On Friday, I went to the Service de l'Etranger in Lausanne and the woman there told me that my daughter could not be out of the country for more than 3 months without abandoning her B permit, unless she applied for permission at least 2 months before she left. Since she is already gone and won't be back until Christmas, I was assuming that my question about maintaining her B permit had been "overtaken by events."
However, we have credit card style permits, and after reading various posts here about the information to be found in the booklets, I retrieved the piece of paper that arrived with our cards and attempted to read the fine print. It says, "Cette autorisation de sejour prend fin a l'echeance de sa duree de validite, lors de declaration d'un depart a l'etranger ou apres un sejour de six mois ininterrompu a l'etranger."
My French is still fairly basic but with help from Google translate, that sounds to me like she can be gone for 6 months without it impacting her permit. Does that sound right?
Second question: does anyone know if there is any minimum amount of time she needs to be back in the country before she leaves again?
This is an old chestnut or thorn depending on how you look at it.
Your daughter is, presumably, in Switzerland as your dependant. Being a student in a foreign country does not change this. By attending a university in another country she in no way gives up her residency in Switzerland, just as if she went on a year's world tour she would still have her rights based on her dependancy on you.
Just as the Swiss do not count students as being properly resident in Switzerland, neither do they recognise their citizens as being non resident when studying abroad - the same applies to resident aliens.
So, where is the problem? Simples. Many, including my, local authorities do not understand the above.
What to do:
1. Your daughter should not deregister under any circumstances
2. Medical insurance should be continued and any foreign medical requirements cross charged back (where bilateral agreements exist).
3. Any tax forms received in respect of your daughter should be completed with the relavent details for a student.
4. Don't panic.
5. If you get any shit from the local town hall threaten them with legal action - in my experience they will then get off their arses and find out you are right after all.
Do we need to request permission for her to be gone longer than 6 months if that is necessary? She has not been gone that long yet, but with airfares what they are, she may be gone more than 6 months between January and when she returns in the summer.
Along the same lines, we've been told that she is only eligible for the family allowance for the first year is at university out of the country, even if she continues to be a dependent and maintains her residency. Does that sound correct?