Hi,

I am going to start a job in Switzerland and HR asked me to provide some equivalent of a Betreibungsauskunft (attestation de l’office des poursuites). I currently live in UK, but I have been here for less than a year, so I don't know the UK system that well either.

Does anyone know what would be a UK equivalent of Betreibungsauskunft (attestation de l’office des poursuites) recognised in Switzerland?

Thanks!

There is nothing, you can get one in Switzerland the day after you arrive

That doesn't sound encouraging...The company wants Betreibungsauskunft to send me the contract and without the contract I can't arrive to Switzerland to get Betreibungsauskunft :-(

Just tell them it does not exist, ask if a bankers reference would help.

Sorry, but you're a long way of that stage of things. The employer has to send you an employment contract which you need to sign and return to them because they then have to send it to the Swiss cantonal and federal authorities to get permission to hire you as a non-EU national. They have to prove they can't find a Swiss/EU national who could do the job.

https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home...zulassung.html

Only if the Swiss authorities approve a permit for you will you be hired. I can't see that an attestation de poursuites would be needed at this stage of the hiring process, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to have one if such a thing existed. Unfortunately, in the UK it doesn't.

Thank you very much for your answers!

I actually already know well the Swiss procedure itself (my previous job was in Switzerland), but it's the first time I am applying for a job in Switzerland from UK.

My (hopefully) future Swiss employer would like to have (among other documents) some prove that I don't have debts in UK before even starting the whole procedure.

I don't know UK that well and my UK colleagues don't know what a Betreibungsauskunft is. That's why I was wondering if anyone on the Englishforum had a similar situation.

I will see if Swiss could be happy with a bankers reference or a credit check report.

Why would your employer need this (Security, Casino, or Banking ?)

Look up your name in the IIR, print it out and show them you are not listed. They may as well research themselves.
https://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/eiir/

I work for a UK financial institution here in CH..

They check our CH financial status every so often but never country of origin status.

Seems like an unusual requirement to me. Status in one place doesn't really affect the other, does it?

If you have a good credit rating you should be fine shouldn't you? Maybe contact UK Citizens Advice Bureau to see if ghey know if it's possible (and how )to get proof of no CCJs . They're a small claims thing, right?

A UK credit report is available from Experian, free if cancelled within first month. It depends on how good the OP's score is!
Bizarrely mine is Excellent 987 (max 999). I have not been on the UK electoral roll or lived in the UK for over 20 years, however I do have UK credit cards from the 1979 & 1983.

Maybe this?

https://www.acro.police.uk/police_certificates.aspx

This is all that employers in the financial sector should care about..
The retail type credit score is open to interpretation, you could be filthy rich but have a crappy score because you were late with payments for example, doesn't mean you are insolvent.

The insolvency list is for people who are undischarged bankrupt or in an IVA which has not been concluded in the last 3 months. I checked on someone who did an IVA 3 months ago with a cash settlement & they don't appear, on the list really weird their creditors lost over £20,000 in the reorganisation. Their credit score would be pants & the IVA would show.
https://www.acro.police.uk/police_certificates.aspx

Criminal record, nothing to do with unpaid debts.

I know, it's not perfect for sure.. But it all depends on what the employer wants this for I guess and what exactly they want to see.. I can't see the value of a retail credit score in the UK to a Swiss employer - unless the job is something like a teacher in best financial practices, i dunno, something like that..

My credit score is likely crap since i haven't lived there in near five years. I've missed payments on things because I thought my letting agent was dealing with it but paid days later once i knew, I moved a couple of times before I came here, no income in the UK.. etc etc..
But then again, the queen of England probably has a crap credit score too because she's never had a credit card or a loan and doesn't appear on the electoral register (i made the last bit up)

Hi all,
Hope you solved your problem somehow. I found myself in a very similar situation and found out that one obtain a credit score assessment, which is the closest thing to Betreibungsauskunft that can be found, I think.


You need to search online for 'credit reference agencies'. The ones my bank recommended are Experian and Clearscore. I used Experian which requires you to activate a pro account (30 days free trial) to print out your credit score detail. Crucially, this includes a section 'Public record information' detailing any court judgments, debt insolvencies and bankrupcies: exactly what you need!


Hope this helps other people that, like me, landed here looking for help on this.