Good morning! My girlfriend is financially dependent on me from the beginning of our stay in Switzerland. She has permit B only to stay, not to work. I have work permit B. This year we want to renew permits. We live in Zurich. Does she need a language certificate? We are citizens of the European Union. In many documents I see that EU citizens don't need language certificates for permit B.

Depends on the country you are from. Not all EU countries are exempt.

We are from Poland. I read that in the case of permit B all EU countries are exempted from the language requirement.

There are language requirements for the C permit, but I haven't seen anything about that for a B permit.

Only for the primary permit holder, not dependents.

Tom

There are for dependents.

Tom

I found this document:

https://www.eda.admin.ch/dam/countri...achweis_EN.pdf

I don't see that EU citizens must know one of the Swiss languages in the case of Permit B. There is a lot sentences about third country people (non-EU) and that some countries are exempted from the language requirements for Permit C.

As Polish citizens my girlfriend and me benefits of the Agreement On The Free Movement Of Persons (AFMP) and we only need adequate finances for living. Every EU citizen can live in Switzerland as long as they have the money, not necessarily from work. My girlfriend has money from me.

I didn't found another legal basis for my situation.

Can you show me the legal basis?

https://www.eda.admin.ch/dam/countri...achweis_EN.pdf

If I understand correctly The Agreement On The Free Movement Of Persons (AFMP) is the legal basis in my situation? This year there will be a referendum on this matter. If Switzerland breaks this agreement, the situation will get complicated.

I already had deleted my post since it was wrong

So my girlfriend must have a language certificate?

I see the sentence:

"s. There is no language
requirement for unmarried children under 18 years of age, for spouses and unmarried children
up to 18 years of age of Swiss citizens, nor for persons who may benefit from the provisions
of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP) and their family members
(spouses and unmarried children up to the age of 21)".

Poland is a part of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons.

For all dependents? I thought only under family reunification.

I read it as like it is only affecting family reunification and not all dependents.

And Free movement is nice, but when it comes to people who are dependent on others and thus lack the financials themselves there is freedom on national level to add some extra requirements.

Dependants are “family reunification”! Even if unmarried.

I beg to differ.

I can even sign a sponsor contract for somebody I never met before to allow them for example to follow a study here, or give them time to become independent. This has nothing to do with family reunification.

No. There are family depends according Art. 3 FMOP agreement https://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classifi...index.html#ta3 which are NOT subject to the permit B language requirements and there are all the other dependents. Such depends, if EU citizens, might have an independent residency right, and are also not NOT subject to any permit B language requirement, based on chapter V of the above treaty.

https://www.eda.admin.ch/dam/countri...achweis_EN.pdf

PS: All this language requirements have been in force since January 1st 2019. The only thing which has changed is that the list of accepted language certificates has been made shorter. So, what all is all the sudden interest and fuss?

__________________
"Okay, I just hope we don't wake up on Mars or something surrounded by millions of little squashy guys."

For us, it can only get better if we end FMOP!

Tom

If I understand you correctly, my girlfriend doesn't need a language certificate?

No requirements exist about EU citizens presenting any language certificate for B Permits. If someone asks for one, kindly request to quote the legal basis for this. Be kind but also be aware of your rights. It is hard to believe but there are Swiss civil servants not being aware of some rules.