My husband and I have B Permits which don't expire until 2010. My husband is taking a 12 months contract in the Middle East (which may be extended). We would prefer not to lose our B Permits. Does anyone know whether we can keep them and if so how?
As you must de-register before leaving and more than 12 months out the country will invalidate the terms of the B permit, I imagine if you can keep them, they will be stamped with a suitable message indicating the facts...
Right, thanks Ab-Fab. So do we need to de-register necessarily at all or right away? I suspect if we don't we have to keep on paying health insurance etc which I don't want to do. Doesn't really matter if we can't keep it, just thought if we could, then why not.
the permits expire in 2010 as long as you're classed as permanently resident in Switzerland. Being classed as permanently resident means, as you've pointed out, ensuring health coverage is up-to-date amongst other things.
Deregistering will require you to be signed-off with regards to tax before doing so plus you will be able to withdraw or transfer your pension (third pillar).
I assume by your username and question that you don't have EU passports.
You are required to de-register and I think this is within a few days of leaving. As you are leaving for 12 months, essentially this will be regarded as leaving 'for ever' and you will need to reapply from scratch to come back. You will also be expected to pay your taxes up to the day you leave.
My advice is to discuss this with your local community office. They are usually very helpful and have all the facts...
The simple answer to this is no unless you are clever. If you were to follow your husband after tying up loose ends at which point you both deregister and that was a couple of weeks after he left and you came back a few weeks before he did then you will be out for less than 12 months. If however he gets his extension then you will need to keep renting your accomodation here for the time he is out which is probably not worth doing or alterntaively you have a VERY good friend who will give you a postal address and who has a flat/house big enough to theoretically take you all. Given that your permits don't expire until 2010 one of you must be EU/EFTA though which changes the world anyway... Note also that if the work in the mid east is an assignment from your husbands Swiss company then different rules apply.
Lob Rockster thanks for your response. We aren't EU passports holders, my husband is Norwegian, I am Australian. So, conclusion is we will need to deregister and if we come back, then start the process again.
Note that Norway belongs to EFTA and there different rules apply. You need to check it out with the migrationsamt. Be economical with what you tell them and play the best case (in swiss eyes)
Im looking into this myself asIm on a permit b EU expires 2010 too and i will be basing myself in england but still have business interests here.I was told yesterday by a swiss expert ..not confirmed, that I can keep my permis B to run my business here if I work less than 120 days a year .I was a bit surprised because I thought you had to be resident ie main home here in switzerland and not just a postal address. She told me this was a permis B/EU which i have which allows you to carry out lucrative business without actually being resident in here...Im a bit confused will have more info soon...
Absolutely correct. If you have an EU permit B based on a business out of Switzerland you can keep it. You do need to watch how many days you are here though otherwise you will become liable to Swiss personal income tax!
1) I have a 5 year B permit valid until 2012 and have a property in Switzerland
2) in 2009 I married someone out of the country but keep my primary residence in CH, pay insurance, tax, bills etc and come back to CH a number of times a year?
3) I had a baby in Feb 2011 but because he has a temp South African passport only cannot enter in CH and so has not been registered.
What I want to know is:
1) will the Swiss authorities know how often I have been in and out of CH?
2) WIll I be allowed to keep my B permit although I have been out for 11 months?
3) Will I have problems if I say I registered my baby with my husband and have continued to be in and out of Switzerland? will "exceptional circumstances" be accepted?
I don't want to be paranoid, but you never know. Also if anyone has any "experts" or professional who can give me advice, I'd appreciate their details.