Hi all - sorry if this sounds stupid, have searched on internet and forums but cant get answers to these questions

Can I buy a car without a visa. I applied for my work visa yesterday, but it is pending. In an ideal world we'd like to get a car this / next week. I'm 99% sure the visa will come through. Cant see why it wont.

Do you need a visa to buy a car, or is this a different thing?

Thanks
Graham

Not if you buy mine

No, but you need a residency permit to register it!

Tom

Hi Graham

I guess there a number of questions for which you need the answer:

Can you get insurance cover without a residence permit?
Can you register a Swiss car without a residence permit?

I guess if your paying cash the actual purchase would not be a problem. Most of the big dealers - including Volvo in Kusnacht have English speaking sales people who could answer your questions. (These guys were very helpful for me).

Good luck with the visa

Well, when I moved from ZH to TI, I couldn't register my vehicles here for several months until I got my new permit (no problem, I just kept the ZH plates).

Tom

OK - but say I buy a 2nd hand car from a dealer. With cash, I can walk away with it. But then when do I have to register it? and at this point do I need a visa?

You have to register it to be able to drive it, and you need a residency permit to register it.

Tom

OK - so to simply. Can't buy a car until I get my visa sorted! application letter not enough, need visa.

I have a slightly different question re: buying 2nd hand car.

We are EU citizens moving to ZG and need to buy a car within our first week in Switzerland.

Unlikely that I will have been able to exchange my license by then.

What are the steps for buying/registering/insuring the car? Should everything be set up in advance of purchase?

You can use the UK licence for upto 1 year before changing it. There are lots of helpful threads on here tohelp you.

1) Get a residency permit.
2) Buy a car
3) Insure the car
4) Register the car

If you buy from a dealer or garage (new or used), they can take care of 2,3 and 4 themselves.

Tom

Thanks guys - OK, so just to get my head clear on the timeline. So say...
1) agree price
2) make payment
3) insure
4) change registration - we both go together.

I guess it's only at step 4 I have the question - say we both go and do the registration / transfer together, how soon after this can I drive / take ownership of the car. Is it immediate, or is there a need to wait for some paperwork etc?

Thanks

You can go on your own, you can drive away with new plates.