I have been to your beautiful country twice now and absolutely fell in love with it! I am a Canadian who just recently became engaged to a Swiss man. Currently I am working in Seoul, South Korea and my finance is in Bern. My current contract expires at the end of December and we plan on getting married shortly after that. The huge question is where to get married?
I have read numerous postings on getting married to a Swiss, but am a little confused of the entire process. I hope you don't mind me asking some questions and look forward to receiving some feedback from those, especially from Canadians, who have already completed the process. Any tips and info would be greatly appreciated!
1) Is it possible to come to Switzerland on a tourist visa(I was there in the summer for 6wks and only have 6wks left) to be married in Switzerland? If so, what are the necessary steps?
2) Would it just be easier to marry in Canada or Las Vegas? What documents would be needed to certify the marriage in Switzerland?
Thank you all in advance for taking the time to read and answer my post. I look forward to moving to Bern and hopefully meeting some of you.
No. You must apply for a "fiance" visa - this is usually granted to cover a period of a few months once the requisite documents are with the authorities.
Not really. It's much the same in terms of effort and procedures.
Hi. I lived in Seoul, S. Korea for year. I take it you are teaching English? I now live in the German part of Swiss with my Swiss husband. I am American, we got married in his village on a tourist Visa. We only had the civil service ceremony, b.c. we had to get married quite quick for me to stay here. So, I can't recommend venues for the reception part. I was here before on a 3 month tourist visa, went back to the U.S. and came back for 3 months and then got married. You can get a Fiance Visa, but you have to wait for it to arrive, they told me 2-3 months, then you can come back to Switz w. the intent to marry here in the next 6 months. Also, you can't expect to find English teaching work here full-time unless you have your degree in Education. I teach English for a school and privately, but it doesn't pay a lot, not like the $ I made in S. Korea..just a heads up. Feel free to PM me. I think we might have a lot of stories to share
Basically, you can do a fianceĢe visa whereby you have to marry within
6 months of coming here.
OR
Get married in the US/Canada and then apply for a Swiss visa. You
will have to get an Apostille( International equivalent of a Notary in the USA ) for your marriage certificate and maybe a translation of the marriage certificate. The translation depends on which Canton and if the person working the window is having a bad day or not.
My wife and I married in Lake Tahoe. The authorities in Zug accepted
I'm going through the process at the moment. Approach the relevant authorities in your area and, depending on how friendly they are, they should point out what you have to do.
I live in the Canton of Vaud and made a phone call to the 'Service de la population'. The person dealing with my inquiry asked a few questions, created a dossier of my partner and myself, and then posted it to us. It lists all the necessary documents which we must submit; all have to be dated within the past six months and witnessed by a Public Notary. Once submitted, we will be interviewed and an assessment made. (If one of the applicants is not familiar with the local language, a qualified interpreter has to be present- not a tutor, not a parent and not the partner).
I'm new to CH and as a non-EU citizen (BNO), also a 'half-breed', who wants to marry an EU citizen, I'm treated with a certain amount of animosity. I've quickly learned where I belong in the pecking-order. Fortunately being fluent in the local language is a bonus, so am not completely 'disabled'!
BTW contact your embassy to legalise documents. In my case the British one was excellent! (107CHF for an Affidavit, to give you an idea).
Of course, this is just an insight into how it works in Vaud and our particular case. I don't know what it is like in Bern.
Thank you all so much for your advice. It's refreshing to know there are kind hearted people in this forum who are willing to help I will get my fiance to call the peeps in Bern for exactly what is needed to get married in Switzerland, and I will post the info for others.
Thanks again for all your prompt replies. Will be in touch soon!
Cheers!
crfesi-Yes, I am a certified English teacher and would love to swap stories with you. Will send you a message!
I'm sure you've probably got your plans in place now - as this was a month ago you were asking and wedding planning seems to fly by, but I'm a Canadian that married a Brit a year and a half ago. We married in Canada because its the fastest way to get Canadian immigration and once you've got it (he got his within a year, it would've been sooner but they forgot to ask for a certain piece of documentation until 6 months in) you have it for life as long as you don't get divorced (if you're outside the country) or you don't move from Canada (if you've gotten that divorce). So we now have it and while we're contemplating moving back to Switzerland, he'll never lose his Canadian residency status - giving us more options.
Hi TTC76 Does TTC stands for "Toronto Transit Commission" or "Take The Car" ? BTW My Daughter in law was Teaching in South Korea .She hated it .But then she married a Canadian /Swiss ,Now she is happy ,because she has the greatest Father in law
You have probably sorted this out by now. But if not, then thi smight be useful: As a Canadian you do not need a visa to enter CH. You can stay for 90 days, and if you get married during this time, then it will be a whole new game from an immigration / citizenship status point of view:
"Nationals who do not require a visa to travel to the Schengen States (e.g. Canadians, Americans) and wish to travel to Switzerland as a tourist or visitor can stay in in all Schengen areas, included Switzerland, for a maximum of 90 days with no visa. The passport must be valid on leaving the Schengen area. In order to avoid paying an overstay fine when leaving Europe, e.g. Swiss-Canadian dual citizens who intend to spend more than 90 days in the Schengen zone are strongly advised to present their Swiss passport at the border when entering and leaving the Schengen area. In any case, dual citizens who enter the Schengen zone to take up employment in Switzerland , even for less than 90 days, are required to identify themselves with their Swiss passport as with another passport they are not allowed to work in Switzerland without a proper working visa."