Hello EF folks,

I've searched far and wide through the system and hit a mixture of quasi-answers to my question. The situation is as follows, had a work permit (B) which was somehow issued for less than a full year and ended the same date as my previous work contract, just as it was expiring, I had found new work and have applied for a renewal permit with the new work opportunity. Had I been given a year long B from the beginning, then I imagine I would have easily changed work without a problem. [I should note that I'm non-EU] - anyways, I have just turned in the paperwork and forfeited the plastic card in exchange for a stamped paper saying that it is in the process of renewal, however was warned to not travel outside of the country. Through research on here, it seems that a 'reentry visa' is an option and can be purchased for 93chf, so my first question was going to be,

- is this a bad idea to even ask for while your permit is pending approval?

- is it even possible to ask for this special visa, before the permit has been approved?

The closest answer I could find came from this post:
Work Permit B still under process and want to travel outside Swiss
- That nearly answers my question, but the last sentence raised some hopeful doubts.. I had planned a short trip to Italy during this segway between employment which I'm now guessing must be simply dropped as I sit in the country and wait for a thumbs up or down. Of course I want to play it cool and hope the renewal process goes as planned.. but find it sad to be immobile during this extended phase.

Anyone with experience or further advice?

Update - just visited the Einwohneramt + Migrationsamt, who told me that with a US passport, I should have no problem traveling within the Schengen, as 'a tourist'. If need be, the piece of paper can be shown to prove that a permit is in the process, but they have never had a problem.

Hope that helps anyone in the future who stumbles across this posting (and happens to have such a similar situation).

Hi Lesab,

I am in a similar situation as yours, the only difference being i have not changed jobs. I have applied for my renewal 5 weeks ago and still do not have a new permit card.

however, when i called the migrations office, i was told that even though I am a US citizen, I need a reentry permit to travel (even within the Schengen region).

Now, reading your post, I am totally confused.

This would have been a project related B - tied to your employer and restricted to the length of your contract. Without a permanent employment contract you are not entitled to a yearly renewable B permit.

With the type of permit you appear to have, changing employers is not normally allowed.

Very confusing. If you had a project related permit then it could only be extended and only with your current employer if, say, the project was extended. Assuming by new work you mean a new employer then this is not a renewal but a new application in which case the new employer should apply - not you.

@ Swissbob - thanks for the clarification on my case from some months ago, I have since left Switzerland in the persuit of working on my Deutsch language skills before I hopefully return in Fall. It may have been an incorrect process but it had made it past the front desk for approval. Who knows how it would have gone for the final approval stage.

@ kayo - when I originally started the renewal process, the woman at the counter told me "do NOT travel outside of Switzerland" - I read and read online and decided to return with 97chf prepared to buy a "re-entry visa". I went to the front counter, showed another lady my piece of paper stating that I could not travel and that I was interested in purchasing the re-entry visa. She said no problem, asked for my passport and after seeing that it was from the US, told me "youll have no problem just traveling with this, if they stop you, just say that you are a tourist.. if you then need to, show the piece of paper.. and last resort, you can say that we said it was ok". After that good news, I proceeded to carry out a few booked travels I had planned, including train/plane through Italy, Germany and Poland - no problems. I had even been passport controlled on the train from Germany to Switzerland, and the security officer almost insisted I was a tourist when I started to explain my situation to be more complicated... so of course YMMV - but it might be worth a trip to the immigration office to ask in person for the re-entry visa just to be certain and hope they give you the same blessing.

Best of luck for the renewal and ability to travel while you wait!

Hi,
May be I am too late for this post but I think I have the answer for your question on re-entry visa.

If existing workpermit is expired and you are waiting on the decision on workpermit extention or new workper, you can not apply for re-entry visa.
Logic:- If authorities give you an re-entry visa and decision on your workpermit extension/new workpermit application is negative (hope it never happen to any one), you still hold a valid entry papers (as re-entry visa) and authorities can not stop you from entering into country (sounds funny :msntongue ).

So, one can apply for re-entry visa (for 93 chf) only when positive decision on the permit is communicated from authorities.
I learned this in hard way

Hope this will help

when the immigration office gives you positive certain answer on you getting your permit, and before you actually receive it, you need to go out of Switzerland, you can apply for re-entry visa. Just permit-applying on procedure doesn't work, it used to be worked in the old days, not anymore. The swiss immigration officers also learned their lessons.

does this information still hold good or has there been some respite with the rule?

well in my case, I am an Indian national, and it hasn't been long for me in Switzerland, relatively speaking... I came here originally with a 4 months permit in May 2010 via an Indian firm, to work with a partner firm... they happened to offer me a job, which I accepted, and so they applied for an extension of my permit... what I got from the Kanton Bern is an extended permit type L (I wonder why?), with the end date as May 2011... basically they added 8 more months to the permit... but ya as a result I got the pink card type thingie too...

so this is a permanent job, and the extension process will begin around this month, i.e. March 2011, but like all other cases I won't have the actual renewed permit before May 2011 in all probabilities... reading this thread I understand that there is a precursor to the actual permit which is a "decision on permit extention", which is like what? a piece of official paper or just word of mouth? and does it come before/after the end date of the old permit? how effective is it at an immigration counter if trying to enter Switzerland?

in any case, provided I try to play safe with the rules and make an international trip, during April 2011 and I return in the last week of that month, would the immigration allow me to pass through with just a week left on my current L permit? I mean according to them, having 1 week left would be as good as having no permit, right? and ofcourse, if I have that "decision on permit extention" before I leave, would that be good enough for leaving/re-entering Switzerland in May 2011, in case I want to spread this trip over mid-April 2011 to mid-May 2011?

because of this confusion I am unable to plan my travel... for work reasons and some other courses I have taken up, I won't be free until mid-April 2011 in any case... so I can't even take the first option which I mentioned in the previous para...

I guess, the ideal answer for my query would be "apply for re-entry visa (93CHF)" and travel where you feel like... but is that the only option I have?

You won't need a re-entry visa. If your permit is in the renewal process then it's the same as having the permit. You will have no problem travelling.

thanks for the info... so for me the renewal process is as good as having the permit! ahan, sweet... you haven't clearly mentioned what makes my case different, so I shall assume it is because of my killer good looks
well actually it sounds au contraire to what has been suggested to the OP, or have I not been reading correctly... what makes my case different from his/her? my permanent job contract? or the absence of a job-change scenario like his/her? can you please just explain this seemingly simple thing?

Just for the record, in case somebody chances upon this thread via the Search function, I just came back from the Einwohnerdienste office and was instructed to apply for a re-entry visa, for re-entry into Switzerland after my planned vacation, as my permit is under renewal process.

Same with me, the staff of the Visa office told me that i have to apply for the re-entry visa. The problem with me is that my permit takes ages to renew...i actually applied for my new permit more than 3 month ago.....they say that it can take up to 4 month so i have aother month to go...:-)

In ZH and SG it appears to be different - it would be nice if the authorities could be consistent . Of course, you can't go wrong if you have the re-entry visa but you will be 90 chuffs worse off.

I found this thread while using the search function (all you new post haters, rejoice). I am wondering if anyone has had any experience with this lately, aka in the last 3-6 months.

I have been in Switzerland (Zurich) for a year on an L permit. I received my renewal paperwork mid January. I was actually sent the B-Permit paperwork with the "B Permit" crossed out and an giant "L" handwritten instead. I submitted my paperwork about 2.5 weeks ago and haven't received my new permit in the mail and the problem is that I am heading back to the US in 2 days.

Does anyone know what happens if I leave Switzerland and try and renter without my new permit? I still have the only old permit which is expired and a receipt for the new one.

Thanks

That's quite tricky and in all probabilities you will be refused entry at immigration. The last time I posted in this thread, I mentioned that I was advised by the authorities to apply for a re-entry visa which took less than 5 days to process and cost CHF90.- or a bit more. I am an Indian national though, and you're American(?), which might make this process different, I can't say for sure. All I know is that we always need a visa on our passport and/or a valid permit to re-enter the EU/CH zone.

You have just 2 days to travel, which makes me worry for you. Why don't you drop everything right now and head down to the foreigners registration office and find out about it right away. Will save you a heap lot of trouble on your way back.

Also, the renewed permit takes a good long month to arrive and not just 2.5 weeks.

Latest update on this topic:


I am a non-EU citizen, I have received my approval for my B permit, however waiting for the cards to be delivered. I need to travel to my home country during this period.


Checked with the immigration and I got a temporary visa stamped on my passport. Cost 90Chf for adults and 50Chf for Kids, no charges for kids below 3 years..

Kind folks in EF, I would appreciate your advice on the following matter.

Non-EU, country of origin: Singapore

Visa requirements: None for up to 90 days, none for over 90 days, note point C (permit must be applied for before entering Switzerland)

(Source: https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/de/home...oerigkeit.html)

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Long story short. I need to travel out in a week's time. B-permit's been approved, but no card received yet. So I wrote to Migrationsamt and here's the response I got:

Als Staatsangehöriger von Singapur benötigen Sie grundsätzlich kein Rückreisevisum, da Singapur von der Visumpflicht befreit ist. Sollten Sie dennoch ein Rückreisevisum beantragen möchten, so müssten Sie am Schalter des Migrationsamtes vorsprechen. Bitte bringen Sie dazu Ihren Reisepass mit. Das Rückreisevisum kostet CHF 90.- .

I'm a little confused by it. On the one hand, it says I don't need the re-entry Visa, but on the other hand, should I like to apply for one, I can (maybe out of my generosity towards the MA's coffers?)

Or is there something in the text that I missed?

Vielen Dank im Voraus!

This is not a big deal, just go to the kantonal Immigration office and ask for a re-entry visa. They would be asking you proof that ur permit is being applied, based on which they will issue u a re-entry visa (max 30 days).

Thanks, but I wasn't asking about the steps involved to apply for a re-entry visa.

My question was: based on the reply, are the authorities telling me I'm exempt from requiring a Rückreisevisum when I re-enter Switzerland? I was pretty sure that's what the first part said, but the second part derailed the understanding a little, so now I'm not sure of anything at all.

I'd like to avoid an unnecessary trip to Berninastrasse if possible. And of course, saving 90 CHF would be a nice bonus in addition.

I think someone took a few standardized letters and mushed them together to give you that strange answer. You shouldn't need a re-entry visa.

Do you have a document from the municipality that says your permit is being processed? If so then take that on your trip along with the letter you've quoted here - in case the the immigration official wants to give you a hard time when you return. If you don't have a letter saying your permit is being processed, stop by or give them a call and see if they will send you one.

Thanks so much 3Wishes.

Now that you've mentioned it, I do have in my possession a photocopy of my expired Ausweis, which has the Municipality stamp on it and includes the words "Änderung/Verlängerung beim Migrationsamt Kt. Zürich pendent".