Hello!

Apologies if this has already been addressed elsewhere on the forum but couldn't find a specific answer to my question so hopefully someone might be able to help!

My situation: I (British citizen currently living in the UK) and my fiancé (EU national, permit C, living and working in Switzerland) are waiting for our marriage application to be processed. All paperwork completed at Swiss embassy in London, now waiting for Switzerland to process paperwork on their side. Post Brexit, as a British citizen I am allowed to stay in Switzerland for 90 days at a time in any 180 day period.

Swiss embassy has advised (and I have checked via this link too: https://www.eda.admin.ch/countries/u...onal-visa.html) that British nationals do not need visas for short (<90days) or long (>90 days) stays in CH.

Assuming no delays, the local registry office has advised that our civil ceremony should be able to take place in August. I also have plans to move to CH then. I plan to apply for my B permit straight away as soon as I have my marriage certificate.

My question is: what happens if I still have not received by B permit after my 90 day stay in Switzerland?

The embassy told me that in this case I would need to leave CH and go back to the UK to wait until my B permit is issued. My concern is that this could potentially take weeks/months??, which means I would then be separated from my husband which I think is harsh.
I will get in touch with the Embassy again but also wanted to know if others have been in a similar position!

I know other nationals from countries like the US and other non-EU countries can apply for a Visa D specifically to bridge this gap whilst waiting for their permit to be issued. Can British citizens post Brexit also apply for a Visa D? Has anyone else been in the same situation? Any tips or advice welcome thank you!

90 days in 180 is your maximum stay, they are correct.

given you seem to be marrying in Switzerland, I doubt that any paperwork will require more than 90 days because you're going to be giving the civil register office plenty of documents.

did you vote for Brexit?

Have you only made an application to marry? Not to move here?

You should apply now for family reunification/fiancé visa, then you will have your D-visa before you come here and can get your permit as soon as you arrive. That’s the correct order of things if you plan to move here.

You can also apply for a fiancé visa which allows you to be here to help plan the wedding, etc.

And yes, you will need a Type D visa so you can enter Switzerland for more than the 90 day tourist limit.

Hello Sean Connery

Thank you for your reply, have also recontacted the CH Embassy here in the UK so just waiting to see what they reply.

As for your Brexit vote question well the answer is clearly a big NO ;-)
As a third country national, trying to get a job in the EU and in CH is nearly impossible, unfortunately this has generated a lot of dead ends for young professionals! But that's a discussion for another day!

Thank you Island Monkey. I am enquiring with the embassy first beforehand to find out a bit more about my situation. EDA websites states that British Citizens do not currently need a visa for stays of over 90 days in CH and there is no mention of D visas on the page, so it's all a bit confusing. I'm trying to gather as much information as possible from different sources whilst waiting for the embassy to get back to me, hence my post.

Thank you for your reply, I am aware of the family reunification programme and will look into it!

Thank you Medea Fleecestealer

I'll also wait to hear more from the embassy before starting the application process

As a Non-EU citizen, you need to apply for family reunification (and D visa) before you move here. You should do this before marrying if you intend to stay afterwards. The sooner you apply the quicker you’ll get it as they take time.

The 90 days only applies to tourists, which you won’t be. The correct way is get D visa, come here then get married. Coming as a tourist will cause you problems.

Your fiancé can get all the details on how to proceed if he’s living here already.

@Island Monkey

Thank you. After reading the regulations I was under the impression that you could only apply for family reunification if you're already married or a direct family member (https://www.ch.ch/fr/regroupement-familial-pays-tiers/).

But I might be wrong. Not clear whether *conjoint* in CH means partner or spouse because the English translation of the website above specifically stated *spouse*.

Thank you for your contribution and advice. I'll get onto it ASAP.

Might be referred to as a "fiancé visa" when it is before the marriage, but pretty much the same thing as family reunification.

Hello just for the record for those who might be reading this post later down the line: I can confirm that UK citizens do not require a visa D or fiancé visa to enter Switzerland. UK citizens can stay for up to 90 days in any 180 day period in Switzerland after which depending on the circumstances they will need a residency permit (L or B) to stay longer.

This doesn't really make sense to me; if you've applied for your permit you should be allowed to stay until a decision is made, especially since UK nationals don't need a Type D visa to be here longer than 90 days.

God knows, no one really seems to know what's going on, be it migration services or Swiss Embassy, I have been going round in circles with this question. I'm just going to apply for my B permit as soon as I get the marriage certificate and hope it doesn't take too long to arrive. I will probs post an update here as well for those who might be wondering!

It's normal that you can stay on while waiting for a decision on a renewal, beyond that I don't see where the idea that you can exceed the Schengen rule in other cases...

Have you also been in contact with the British Embassy in Bern? I tend to find their advice to be more precise.

good idea, I’ll probs get in touch when I move to CH next month. Thank you! Right now all my mental bandwidth has been consumed by moving and wedding paperwork! Job hunting is yet another nightmare, this is Britain 2021 for you!