Hi Everyone,
I arrived in Switzerland at the beginning of June and I'm currently waiting for my B permit. I'm a non-EU citizen.
The "controle des habitants" office in Lausanne is closed so all my correspondence with them is via email, very slow and delayed.
After an exchange of quite a few emails, I was able to get the information that my permit was approved 3 weeks ago, but I still didn't get it or an invitation to the biometric center and was wondering how long it should usually take and whether I'm supposed to get an invitation or contact them on my own (especially in the current situation when they only accept by appointment).
As a third country national, I expect the process should be much faster since everything was already approved during the visa application in advance, but maybe I'm missing something.
Does anyone have experience with this?
Ok. As Non-EU I guess you got a D permit to enter Switzerland ? In your passport ?
And are you waiting to work, or are you a dependent spouse ?
There was a slow-down with processing, and it's not urgent unless you need your residency card to travel over the border of Switzerland.
If it's really urgent, you can ask for a temporary paper permit until they do your biometric.
Right now, I can't think why your permit would be considered urgent - I suspect they are focused on the most urgent cases as they clear the backlog - for example, my renewal was done just two weeks ago I think - put forms in Monday and it was in the post to me on Friday - but with a 'renewal' it was really just a re-print with the new dates on it... no changes or extra questions.
Personally, I'd give it another week or two. It sounds like you have confirmed that it's not 'lost in the system'.
I wonder, were you given a paper permit when you registered at the local town hall ?
Indeed, I got my D visa in the passport. I think reentry wouldn't be a problem for me since I can travel without a visa to Schengen area, but I have no such plans at the moment anyway.
I have started working already, the main reason it's urgent is to start normal life in Switzerland, I can't get a phone contract, I can't get my health insurance (which normally I would wait for 3 months to get and it wouldn't be urgent, but not in the current situation).
And most importantly, at least in Lausanne it seems impossible to rent an apartment without the actual permit. Either that or a Swiss guarantor which of course as a newcomer to Switzerland I don't have.
A paper permit is a good idea, I'll try asking for that.
No, the only thing I got was the residence certificate which doesn't say what kind of permit I should get.
Even to get that I had to wait for 3 weeks after the registration and they insisted that they will send it to me in the mail, but didn't actually do it until I started spamming them daily with an email stating how urgent it is (couldn't even open my bank account without it).
Print this out and take it with you when you go out.
Well, patience. It's frustrating how I document can block many things. Even during normal times it's not uncommon to wait 3 months for the permit But...one thing at a time.
The health insurance is very important and should be ready less than 1 month after arrival. I don't know how you're applying for it. Are you in contact directly with an insurance company or with a conseil en assurance? Conseils en assurance are small offices independent that sell products from different insurance companies. They are more helpful than the employees of insurance companies. Usually they earn their income from insurance companies but it doesn't hurt to clarify if they're service is not invoiced to you. So you may ask any of these offices and get the health insurance sorted out. If I remember well, I went to one this conseils en assurance with a letter from the commune that stated I had applied for a permit and it was enough....but 7 years ago, the memory fails https://www.google.com/maps/search/c...,6.6053455,13z
It's just an email correspondence, not an official document...Unfortunately I don't expect it would help with the official functions.
Yes, patienceis something I'm missing lately
I lived in Zurich about 5 years ago and then moved out of the country. I remember everything was much more efficient and easier too
I thought the health insurance had a 3 months period after moving into the country...1 month leaves me about 3 days to sort it out.
I'll try looking for these conseils, thanks!
Ok. For phone, get prepaid. That's easy, you should be able to get that with your passport.
For the bank, try a different bank. If you are from the USA, it may be because of your USA passport. Some banks in Switzerland do not deal with US customers, regardless of permit.
Health insurance is backdated to day of registration at the town hall. Have you chosen an insurer ? I don't remember them needing a copy of the permit to start the application process. Regardless, set aside the premiums because even if you sign up in month 2-3 they will backdate your insurance to the date of arrival and send you a bill for the entire period. If you need a doctor urgently, you can pay cash and claim it later...
I'm guessing the residence certificate was a problem because of the close-down. Normally you would go to the office to register in-person and then they would provide it on-the-spot - does it have your photo on it ?
What passport do you hold ? That influences whether it will be an L or B permit. Actually, your employer probably already knows which permit it is. Most likely L permit one year, renewable for a second year, then re-applicaton for a B after two years on the L.
Regardless, getting an apartment will be difficult. With the lockdown a lot of agencies stopped showing any apartments. Plus there are only a couple of official moving days per year - find out when those are. A lot more apartments will be advertised 2-3 months leading up to those official moving dates.
Hey, I'm not 100% sure if the limit is 1 or 3 months. But I remember the commune told me I had to choose a health insurance provider as soon as possible or they will choose one for me. The point is that eventually they might enroll you to a plan (basic one) or a price you never agreed to. There's something about it on this thread https://www.englishforum.ch/permits-...icipality.html
3 months is correct, based on your link and also here: https://www.ch.ch/en/health-insurance-foreigners/
I was able to talk to the insurance company and found out they only want to know the type of permit. So I'm just assuming I'll get B as applied for, and going with it since the travel insurance I got when coming here expires in a week and I don't want to remain without insurance.
I'll post an update for future reference:
After continuing with my daily email routine as there is no other way to communicate with the resident control office, I was updated that my permit "was sent back to their office since I did not collect it from the post office, and they will send it to me via regular mail by next week".
I never received the notice to collect it, since apparently, they sent it on the name of the subletter instead of me.
So, the conclusion is, the timeline is indeed much shorter, I was supposed to receive it about 1-2 weeks ago if it wasn't for their inability to copy the correct name. I still don't know what permit it is, let's hope it's B
Thanks everyone for the help!
Great to know!
For your health insurance, your Swiss health insurance will be backdated to the day of entry - you don't need to worry that your travel insurance is running out.
You have three months to sort it out, but if you were to become seriously ill today, you would be covered under the normal rules for Swiss health insurance.
Actually I'm wondering if it's possible not to do it. I chose the starting date of the insurance as of July 1st, will it work?
Technically, because of the COVID situation when the borders were closed there wasn't an option of getting regular travel insurance and the insurance I got was a local Swiss insurance. Just through an agency from abroad. I don't know which company is it but maybe I could check to avoid paying the premium for June twice...
You can always try, but usually the insurance is backdated to arrival. What may help is to include relevant info about the Swiss insurance you purchased, to prove that you were covered during that time. Hunt for the paperwork, it might be worth a few hundred Francs.