B Permit for non-EU renewed for 2 years?

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1
My family and I just received our new B Permits in Zuerich. We are non-EU (US), so every year our B Permit has had to be renewed for 1 more year. However, when I just picked up our new B Permits, I noticed the expiration date is 2 years from now, in 2023. I searched a bit on the Zuerich websites, but I couldn't find anything indicating this is possible. It all seems to say 1 year for non-EU, 5 for EU. We've lived in Switzerland now for 6 years, so I don't know if that plays into things at all.

In any case, I'm quite happy if we get to skip a year of the annual renewal process, which is a drag and not cheap for a family. I just wanted to see if anyone was aware of the rules governing this, and to see if perhaps this was some type of clerical error or something new.

Thanks!

2
Congrats!

I have to renew my B permit in the following weeks, it's a yearly thing. Let's see what happens

3
It may simply be an error?

My 5 year B permit was issued in Jan 2016 with an expiry of Jan 2020...

I always put it down to a christmas/new year fatigued data entry clerk forgetting it was no longer 2015 when they mentally added 5 and typed the date.

I have no idea if it was recorded that way in the system however, and only just mistyped on the paper part. But when queried (in late 2019, when I first noticed!) a new one was issued immediately.

If they'd given me an extra year like they have you, rather than chopped one off, I would also check before assuming all was well.

But hopefully someone else will come along shortly to confirm there are new 2 year permits...

Kind regards

Ian

4
2 year non-EU B permits are standard for those that have already been in Switzerland for a while (6 years in your case). Practice of course depends on canton.

5
Makes a lot of sense, particularly as they are a bit overwhelmed at the moment. Imagine there are specific requirements like a permanent contract etc.

6
It happened to us, too (Australians!), after we'd been here a few years. My husband even received a five-year B permit once.