I am going to Switzerland under the Tourist Visa ( I am not required to have a visa for my three-month stay because I am Japanese citizen) for 3 months I have never been to Switzerland and I would like to see first before I decided right school to go to.(Language Shcool)

I am planning to come back to the country with Student Visa.

My question is that how long I have to wait to reenter?
I know it takes at least 3 months to get a proper visa but my Max stay with tourist visa would put me in some kind of troubles to apply student visa?

I have heard that sometimes you can change your visa status in Switzerland you are lucky enough.. but it is very risky.. (that is what I have heard from Embassy people)

Well if any body in the same situation, please give some advice for me.

Thank you in advance.

If I read between the lines you are thinking of coming here and then hoping that while you are here you will get a student visa - the travel cost and distance to Japan is not small. I am quite curious because you sound like you want to learn a foreign language (French) and I am not sure that the Student visa applies for this. There are conditions laid down in Swiss law to deal with students. In any case you need to apply at the Swiss Embassy in your country of primary residence and you cannot apply in Switzerland.

Please provide more details of the course you are wanting to take and the kind of school you are thinking about.

Do you mean that there is no visa for french courses, but german is ok?

Akato - as you have probably found out, there are quite a few language schools here offering courses for international students. Most of them (particularly the reputable ones) will have a visa officer or similar to help students with visas and provide advice on the best course of action. I would recommend that you identify a few schools and contact them for advice on this.

Quite a few schools (not necessarily the reputable ones) have agencies in Japan who provide this sort of advice for students. Most of these will charge you for the service, however there are a few that are free for students by working on a commission basis with the institution.

Regarding the timing, You can obviously stay for up to the 3 months in Switzerland, and you can then apply for your visa as soon as you apply for your visa. I advise that you do apply from Japan since that will be your official area of residence at the time of application. Bear in mind that you have to actually be in Japan when you submit the application, and don't book a flight back to Switzerland until you actually have your visa confirmed. You won't be the first japanese student to come for language study in switzerland so the embassy staff will be well aware of people visiting first to have a look. If you are interviewed and asked, just tell the truth. It always goes down better...

to simply answer the question. The max. length of time a tourist on a temporary permit in switzerland is 6 months per year. That is 3 months every time and the last time i had an L permit it means that I have to be out of the country for at least 3 months before I can reenter with another L permit. But then again the your situation is definitely different from mine....

Hi,

But what should be the time gap between two visits

Regards

Hitesh

at least 3 months....at least that was what i was told 8 years ago...but this link might help....

http://www.bfm.admin.ch/index.php?id=141&L=3

www.vkhs.ch offers 3 months language course for foreign students. Since it's tied with Fribourg University, your chances of getting a student visa is better than most commercial language schools.

I think they also have hostel accomodation for foreign students. There a course starting in summer. Check their website and email them for more infos.

http://www.vkhs.ch

good luck

For non-EU is a 6 months wait.

NO what I meant is that there are certain rules for getting a student visa. Remember a student visa is quite a useful document to have as it is also defacto a work permit. There are rules that cover pupils of schools in full time education ie school children and also that cover students attending a university, a polytechnic and the like but if the language school is just shall we say an Alpha or similar then they are not covered. You need to get an official exchange style visit or get a course attached to a university in some way. The problem with this is the cost... I guess if you are only wanting to learn the language then you should maybe try in France or Germany...

Thank you Richard, and those who gave me useful advice.
Yes, what I am trying to do is to find the right school and right place for me first. Also My boyfriend is there and He is looking for a job now and he does not where he will be located yet... I would like to be as close as him. That is also reason I can not decide my location yet.

Originally I wanted to stay for my intensive french study at least 6 months then I found out that I needed a visa for more than 3 months stay even for a language school..I do not want to wait for 3 or 4 months to get visa issued( that is what all agencies told me) and you have to make all paymentl for the entire 6 months in advance.

That is too risky for me. I want to come as a tourist and go to language school for trial and come back around 6 months to continue my study.

Hum... it is complicated.. embassy people said that sometimes you could change your visa status( tourist to student) in the country without going home..

All I want is to study french intensively at least 6 months..

Another question is that how people see Japanese in Switzerland.
I am not worried about it too much but I am very curious about that.
Are they lot of Japanese??

Thank you so much for your suggestion.
I am not thinking of going to Uni though.
I would like to able to communicate in french for fun.
That is all I am looking for.
The courses you suggest me to have a look is for someone already enrolled Uni in Switzerland I guess or Could I still take only french language classes in here?

Akato60-San

Tomorrow, I'll explain to you very slowly but first go and visit that website and try to understand what they have already stated on it.

Arigato-go-za-imas