B-Permit | Working in Austria, living in ZH

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1
I've been in Switzerland since 01.06.2015, currently residing in the canton of ZH. My B-permit will be transferred to a C-permit mid-2020 (30.06.2020 if I'm not mistaken).

There might be a possibility for me to start a job in Austria, at least temporarily (for a year or two).

I would like to stay registered and living, at least on paper, in Zurich. Would this be possible?

I wouldn't really be a Grenzgänger. On paper I'd be living at my current address, but in reality I would be living and moving about in Austria.

Does the contract (Swiss-bound in CHF or Austrian-bound in Euros) have any influence on the existing B-permit, or on the transfer to a C-permit?

Regards,

F.

2

If you’re not coming back to Switzerland then no you can’t keep the permit. You’d probably need to be effectively a cross border commuter and come back to Switzerland every weekend and maybe holidays too One of the requirements for having a permit is that your centre of life is here and you’re spending most of your time here, not elsewhere. If you’re just here on paper, but not actually living here then what’s the point? You’d have to pay double rent, probably keep your Swiss health insurance as well as have any Austrian ones, etc.

3
The "centre of your life" is described as the geographical place in which your public, professional and private lives most intersect, such that third parties looking on would be able to observe that your bond to that place is greater than your bond to any other place.

Things that indicate this can be - in no order of importance - where your [main] home is, where that bed is that feels just right, where your books and art-works and sports gear are, where your main filing system is, where the momentoes and souvenirs of your life are, from where you can quickly find all the shops you need, where your neighbours know you, where you belong to a club or society, where you drop into a local restaurant, where the local kiosk lady knows which newpaper you buy, where you understand the public-transport system, where your plants and pets, if any, are, where you see your G.P. and have a trusted dentist, where you vote if eligible, where your children go to school, where your spouse lives, where you would take a night-course if you wanted to get ahead in your job, where you'd have your car serviced, where your car and other possessions are insured, where your pension scheme is, where you're a member or any religious or ideological group, where you're a member of the library or a gym or sports club, where you speak the local language.

If you would be shifting that away from Switzerland, to Austria, then you no longer live here.

If you live here, and are employed by an employer in Switzerland, and are just sent out to work in Austria, then keep your central point here. Travel over to Austria for work, and then come home on the weekends, to continue all the relationships you have here.

That's my understanding of how your resident status will be assessed.

4
The center of life point I fully understand. However, I'm wondering: who is tracking this? Let's say I continue my job as is, with my current Swiss contract, then nobody would know, or even care, where I physically am, right?

What if my contract becomes an Austrian one, but I want to stay registered in ZH, Switzerland?

5
A quick google search shows that if you stay in Austria for more than 4 months you need to apply for permanent residency, and you must have health insurance. I don't know how you get around that if you're basically living there but pretending to live here. I don't think you want to pay double insurance.

In terms of tracking, if you commute by car you'd go through border crossings, and at some point it might be noticed that you do this on a certain pattern. Whether or not anyone would stop you and ask questions is hard to say. If you take the train or fly regularly, I don't think there's much tracking.

Who might notice? Your well-meaning but nosy Swiss neighbors, who wonder why you claim to be living here when you're never around. And maybe your neighbors in Austria, who knows.

I think an Austrian contract might complicate it more. When the time comes to request your C permit, you might need to show your work contract again to prove you're still gainfully employed here. At that point it becomes clear your life is there, and not in CH.

6
Yes, this. Or any time before you apply for your C-permit, that any part of your Swiss life touches someone who doesn't want that. For example, while you are domiciled in Switzerland, you will have to - and are allowed to - insure yourself for sickness, and your Swiss employer insures you for accidents both at work and in your free time.

The treatment for an accident, or a serious illness, can become very, very expensive. Now suppose the insurer would like to decline your claim... it might be very useful(tactical, economical) to them to set about demonstrating that you did not, in fact, fulfil the requirements for your ongoing Swiss permit (because you had moved the centrepoint of your life away from Switzerland to Austria) and therefore you were not, in fact, entitled to have been insured with them for sickness and/or accident. That wouldn't be a happy scenario for you. Ditto if you ever needed a Disability Pension.

In any case, the onus of proof will be on you, with regard to applying for a C-permit. The questions are: "Have you consistently had the centrepoint of your life in Switzerland? Can you prove that to the Immigration authorities?" and not: "Can they prove that it was not so?"