Hi Everyone,

I hope everyone here is doing well!

I am looking for members who have have been through the process recently and can share their impressions of the whole process for Canton Fribourg.

We are in French speaking part of Canton Fribourg and are ready to apply for Permit C. As our 5 years B permits are expiring, we received the renewal letter and the list of documents that are required to apply. Initially we thought it's a mistake and the requirements are actually for naturalization but it's not.

Partner is getting very worried specifically about the integration requirements like certificate of sports, cultural participation, newspaper subscriptions; and for child, the swimming and gymnastics certificate etc) saying we should just move to Vaud and start over instead of trying to get naturalized here and spend 3 more years to find out that it was not a good idea. From speaking to her friends and colleagues from Fribourg, her impression is that we will have hard time getting processed here compared to Vaud.

Here is the list we got:

EU-8 and Extra-European (after 10 years of stay)

> copy of the lease contract;

> copy of valid passport or national identity card;

> copy of the certificate of affiliation with a health insurance fund;

> copy of the employment contract (if at IA: copy of the IA decision with details of the pension received and any additional benefits);

> copy of the last three payslips;

> copies of statements from bank accounts for the last three months;

> individual AVS account statement (to be ordered from the Compensation Fund);

> copy of the notice of the last tax assessment;

> official extract from the Prosecution Office;

> certificate from the Social Service mentioning any recourse to social assistance (please present this document in original when you visit the social service concerned);

> in the event of social debt: copy of any debt repayment agreement concluded with mention of the social service as to its compliance;

> work certificate (s) from your previous and current employer (s) containing in particular elements of behavior at work, quality of work and integration into the company;

> do you participate in sports, cultural or other associations? If so, please provide us with a certificate (s) mentioning in particular your participation, the qualities of your investment and your integration as well as the duration of your engagement;

> curriculum vitae;

> do you subscribe to Swiss newspapers? (certificate (s) to be provided);

> extract from your criminal record; (to be ordered at the La Poste counter)

> proof of your level of language spoken in your place of residence, indicating the level reached (minimum A2 oral and A1 written);

> school certificate (s) for the child / children (date / s of schooling, behavior / s and integration / s into the class, level / s reached / s, attendance / s of regular gymnastics lessons and swimming) as well as copies of school booklets to date;

> if child / children in apprenticeship: copy / s of the apprenticeship contract / s and certificate / s from the employer (duration / s of schooling, general assessment / s of the behavior / s, integration / s, level / x reached) and of the learning master (general assessment / s of the behavior / s, integration / s, level / x reached / s) as well as copies of the school booklets to date;

Wow, that looks really excessive
Me in Kanton ZH, Adliswil just had to sent them Work contract

Yeah we also heard from our friends in Vaud that it was straight forward and basically one or two pieces of documents were required.

Work contract, Betreibungsauskunft (poursuite) and confirmation of not having received social assistance is pretty common.

Passport: they should have a current copy anyway.


Apart from a language test, that is required for some countries, I have never seen those other requests.

I think from what the OP has said it is an early C request by virtue of integration, what used to be called VINTA.
Those applications require a lot more paperwork than the regular EU ones which are pretty much guaranteed after 5 years.

One or two pieces of documents? VD? Nope.

So, the grass is not greener in Vaud after all

I think it depends on the nationality of the applicant as to what documents are required.

Ha! Has it been? There is a lot of grass, the canton is large

I think canton VD has never approved anyone based on "one or two pieces" of documents as the OP mentioned.

They definitely have, for an EU national who is exempt from the language test requirements due to the bilateral agreements with Switzerland it really is as simple as that even in VD. We have several friends who have received their C permits in Vaud and it really was that simple. Neuchâtel is even easier.

That’s clearly not the situation of the OP though so it’s a moot point. If proof of integration is required for an early C request then a shedload of documents are needed regardless of the canton.

At the time I got my C and Swiss, my work contract was verbal, so how could someone make a copy?

Tom

I don't think we can compare EU process with NON-EU process.

It's a totally different situation.

Actually we have been in Switzerland for 10 years so it's not early C

It is for EU process in our case

They are looking to see if you are integrated. If you are, no issues, if you are not, then you should.

I doubt you are required to respond positively to all the questions, like the newspapers. Just tell them you access Swiss news on your phone.

The list of documents you posted is for EU-8 and non-EU nationals so if you are EU nationals you should ask for clarification.

We are from EU 11 country.

We called and checked and they said please see our previous reply.

We have local library membership. We have the language certificates. We are not members of clubs and organizations. Is that a probelm?

So probably the same as EU-8.

Tom