Can I progress from one course to another on a long stay visa

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
,
1

Hello!
I’m not sure if this is the right place to post this but I have a few questions regarding studying in Switzerland as a UK citizen.

What I was originally planning on doing was to study a French language course (in Vaud) for one year so I can then apply to a university course (in Geneva) that is taught in french. However, this would mean applying for a long stay visa first, (for the language course) and then applying for an extension for university. I’ve seen some cantons state that you can study for up to 8 years, but on the Vaud canton website it states;
“Only one training or further training of up to 8 years is allowed” Is this a translation error? To me this reads as only being allowed to do one course.

If it’s not an error, is this only applicable to Vaud, or can you not progress to another course in the whole of Switzerland?

Additionally, it states that you need to promise to leave Switzerland after your course (in Vaud) but I’ve heard people say you get 6 months to find a job after your studies, so how does this work if you need to leave right after the course ends? Is leaving immediately just a requirement in Vaud?

In summary; I’d like to progress from one course (in Vaud) to another (in Geneva), is this possible?

Thanks! :slight_smile:

2

Can you provide a link to that statement? Then we could look at the French original. I suspect it means is you can get the 8-year exemption just once.

3

Hi! Sorry, I can’t send links yet as I’m a new user, so I’ll copy the text for you.

“Une seule formation ou un seul perfectionnement d’une durée maximale de huit ans est admis. Des dérogations ne sont possibles que dans des cas dûment motivés.”

Thanks for the help!

4

I suggest you email Vaud and ask.

If you can only do one course (I’d find that odd), you could always do you initial French studies in France (would also be cheaper).