Anybody knows if we can travel back to Switzerland with the C permit that we choose to freeze? I learned that you can freeze the c permit for up to 4 years. During those 4 years, can we still travel back with the card?
Thanks!
Theoretically yes, but different towns and cantons handle things differently, so:
*Go and talk with your town
- Get their advice IN WRITING.
I’m not certain a frozen C changes any requirements for Visas. It may help in applying but I think you will need the appropriate documentation for your nationality to enter/leave CH/Schengen
This. My local gemeinde, a few months ago for a family member said they would only freeze for 6 months… unless you can prove significant ties to Switzerland, a reason to come back, and a “very valid” reason to be abroad.
Family member is going to study in the UK for 3 years; and this wasn’t deemed “enough”.
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As far as I know, when you “freeze” the permit you hand it back (or is canceled), you do not have a Swiss residence permit any longer during the freeze. The freeze means you will get a C permit again once you return and apply for a new residence permit, without proving employment etc again. Basically you cannot “prove” you live in Switzerland during the freeze, because you don’t, it’s just a promise from the Swiss immigration.
You can get a Schengen sticker in your passport (before you freeze) to let you travel as a tourist if needed.
But maybe it is canton-dependent.
6 months freeze is a joke, given that the person clearly needs 3 years to study in the UK.
That seems wrong, I think you keep the permit?
Nope, the authorities keep the permit but you get it back when you move back to Switzerland.
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It might sound like a joke, but each canton has its own rules about what circumstances qualify and for how long. Thus why there’s no blanket answer we can post here for all situations.
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Yes, I did some more research and you’re right.
I don’t know why you’d even ask to freeze it. You can leave Switzerland for up to 6 months without losing a C, so they should have said nothing, kept paying health insurance and returned to Switzerland every holiday and reading week etc.
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300CHF x 36 months gives around eleven thousand reasons to freeze it (for a student)
The OP needs to consider their long-term residency plan, and what they see as the gain/risk in leaving the country for an extended period.
Additionally, if citizenship is an ultimate goal (and if you have a C-permit already, you’d be at least half-way there), consider delaying until your citizenship is completed. Then you can do what the hell you like.
Switzerland Pro Tip: Local government always retains a degree of discretion / autonomy. That means you are at the mercy of low-level government employees (or employee!) who have their own opinions and biases, bad days, etc. This can apply to citizenship, tax, building permits, schools, etc, and there can be little room for complaint. (unless you don’t mind going on their office dart board).
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But a student will not be in the UK for 12 months of the year. They’d want to be home in Switzerland during holidays (3 months over the summer). If they were seriously ill they’d want to be repatriated to Switzerland. So realistically they’d need to keep Swiss health insurance anyway.
With the Schengen free movement of people how can they find out that a person has been out of the country for 6+ months and cancel the C permit?
Not sure that the OP is remaining within Schengen.
But I wouldn’t want to gamble on what the authorities know and don’t know…
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It could be helpful to note there are a few scenarios being discussed here and the circumstances don’t seem to be the same.
OP mentioned putting C permit on hold and being able to travel back to CH “with the card”. This implies to me that OP is not an EU or Shengen citizen. Because of course someone who is EU or Shengen can come to Switzerland for a visit even without a resident permit. As others have noted, the phyiscal permit gets turned in to the authorities.
A side discussion came in from Spinal, who shared a story of a family whose child wanted to put the permit on hold to study in the UK but was only offered 6 months.
While Spinal is right that there’s a financial consideration to putting a permit on hold, Litespeed raises a valid point about long-term plans for both situations - particularly if naturalization is on the mind. I believe that while a C permit is on hold, those years do not count towards ordinary naturalization. One must actually hold a valid/active resident permit for the full 10 years. In addition, the clock for the municipal requirement could be reset to zero, as I think one must be resident in the municipality for X years immediately preceding the naturalization application.
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The calculations are off.
- First of all, 18 year olds are on a different band than adults, Basic health insurance around 200-230 chf per month.
- Second, UK health insurance is not free, Swiss students will have to pay an NHS contribution of around ÂŁ770 per year. With swiss insurance, you are exempt (EHIC card)
- Third, by deregistering, the parents will lose the monthly child benefit paid by the canton (eg 350 chf per month), which would more than covers the swiss health insurance.
So it can easily be cheaper to continue paying the swiss health insurance and not deregistering.
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Going into way too much details on this … but:
- UK citizen (amongst others), so no NHS contribution. NHS is funded mainly through taxation
- Happy to show you the bill - he was paying 327/month
- Parent’s don’t get child benefit - that’s something you get only if the parents are working (and paid through your employer)
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I know a number of permit holding expats living in VD/GE who sent their children for studies in other countries. The kids maintained their Swiss residency, with knowledge of their communes, and eventually returned to CH, some went on for naturalisation with their families.
I would speculate that the communes did not believe their temporary absence for schooling affected their residency status.
I think it is a different story sending just the kids abroad…they don’t earn money or pay tax, whilst the family domicile remains well and truly in CH. But when the whole family pulls stumps and moves, it is a bit more untethered.