can anyone recommend a good Immigration lawyer please?
Since we've arrived here we've had nothing but trouble. My husband lost his job for a few months and then we were refused my permit, they said that my husband and children could stay but I had to leave as I had no job??? We asked how they could justify this when I had no work permit the answer was yes we know it's difficult!
OK so then we were told it's ok for me to stay but my husband should get a job by such and such date which my husband did and now works very hard . But due to the language barrier we need a translator to help. Ours was away even though hubby was working we rang Immigration and they said it's ok to send the paperwork by March 31st instead of the 27th as requested. No problem right?
Wrong. A few days later a letter came saying that due to our paperwork being so late we had untill April 16th to appeal. What????? Hello!!!!!
OK big long letter written and apologies etc etc , yesterday a new letter came saying that we have one month to decide if we wish to stay and if we do we need to go to court .
It's all very stressful and we will appeal our case in court.
Any advice please??????
Apparently we will get help from the social to pay our costs for this.
What country do you come from ? How long had your husband been working in Switzerland ? What is the expiry date on your current permits ? Was your husband's work ended suddenly without notice, or was it the natural end of an agreed contract - was his permit refused immediately with the end of contract ? Was he tied to his employer ?
And finally, what Canton ? You may be able to get help from a community organisation or social/government system depending on the circumstances...which will save a lot compared to using a private lawyer.
Oh, I should also say - are you both from the same country ? Are you legally married ? Is your husband's salary sufficient to cover both your living requirements and that of your children ? It may be that the salary he is now earning is not considered to be enough to cover a wife and children, but it seems strange to me to allow the children to stay but ask the other spouse to leave...
Missing their deadline causes a massive administrative headache....as you have worked out... even if they said 'on phone' that it was OK...from now on meet every deadline and make sure you have everything in writing!
I presume the court is required to review all the details and make an administrative decision as to your case, because of the confusion...
Was your husband allowed to change jobs anyway ? If he was on a short-term contract and the contract ended, they may have already bent the rules in allowing him to take a new job, instead of immediately leaving the country...
In reading your other threads, this sounds like a very complex situation. Seven months ago you were moving to Turkey. Five months ago you were opening a restaurant in Zürich. Now you're being told to leave because of...what exactly?
It sounds like your family came here under family reunification with your husband's job? As he is non-EU (Turkish) the rules can be pretty strict with permits.
On the other hand, state you are English. AFAIK you can be here as part of the free-movement agreements, provided you can support yourself. Is there no way for you to find a job so you can sponsor the family instead? I know it's tough in your field (nursing) without excellent German, but do you have any other qualifications/skills that might work for a different job?
PS - Try to avoid getting social help for this. It's one of the first questions they ask with permit renewals - have you received social assistance. If you have received any assistance, that can be grounds for denying a renewal.
The reason we wanted to open the restuarant was because he didn't have a job at the time. He was racially targeted at work so he left and stated this was the reason why. He wasn't under any contract to stay there. he has a five year permit and can move freely. He also has a British passport as do our children. I am really struggling with childcare I basically have someone but won't start untill next year when my youngest begins kindergarten. In the meantime we have looked at KIT etc but no one will eve
n look at my CV as I don't have a permit!!
My husband's job now isn't enough by their standards so we still need a bit of social help , untill his German improves he will struggle to earn enough, he has no trade as such as he owned his own business in UK which was a kebab shop/ eatery. So although he is well able to do this he cannot say that he has any qualifications.
We were starting to get fed up before that's when we considered moving to Turkey. It looks like we will end up there which isn't a massive problem . But our girls are settled here now and we have a lovely home and he's job will improve soon as his Boss is basically seeing whats whats I think but obviously Immigration aren't interested in this.
Part of me just wishes we hadn't bothered and had gone straight to Turkey but my husband's family were adament that there were many good jobs here and we would sail through the process.
Just because we were a few days late sending his contract off they now say we have to leave. Even though we telephoned and politely explained that our translator was away , they gave us a few days grace and then decided to take those few days back.
Honest to God those are the facts. Nobody can understand why they are being so difficult. We have had no trouble here, neither of us have ever had any kind of criminal record either in our lives.
Apparently it could be due to the fact that in January this year there was a new legislation passed saying they had to reduce the amount of Immigrants coming into Switzerland.
We are completely flummoxed.
I wouldn't have bothered to write on here unless we were at our wits end,
someone said to me last night that the Swiss don''t like Turkish people and this could be linked to it as my husband was born in Turkey.
Or as someone else wrote perhaps because my husband doesn't earn enough and we need a bit of help.
Our family thinks that everything will will alright in the end but I'm not so sure.
Oh we also asked why they couldn't write to us in English because we could answer directly and it would be fairer on us. They replied that we are in Switzerland so we must use their language. I was upset by this as being English and how we bend over backwards for everyone........
If he's an EU citizen and has a proper work contract, then he gets a permit, there are no quotas. The only thing I can think of is that he does not earn enough to support your whole family. If you don't even know why this is happening, I would get them to tell you in writing what the problem is.
The key here is that he cannot earn enough (at the moment) to support his family. When is this likely to change ? Scraping by on 50% income and social support is not acceptable in the long-term and I suspect they are pushing through on the technicality that you failed to provide the correct paperwork at the correct time to prove your suitability.
If you recieve social help, as said, that undermines your right to stay in the long-term and you can expect the system to breathe down your neck.
When do your current permits run out and what permit for Switzerland do you actually have and when does it expire ?
What do you actually want to do - living her permanently won't be acceptable in the long-term, unless you can find a way to support your family properly - sounds like your husband lacked opportunity in the UK and has now found the same problem in Switzerland and what will you do if you go to Turkey ?
Citizenship/permanent residency may have already been jeopardised by the fact that you have recieved social help. His UK passport will be very significant in what options are open to you and your family in the long-term.
If that is the case, he doesn't earn enough to support you and you are getting social help, then yes, I expect they will remove your permits. Your permits are issued on the basis that you have enough money to support yourselves.
If your husband couldn't settle in the UK, I don't expect he will in Switzerland .... life is much easier and tolerant in the UK imo.
OP, before you wonder what happened to your thread, I hope you can understand where we're coming from. Under most circumstances a UK citizen would not need to go to court to get permission to live here. Thus why it was a confusing question.
I am sorry I don't know any lawyers (immigration or otherwise) so I can't help much there.
I can't thank everyone enough for your responses, you've helped me a lot actually even though you probably don't realise!!!
My husband is happy here because his Uncle is here, he had no blood family in the UK.
He did have a business in the UK but felt he had no connections there and after ten years he felt unhappy.
I just spoke to him again and he said to basically what will be will be. We will go to Turkey if we have to but it's just the whole upheavel again for our children that's difficult.
The only reason the authorities are giving us is purely because our paperwork was late. I still have no permit they won't issue me one untill they are happy with my husband's situation. He has a B permit which expires May 2019 but will take it away if we lose in court.
We will then move again .... three different countries in a year but at least we have somewhere to go so I guess we can't complain.....
Wizwozz, further to other poster's advising caution before applying for social help, here is an article from SwissInfo on stricter enforcement of the solvency requirement for EU immigrant:
Thankyou , this just clarifies what I'd read elsewhere. So basically if my husband begs his boss for more hours and shows he can support us then we could be ok?
Where does that reference comes from? All I can see is that an EU B permit is dependent on the holder having an economically via position either an indefinite employment contract or a via self-employment. Given the OP's situation and the fact that they are even expecting to avail of some social assistance, I would not be optimistic about their chances of an appeal.
I am writing to just say a great big massive huge THANKYOU to everyone who gave us advice on this post!!!!!!!!!!!
We did as advised, we changed my husband's work to 100% hours, we paid 250 CHF an hour for a very good Solicitor , and we just got the news that we can stay in Switzerland. Without all of your support and kind words we would never have been able to achieve this.
I have a similar problem here that after I found my company I can't get my permit, and they ask me to leave.
just want to ask did you also get a ausreisen-card which wrote that when you should leave? did you go to the court? looking for a good immigration lawyer too, do you still have the contact of your layer or any suggestions? thanks