First of all, thanks to everyone who has answered or tried to answer my questions for the last 10 months. I am sharing all the steps of family reunification here, so that it can help somebody else, or even just help you to calm down when you are stressed in this long, terrible waiting game.
If you have read other posts, you must know that each case is different and the waiting period, conditions can be different based on the situation you are in. I will only be talking about my situation and will provide you with advice and clear up some of the confusions that I had throughout.
A few things about me:
* I am a student, pursuing my bachelor's at EPFL.
* I am Swiss by naturalisation, and I was born in Bangladesh.
* I got married in Bangladesh.
* I am originally from Canton Vaud.
* I have no children.
I got married in July 2022 and scheduled our first appointment at the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh for September. The list of documents they asked for was available on the website. It was pretty straightforward, but there was confusion about one document called "THE UNMARRIED CERTIFICATE."
We didn’t understand what this document was. I even called the embassy a couple of times asking them to explain it to me, but in vain. I didn’t know how to obtain an unmarried certificate when my husband is already married to me. So, the unmarried certificate that we brought with us was not accepted in September and they sent us back, instructing us to make a new appointment. Essentially, we lost 1.5 month, as they scheduled our next appointment for mid October.
Your unmarried certificate should include applicant’s name, address, date of birth, passport number, and the sentence “[applicant’s name] was NEVER married before [date of official marriage].”
In October, they accepted our application, and we had to sign a document agreeing that the embassy would verify my husband’s papers and the marriage documents. We paid around 500 CHF for this, and the visa application fee was waived for us as I am a Swiss citizen.
They informed us that the verification process would take 3-4 months.
I had a few confusions:
* As a student, do I have to provide financial proof?
* I thought (based on reading about other cases involving Indian and Pakistani spouses) that once the papers arrive in Switzerland after being verified, the authorization would be granted shortly after. However, I was mistaken.
After conducting extensive research and contacting the Service de population in Lausanne, they assured me that I did not need to provide financial proof. They didn't explain why, but I believe it's because I am Swiss and I live in Canton Vaud. This requirement might vary in other cantons.
In November, a lawyer visited my home in Bangladesh to verify the information and also visited the office where we got married. The following day, he went to my husband's place and did the same.
Just a few days later, I received a letter in Switzerland informing me that they had received the visa application and they required either my marriage transcription in Switzerland or my family record.
At this point, I realized that all my documents had been received by Switzerland except for my marriage certificate, which was still under verification. I made a mistake by assuming that since the lawyer had already verified everything, it wouldn't take the full 3-4 months. However, they needed to sign those papers, notarize them, and possibly even translate them. So, it actually took the full 4 months. In February, I contacted embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh and requested them to send the documents to Switzerland, which they did.
FIY, my visa application was received by the Service de population, while my marriage certificate was received by the Etat Civil.
One thing I didn't know was that if you are a Swiss citizen, you need to register your marriage in Switzerland. The verified marriage certificate alone is not sufficient. The registration timeline is 6 months, and it's even longer in Canton Vaud due to delays and inefficiencies in the Etat Civil.
Once the marriage certificate was received by the etat civil in February, i contacted them and they told me they have opened a file on my name and to transcribe my marriage it will take 6-9 months. And I literally cried hearing that as I was expecting few weeks only. Bref, I contacted them each month to know if it is done, and each time they just told me to wait and that no officer is handling my file yet, my file is yet to be processed.
After enduring a few horrible months of uncertainty about when I would receive it, I finally received my marriage certificate after 5 months. On June 27th, I received an email stating that my transcription was complete and I could request a family record from their website. Two days later, I received a letter with all my original documents.
I went to the Etat Civil to obtain my family record and then sent it by post to the Service de population. Again, in usual cases, it takes about a week for them to issue the authorization. However, in my case, it took a month.
I received the authorization letter on August 8th.
Here's the complete timeline:
* September 4th, 2022: First appointment for visa application, not accepted due to unmarried certificate.
* October 17th, 2022: Visa application accepted, payment made for verification.
* Mid-November 2022: Lawyer visited my house, husband’s house, and the marriage registration office.
* November 30th, 2022: Received letter from Service de population requesting family record.
* January 31st, 2023: Verified marriage certificate sent to Switzerland by the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh.
* February 7th, 2023: Marriage certificate received by Etat Civil in Vaud, file opened in my name.
* June 27th, 2023: Received email from Etat Civil stating that my transcription is complete.
* June 30th, 2023: Received all original documents sent by Etat Civil.
* July 3rd, 2023: Collected family record from Etat Civil and sent it to Service de Population (they received the next day).
* August 3rd, 2023: Contacted Service de Population regarding my authorization, they informed me to expect it soon.
* August 8th, 2023: Received authorization letter by mail.
Feel free to ask if you have any questions.