Hello,

Currently I'm having the permis C and my mother is US citizen.
I'm considering to move to US with my mother or my mother will come to switzerland.

Is there any chance for my mother to get a resident permit in suisse ? She divorced long ago and she's alone in us, no family members

Best,
Hai

Check out links in here to give you a few ideas on the rulings and possibilities.
Meloncollie's hints

As a non-EU national only your spouse/registered partner and any children under 18 have the possibility of joining you.

https://www.ch.ch/en/family-reunification/

IF, and it's a big if, there's any chance there's also the hurdle of having to show that your mother is already dependent on you financially.

Plus there would be the hassle of having to file US tax returns, trying to get a bank account here, etc.

Thank you for information. It seems to be complicated.

What if I gets the Swiss citizen ship, does it help much or the requirements stay the same?

Best
Ecublen

If you Google 'Familiennachzug Schweizer Bürger' you can find PDFs with information for various cantons. I wouldn't say complicated as much as difficult. There are rulings. If your situation doesn't fit the bill, then it might well prove impossible. In the links in Meloncollie's post, there are points questioning the wisdom of the move. Odile makes some excellent points in there.

Ecublen,

As a non-EU citizen, you have no right to bring a parent here, so essentially you are asking for a favor. With that in mind, it's important to think through how you are going to approach your Gemeinde and cantonal migration folks, think about how to put your case in the best light.

Towards that end, try to get a feeling for attitudes and practices in your community. Do you know another non-EU person in the community who has brought a parent or relative other than a spouse or minor child here? If so, find out what approach they used.

As in the other threads, from anecdotes gathered from folks I know who have been through this and from my own experience, it seems that the process and outcomes can vary widely. Some communities seem to be more 'sympathetic' than others. I know of one non-EU person who was unemployed and yet managed to bring both parents here on compassionate grounds. That would likely not have flown in my Gemeinde, where the emphasis seemed to be on finances and making sure that the parent would not end up a burden to the Swiss taxpayer.

In my own case, the argument that seemed to be best received was to show what benefit there might be to the Gemeinde (and Switzerland as a whole) if my FIL were allowed to join us here. If similar attitudes seem to lead decisions in your Gemeinde, perhaps think about what you bring to Switzerland, what would be lost if you had to return to the States to care for your mother. (Taxes, perhaps jobs lost if you are in a leading position, etc.) Afterall, as a non-EU person a case has already been made that you bring value to this country, that's the whole reason you were granted a permit in the first place.

A strong concern was that FIL would never cost the Swiss taxpayer a penny - towards that end, think about how you and your mother will finance her stay here, including thinking about health care costs as your mother grows older and needs more help.

(FIL died before a decision was made, so we withdrew the application. We'll never know what the outcome might have been.)

But that is my Gemeinde - as above, attitudes and practices elsewhere might be wholly different. I cannot emphasize this enough.

So... try to suss out local attitudes, plan your strategy from there.


Wishing you and your mother all the very best.

And you also need to consider your mother's wellbeing in all this. There may not be family back in the States, but I assume she has friends, places she likes to visit, things she likes to do, etc. She'll have to start anew with all that and it will be even more difficult if she doesn't speak a Swiss language.

I see that we are emphasizing a lot the communities (communes) here.
This kind of family reunion is decided first by the canton, and then submitted to FOM for approval.

In VS, the standard procedure is:
1. contact the cantonal office of immigration about your case
2. cantonal office make a very crude evaluation, if positive, then
3. you collect documents
4. go to the commune to give documents, saying that you already talked with cantonal office
5. the commune transfers the document to the canton (apart from this, the commune has no say)
6. wait for the cantonal decision and federal approval

If you do 4 directly (go to commune), they will suggest you talk first to the cantonal office. If you insist, they will anyway give you the formula with list of required document and you can always fill in and they will transfer to canton. But for the cantonal officers, it is far better if you get into contact with them before you start (especially for this kind of special and rare kind of family reunion), so that when they receive your dossier from your commune, they know you already talked with them and they already know that you have a chance (in telling you that could start the procedure).

These permit related issues are decided at cantonal level, and do not forget that cantonal immigration office (at least in VS, I assume other cantons too) has a reception where you can go at any working time without appointment for any immigration and permit related inquiries. It is essential that the cantonal officer tell you yes you can proceed, not the commune.

HappyRobbie, that was not my experience.

We went originally to the canton, and were told that we had to go through the Gemeinde first.

Again, just to emphasize that practices may differ from place to place and bureaucrat to bureaucrat - even when a law appears to be clear.



---

Ecublens, something that popped into my head as I was out walking the mutts:

You mention that applying for naturalization might be in your future. Do you think trying to bring your mother here before you do so might have any effect on how your application is perceived?

It might be a total non-issue, or it might bring up questions. Who knows.

On the other hand, my sugggestion of making the argument 'What would the community/canton/Switzerland lose should you have to leave to care for your mother if you couldn't bring her here?' might in the long run be a mistake as it could possibly weaken a future application for naturalization, it might show insufficient commitment to your life here.

(Naturalization is not in the cards for us, so I never considered the impact (or non-impact) of trying to bring FIL here. But if naturalization is your goal, and if your live in a community where local opinion determines whether or not you are accepted, as opposed to one where the process is largely administrative, in every single thing you do you should consider how your actions will be viewed by your community.)

Just something to think about. Talk to folks who have naturalized in your Gemeinde, ask how the process went for them, get their opinions on your plans.