Hello all,

we are UK citizens and currently waiting for our B permits to be renewed. They expire 31 August and we need to go back to the UK on 4 September for a few days. We will not get them before we leave. (We have asked for C permits which will take longer because they will require additional paperwork.)

Is it okay to travel while the permit is in the process of renewal? Can we show the old B permits if asked and say that they are being renewed?

A friend of mine is in the same situation and told me that I would need to get an emergency permit but she's from Israel and presumably needs a visa. FYI in the past 5 years we have never been asked for the permits when we land in Geneva. Not sure if that's because they've always been valid!

Thanks in advance for any advice.

No problem at all for an EU passport holder.

Thanks very much! Good thing we are still EU

I presume it's the same regardless of where we travel in the world? We have some other trips planned in October (US, Asia) and now I wonder if we will have them back in time.

As long as your legal residence is CH there won't ba an issue.

Exactly, you are still legally resident whilst a renewal is pending. In some cantons C permits can take up to 9 months to arrive. This doesn't have any influence on whether you can travel or not as you have your passport or identity card for that.

Thanks both, that's very helpful!