I moved to Switzerland in January with a B permit for family reunion. My wife is Swiss, but we are currently on social assistance as we have been unable to find jobs yet. Unfortunately, we have decided to divorce. Although we have lived together for 10 years, we have been married for only 2 years. As a non-EU citizen, I have decided to return to my home country. What do I need to do before I leave? From what I can gather, I should inform social services and then my insurance provider. Could you please advise me on the correct procedure and the quickest way to leave the country? I have already searched and checked for similar answers, but I couldn't find anything that matches exact my situation. I apologize if this question has been asked before.
Deregister at your communed/gemeinde admin office, inform all insurers, social assistance and anyone else you think might need to know - doctor, dentist, etc.
I don't recommend that until you have sorted out all the conditions of the divorce.
Ideally, you and your wife should make a formal divorce agreement together, setting out how you are going to separate and divorce. If you can get the divorce finalised before a Swiss Court before you leave Switzerland, that would also most likely save you both a lot of administration, because it'll probably be more complicated and possibly more costly if you end up having to try to achieve this across two countries.
In particular, if there are any children involved, be sure to get proper arrangements written up and signed by you both, which describe the contibutions of each parent to the children's well-being, their financial security and the arrangements for how the children will stay in touch with both parents (and each parent's contribution to facilitating this right of the children to be in a relationship with the other parent). This document should also state who holds the legal guardianship (either parent alone or, as is now regarded more usual, both parents together) and with whom the children shall reside. The Courts must check and approve or modify this document.
You both need your own certified (possibly apostilled) copy of the divorce decree for any other country in which you will live, to prove your status. This, expecially for a future time when either party might wish to remarry.
Sure you can do it all in a day if you are organised, with a plane ticket it will galvanise you to get it done, hell or high water and you can show it to your geminde to accelerate the process and show them you are genuinely leaving.
You can also show a one way ticket to various providers, whilst it doesn't prove you are leaving it does show you don't plan on coming back,
Every little piece of evidence helps but i am sure you will find this out.
So in answer to your question above, it was a serious answer, it wasn't made as a joke, i would however suggest you buy a ticket with a departure maybe 2 weeks ahead, not only will it be cheaper but you will have plenty of time to sort your affairs out.
I would be very cautious about 'skipping the country' - unless you are sure it is going to be cheaper to resolve this all remotely.
Until there is a proper separation agreement and/or divorce, there is potential for either partner to build up debt that passes to the other person....
Bank accounts, credit cards, insurance, unpaid health insurance, rent, phone contracts etc etc etc....
I also do not know how social insurance works if you 'skip the country' - normally I think there is some obligation to pay it back once you are working again.
The wrong decision now could really haunt you in the long term.
Don't forget, Switzerland is part of Schengen, so any breach of visa rules or law could have impact if you want to come to live and work anywhere else in Europe...
Thanks a lot for detailed information, we've no children thanks to god and we're married in another country that my wife's and me has citizenship from there, can't we process divorce in there than inform Switzerland?
I was planning to handle divorcing part in my country because we married at there then inform Switzerland authorities. We don't have any mutual accounts etc. But I think social assistance part could be tricky I will ask a meeting from my assistance to learn details. Thanks a lot for warnings.
I am genuinely puzzled why some people feel that incessant need to comment on a discussion when their contribution is not only unhelpful but also quite insensitive. The comment about buying a ticket and then a follow-up response is quite insensitive.
OP, take the time to understand the process and your rights and obligations. It might be a good idea to speak to a lawyer as well. I hope you can navigate this challenging situation.