Hi, I have got a PhD offer in Zurich Uni and have a question regarding family reunification.
I have a husband and a small kid. I have asked Uni to apply for visas for us - are there chances we will be granted visas altogether or will I need to come first?
Question is rather critical for me since my husband is eligible for unemployment money but only until the end of year - he has quitted his job in Geneva end of last year and as I understood (maybe I am wrong?) you can get unenployment benefit only if apply within 12 months after you quitted your job.
My salary will be around 47K per year - can this cause that my family won;t get visas at all? Also we can provide bank statement that we have enough money on bank account
And the last but not the least - I realize that flats in Zurich are expensive but if we look for flats in Winterthur - can we manage to find somth below 1300 which would have at least kitchen and one room but preferably also dining room? I know that many people on the forum rent smth over 2500 but we are used to live on budget so really nothing fancy - f.e. in Geneve we had a flat for 1350 per month around 37 m2
Thanks for further comments!

Yeah that is not an easy situation on so many levels.


OK couple of comments and questions first:

a) flats in Winterthur are not significantly cheaper than those in Zurich anymore, and with the additional cost for the commute, you will more or less break even. It's also not easier to find a place in Winterthur these days than in Zurich. Better to look towards other areas outside of Zurich (which ones depends on your preferences if you have any)
b) not sure anyone will rent out a 1BR/2 room-apt let alone a studio to a family of three. They might. They might not.
c) 47k is pretty much right at the poverty line for a family of three, if it's the sole income. Does your husband have any plans to look for a new job?
d) why has your husband not signed up for unemployment money immediately? When he signs up now, he will not receive any money for at least two months, possibly longer. To get unemployment money, he needs to have worked at least 12 months out of the past 24 months, so yes, he therefore needs to sign up before the 12 months are up. He will receive 80% of his previous salary because of the kid, but as said, there will be no payment for several months as I understand he has quit his job himself
e) re the permit: what permit situation do you have at the moment? what nationality are you?

I'm doing some research into the financial bit, IIRC, for a single person, they need at least CHF 21'000 p.a. (or maybe 23'000) to even be considered for a visa. Not sure how much for a family, a kid probably counts as 0.5, so that would be some 53k, i.e. your salary would be too low. But as said, I'm trying to find out.

The entitlement to payment is calculated by considering the employment over the past 2 years, http://www.espace-emploi.ch/jobsuche/bewerbungstipps/

I'm confused. Where exactly are you, your husband and your child? You give your location as Lausanne, said he was working in Geneva and quit his job last year, yet you're asking if you'll be allowed family reunification. Where exactly is everyone?

As far as unemployment goes this will depend on where he is. Assuming he's still here in Switzerland with a valid permit then really he should have applied for unemployment as soon as he quit is his job. There would be a penalty of some weeks/months because he quit and wasn't fired, but he would have been able to claim. If he's here he needs to get down to the Geneva ORP office asap and start the proces off.

https://www.ch.ch/en/registering-unemployed/

https://www.ch.ch/en/unemployment-ri...d-obligations/

If he isn't in the country and doesn't have a permit, well forget it.

Thanx everyone

Yep I should clarify -
He was doing his contract, this December contract was terminated as well as vias - we came back to Russia
Now I found PhD position in ETH
Actually they said it will be around 55-60K per year so way better.
So question is - will we get visas altogether?
Will we get unemploymeny benefit until he find job? (I heard it doesn;t matter if you left country)

Sorry, no idea. You need to talk to the ORP office in Geneva, RAV office in Zurich and EHTZ to find out whether he can get unemployment and whether he'll be allowed to work here. Not sure if your permit with a PhD comes under normal work conditions or you're still considered a student.

I doubt your husband can claim unemployment money. He quit, has no permit, left the country, has kept no ties to Switzerland - I don't think he's entitled to anything. Even if he gets a new permit, I have a feeling he can't just walk back here and ask for unemployment money, on a different permit no less, which is very probably not a work permit anyway. Without a work permit, he can't accept a job and without being available (in every aspect including legally) to take on a job, he won't be getting money.

I have not found conclusive information on the financial means required for this type of permit so far.

Yes, I'm not sure what the status is for spouses/partners of students as far as being able to work goes. I think spouses/partners of EU nationals obviously should be able to work, but not sure whether non-EU nationals can. It may just be a dependent's residence permit for him which won't allow him to work while you're doing your PhD.

If that's the case then he wouldn't be able to claim unemployment as he isn't eligible to work here any longer.

Concerning permit - spouse of somebody with study visa gets working permit

can you provide a source please that confirms this is true for all non-EU citizens, no exception? I really have my doubts that this is true, but happy to be proven wrong.

If they get B permis then yes.
If it's an L permit the yes, with caveats, ie must be 'specialist', can't work at the Migros.

It's in the law on foreigners. The idea is that foreigners should integrate. Part of integration is participating in society including working.

Wasn't sure that would apply to spouses/partners of non-EU national students as study is their main occupation.

I have some doubts about that. Even for a B-permit, the applicable law is not clear cut on the subject, and much leeway is left to the cantonal authorities. The best would be to have direct confirmation from the Zurcher Migrationsamt, or the example of a couple/family in a similar situations. I think I know an American couple that was is this situation, and the non-student spouse was working part-time in ZH, but I don't know the specifics, whether they had to ask permission from the authorities beforehand, also one of them could have been an EU-passport holder, even if US born and bred.

What I'm saying is: you might have good chances in your husband getting a work authorization, especially since canton ZH gives them more liberally than others, but don't take it for granted until you see it with your own eyes!

Actually the law for normal B permit dependents is quite clear.

"By constrast, members of the family of a holder of a residence permit do not have a right to gainful employment. However, given the general objectives of the Foreign Nationals Act (better integration of the foreign population), the legislature decided not to submit gainful employment authorization."

In other words they just need to find an employer and show their employment contract to the gemeinde/migration office and they can work. They don't need to get approval from the Swiss authorities as an L permit dependent holder would.

What isn't clear is when a student holding a B permit and has a dependent who also holds a B permit that the dependent comes under the same clause, especially if they're both non-EU nationals, given that a student permit is for study and not work.

What do you have doubts about? The Federal Law is quite clear.

It might well be easier the other way around then, i.e. husband finding a job, getting work authorization, and wife coming as a dependent...

I've had non-EU interns and PhD students in my company, bringing their spouses as dependents, but can't remember whether the spouses were indeed allowed to work.

As a PhD student, OP should get a B permit though, not an L. Theoretically that is.