I am currently in Canada and will be marrying my Swiss boyfriend in Canada this August. After a brief honeymoon in Mexico we were planning to come back to Switzerland together to live. Now he has contacted the authorities and apparently I have to apply for a visa through Canada and change the name on my passport (only AFTER the marriage). (And after our trip to Mexico since we will need the passports to go) They told us I am only able to enter Switzerland once I have these documents. Apparently this can take weeks. Is this true? Does anyone have any experience or legal advice on this subject? Is there anyone else outside the EU who married a Swiss outside of Switzerland and can give me advice on how to enter the country afterwards? It would be a shame to get married and spend the first 6-8 weeks of marriage in different countries!

you should be able to get an insert to go into your passport with the new name.

I'd also come and then do the paperwork here.

IF you have chosen to take the name of your husband, and this is reflected on your marriage certificate, then it is only good governance to update all of your personal records to reflect this.

Switzerland will want to align your marriage certificate with your passport and other details when registering you as married and providing you with a B Bewilligung.

You can get a new passport in days in Australia, perhaps there is a way of fast tracking this in Canada, that is outside the jurisdiction of Switzerland and dependant on the speed of process in Canada.

If you retained your maiden name, then you probably do not need to go through all this. I do not see it as a big problem. Getting a B Bewilligung once married is easy peasy.

if you're not planning on travelling before your wedding, then you should be able to apply for a new passport before you are actually married, although it will only be valid from the date of marriage. This is what I did. I had to fill in a form and get it signed by the minister who was taking the marriage service, present a copy of my marriage licence and I got my new passport the day before my wedding.

Heya

I just got married ( last month ) in Australia to my Swiss husband.

When we came back to Switzerland I entered as a tourist as we have to wait for the paperwork ( marriage certificate) to go through the Swiss Consulate in Australia for authentification then be sent to Bern then onto Aargau where we live. Then we had to "anmelden ( register)" in the gemeinde where we live for them to get the B permit process started. And I am still a tourist until I get the permit.

But count yourself lucky - I have been told - that people from some countries that require a preorganised visa need to wait in their home countries for the permits to be issued before they can enter the country , even to visit their family they need a preorganised tourist visa...

I didnt have time to change the name yet on my passport and I made the mistake of thinking that Switzerland would be the same as back home in that one only needs the marriage certificate to change ones name.

Change your passport ( if you are going to ) before you apply for the permit as they will issue the B permit to the name on your passport.

For the most part the Gemeinde will handle the paperwork when you register just take along your passport with tourist stamp unless you have another permit, marriage certificate and your partner ( if he is already registered there or not doesnt matter as he will aslo need to register if hes not already)

I would also get a couple of copies of the marriage certificate. The one you send of to be authenticated ( if you need to do that from Canada) you will never see again and they probably wont tell you that. And its also helpful for opening bank accounts etc here.

I hope I havent confused you too much...

Enjoy
kt

Heya

I just got married ( last month ) in Australia to my Swiss husband.

When we came back to Switzerland I entered as a tourist as we have to wait for the paperwork ( marriage certificate) to go through the Swiss Consulate in Australia for authentification then be sent to Bern then onto Aargau where we live. Then we had to "anmelden ( register)" in the gemeinde where we live for them to get the B permit process started. And I am still a tourist until I get the permit



katie...
how long did it take you to get the B permit when u're already in switzerland with the tourist visa

as I'm waiting for it..yet i dont know how long will it take..
i need it to get a job beginning of next month

Make sure that Bern sends it! Appenzell Ausserrhoden never sent ours, but I received a B permit from Aarau nonetheless based upon our American certificate. Aarau told us in a letter, which we received a week or two later, that we would need to be wed here in order for them to renew it in a year. When we explained how we had sent a certified and notarized copy to the Swiss Embassy in New York, Aarau said that they had never received it, and that they were surprised that it had not been forwarded to them.

We proceeded by asking Appenzell Ausserrhoden to send it to us -- two months later nothing. We phoned them again and they stated that we had a late fee for the documents they claimed they sent us!!! Ridiculous. We finally received the "family book" some weeks later and passed it onto to the canton via the gemeinde.

From how I understand things, it is standard procedure in Aargau to automatically forward the documents to the canton of residency, but in other cantons it is not.

Hi there,

I got married to a swiss woman as well in 2003! I am a moroccan citizen and my case was the most difficult even to get a visa to enter the country! I was deported from switzerland before that and prohibited from entring the country for the following three year! so my woman came to Morocco, we got married and sent all docs to the swiss embassy! my wife came back and got me the visa in switzerland (depending on the kanton)! one week later I came here as foreigner joining his wife withoutz any problem, permit or what so ever! while I arrived here, I applied for everything such as family booklet, B permit and I got a job straight away...
So there is no need in changing passport and this kind of stuff! you can do so when your in CH at your embassy..

Heya all

Just an update, I got a "temporary"( for want of a better word) permit to stay last week, which my employer has said is what we were after and this he has sent that off with the work permit application.

I guess they just say 3-4 months , but maybe it will be that long before I have the proper B Permit in hand....

Enjoy
kt