B-permit not tied to a company

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1
Hi all, I am currently holding a permit that is not tied to my current company. I plan to leave my current company and also leave Switzerland. Since my permit is unconstrained(not tied to any company), does it mean that I can still come back to Switzerland before the current permit expires?

To keep that, I can imagine I will need to:

1) still have a registered address;

2) still paying insurance;

Is my understanding correct or do I miss anything? I already worked in Switzerland for 4 years, if I have a gap in my working history but my permit history is continuous, will it impact my later C-permit application (which requires 5 years' continuous history)

Thanks

2

So long as you don’t deregister, keep an address here, pay health insurance and return within 6 months you should be okay to keep the permit.

Shouldn’t affect a C permit applicable since it’s residency, not continuous employment that counts.

The C permit is granted on request of the applicant on two conditions:

If the applicant has lived in Switzerland for at least 10 years on a B or L permit (permits N, F are not taken into account) and if the last 5 years have been spent in the country without any interruption (art. 34 let. a LEI).

If there is no reason for the permit to be refused (criminal record, debts, threat to national security).

If you’re out of the country for more than 6 months at a time the permit will become invalid, no matter how much time is left on it.

3
A B (or L) permit is always tied to a purpose of stay. In case that purpose no longer holds, the permit can be canceled (it won't happen automatically but your employer is obliged to inform your cantonal migration office that you left within 30 days of you leaving).

If the purpose of stay was gainful employment, you cannot just stay unemployed, you need to go through the motions of looking like you're looking for a job (i.e. register with RAV and apply for jobs). Otherwise you're likely to have trouble renewing it.

For a C permit it does depend on the canton. If we're talking about the early (5 year) C permit in Zurich they will tolerate employment gaps up to 3 months.

4

No, it’s not. An open B permit isn’t tied to an employer and there’s no need for them to inform anyone if said permit holder decides to leave the company. They would need to have a new permanent job by the time the permit needs renewing, but that’s all far as I know.

5
Confirm in the immigration office that if you have an open b-permit, then even you left your company, before your current permit expires, you can still live in Switzerland, as long as you have a registered address and also pay the insurance.