNGULTIG in der Schweiz" after he had to do a Kontrollfahrt and failed!! Had to sell the car
I ended up driving whilst i was over there, which was much more dangerous than his- believe me!

There might be an issue if he is already resident but it might be covered in the thread: EU Permits - A few bullet points

For his driving licence, if he is permanently resident in Switzerland, he will need a Swiss one: [Drivers licence] Conversion and questions

How can you exercise your EU rights by moving to Switzerland? Switzerland being so much NOT an EU country.

Assuming from the information supplied that

1. his primary degree in medicine was awarded in an EU country
2. his nationality in non EU or Switzerland
3. he does not currently hold EC rights

Then surely all he has to do is pass the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) test in order to register to practice in the UK?

Just a mod note here to avoid confusion. For the purposes of EC rights EU include member states of the EU plus Switzerland.

So is he doing an internship at the moment? If so, this internship would be valid when applying to practice in the UK and only the PLAB test would stand in the way.

If you get a job in Switzerland and take up residence here then your non-EU spouse gets the right to reside and work in Switzerland. Only Switzerland. Not the EU.

For "EU rights" to apply, the marriage has to exist prior to the move to Switzerland, and the non-EU spouse must have legal long term resident status in one of the EU countries. Else the situation is governed by the standard prescriptions of the Aliens Law. Which is pretty similar then to UK (and indeed EU) practice where initial entry in the country is governed by the national immigration laws, and subsequent entries within the EU areas are governed by the Free Movement Agreement.

Hi Swissbob. Yes during the time he was in England he spent weeks in the library revsing for the PLAB. It is testing your knowledge on the whole of medicine again. What he's studied over 6/7 years. Unfortunately he didn't pass the PLAB and we lost a lot of time and money on it. He did pass the IELTS language exam that he also would have needed. The other BIG problem is that despite what people read, there are not enough jobs in medicine in the UK at the moment. Even UK graduates are finding themselves unemployed after months.. As a non EU Citizen, my boyfriend would have found it v difficult to find a job anyway, "International medical graduates wishing to work or train in the United Kingdom will still need Home Office work permits. To obtain a work permit an employer must show that a genuine vacancy exists, which cannot be filled by a UK or European Economic Area doctor. " (bmjcareers) If we were married and he had EU rights then it would be easier, but again, he can only get EU rights if we live together for 3 + months in other EU country or Switzerland, then come back to UK.


He's an "Assistenzarzt" at the moment. So yes, he has done more than enough experience to qualify for the PLAB- but pointless doinf it again if he's not going to find work at the end of it all.

Hmm.. that's thrown me. I thought Switzerland had some bilateral agreements or something.. So, if we married in Switzerland and then wanted to move to Germany, he would not have EU rights?
He has been offered jobs in Germany before and not been granted a Visa after months of waiting. He's also been offered another job in his preferred speciality in Aarau- and they've not been able to get him a visa in the end because there were EU applicants.

Thanks for your help so far

Oh my, this is confusing! So with him already working there and me being the one moving out to him- the whole marriage in Switz' and getting EU rights to apply for other jobs wouldn't even work??

They have bilateral agreements or something- apparently! REALLY Wish i'd studied Law!

No, he would not get "EU rights" however he would get unrestricted access to the job market which is the point of the exercise...

In principle he would.

So how would he get "unrestricted access to the job market?" Does he get a different permit , or what defines him as having these rights when filling out applications for jobs?

Spouses of Swiss citizen and spouses of EU citizen who first move here from third party countries (or who get married here...) receive a family-regroupment B permit that is not subject to quotas or employment restrictions. This is spelt out on application forms and on the CV.

Swiss Bob says:

How is this the case? As my husband why does he not have the right to move and work around Europe as I do???
Thanks!

Is that this one that you list in the non-eu permit sticky? :

	Quote:
	RESIDENTS' B PERMIT (Aufenthaltbewilligung im Rahmen des Familiennachzugs)

	Quote:
	LONG-TERM RESIDENCE PERMIT. NOT SUBJECT TO QUOTA (BUT SUBJECT TO SWISS & EU NATIONALS PRIORITY) Permit delivered for family dependents. Does not include work permission - this must be applied for separately (no quotas, however indigenous priority still applies) Renewable Possibility of conversion into C Permit

If so, priority for jobs still go to Swiss and EU Nationals?

Thanks

That has changed as of January 1st. I forgot to update the sticky.

Hi, Im wondering how this work finally for you? after all this years?
My husband is also serbian. Im planning to study in the UK for three years and actually he say its a very long time and that after a while he is thinking to join me but he knows that for him its so difficult in the EU.
Not to mentioned that in my country pass 3 years after he gets his permanent residency.
By the way im from Panama.
thanks for all your feedback

What does have to do with EU/CH? Serbia is not EU....