Marriage American and Swiss

In upstate NY, they looked at my wife's Swiss divorce papers (in German), asked us to tell them what it said, and that was it!

Tom

That's the US for you!

Germany told my OH that he would have to provide a notarized translation, that they then would need to authenticate with whatever judge/court issued the divorce decree X years ago in the US, and of course, we'd both need to appear in person a few times to provide/ sign stuff. He got into an argument with whoever was on the other side of the line and, from the bits and pieces I could understand, I think at some point they were even asking him why the heck he was still living in the USA and whether it's about time he comes home to the motherland! He was so mad!!!

Italy basically told me flat out not to bother and to just do the legal stuff in the US.

U mm, i think that's what i said in the other marriage thread...

HI

well my Swiss fiance wants to be married in Switzerland because he does not like or understand California marriage. He thinks that it is bad for his particular financial situation.

So, we will have to be married in Switzerland so he will feel comfortable. We will return 12 November and wait in the U.S. for a reply back for our wedding application. Hopefully it will go smoothly. I already have a residence paper which was given to us by the local authorities. It says that I reside in Switzerland so I believe it will help me get back to Switzerland quicker.

There is NO difference, what is he on about?

Tom

Unfortunately if one half of the marriage is swiss, none of this works so easily. I literally just went through this process in the last 2 months, and you are missing a few key things here. First, just because you have an american marriage certificate doesn't mean you are married in switzerland. In order to have a marriage recognized from outside the country you essentially have to get married in switzerland without the ceremony because all of the paperwork is the same, EXCEPT its more of a pain (especially if you are in Switzerland when you were trying to do this like I was) because everything needs to be verified by the "swiss representation abroad" from where your documents originate. This meant my packet full of paperwork (same packet as when you get married in Switzerland + apostilled foreign marriage certificate) had to go from bern to san francisco because our marriage certificate came from Nevada, and then back to bern, and then back to new york because my birth certificate (which must be a certified copy less than 6 months old, original not accepted) is from pennsylvania, and then back to bern before I could be issued a familienausweis necessary to receive my b permit. And yes, because they use diplomatic couriers for these things, they cannot transport documents between consulates in the US, it had to come back to Bern in between. All-in-all our documents were in transit 8 weeks.

My point is, it may seem easier to get married somewhere else, but really its all the same, because you still have to jump through the same (and maybe more) hoops.

My second point is that once you leave Switzerland to get married, you will need to get a D visa to re-enter. If you are entering with the intent on living here, even with a Swiss spouse, you must have a D visa or lie about entering as a tourist, and hope they don't care when it comes time to scan your passport at your biometric appointment. D visa takes a few weeks and should be done outside of Switzerland, and requires sending your passport away to get a sticker in it, so don't try changing your legal name during that time.

You could try taking your Swiss fiance to the migration office with some proof of wedding plans and try to get some documentation that allows you to stay over your schengen time. If you've already begun the marriage process, and have some proof or documentation of that, you may have a chance for an ausnahme (exception) visa to stay longer. I'm not an expert though, and you might just be bringing attention upon yourself if you do this. In my experience, its best to go to the migration office with some humility and a native speaking swiss spouse and let them know you're willing to do whats necessary to do things legally, and they are helpful.

Not exactly true that nothing is done quickly. I needed an ausnahme transit visa to travel to the UK while waiting on my marriage documents (so no b permit yet), and just showed up at the Zurich migration office, with all of my letters and info about my situation and walked out with a multi-entry d visa an hour (and 90chf of course) later. If you are in the right situation you can get this, I just have no idea if the fiance thing qualifies.

I think you meant to reply to the OP or to 3Wishes?

I don't have a Swiss fiance or spouse and I am not trying to live in Switzerland

But I am sure all the info above will be very useful to the OP, given that it comes from someone who just very recently went through all these hoops! It sure sounds like an adventure, and not necessarily an easy one

Maybe Switzerland really is that different from all the other countries, but in our case and several other folks of different countries I have talked to, it appears that just marrying in the US and then registering the marriage at the embassy of whatever applicable country (in our case Italy and Germany) here in the US is the way to go. Did you register your marriage at the Swiss embassy before you left the country?

You're totally right it was more for the OP, but I wanted to make sure OP knew that this is not "very smart advice" for her. Just trying to keep the info in the "Marriage American and Swiss" thread relevant to actual couples who are American and Swiss...

Anyway, we didn't register our marriage in the US because we got married shortly before moving and thought it was handled in Switzerland and would be easier here, only to find out we should have done it at the consulate or embassy when we got here and all the paperwork (that we would have had to gather either way) had to be mailed around the world. Live and learn, I guess, and hope others can learn from my mistakes.

I haven't read anything so far that indicates it is not very smart advice - if done the proper way with the procedure in the proper order, i.e. get married in the US, register at the Swiss embassy while in the US, apply and get the visa while in the US, then move to Switzerland. If following a random order, well, that's another story

I am not Swiss nor American (yet), but I have lived in both countries in addition to a handful more, and Switzerland is no different than other places. Immigration, permits, visas, etc. are the same headache everywhere. One must just know what's the correct order of the local BS (i.e. paperwork) and apply/submit/bow the head accordingly

But it sounds like the OP wants to get married in CH anyway for personal reason, so that's cool.

Good luck OP!

Thank you for all your help. It seems we will take the standard way of marriage and hope I can return with my fiance before my 90 days.

I think that is possible but with the paperwork traveling back and forth between the U.S. and Switzerland, we might be in for a long stay in California....which isn't a bad thing!!

I think we all raise good points, and it's sometimes easy to confuse folks with all the info. Also as time passes, what I went through might be less relevant to a new user because the rules change.

We found the process quite simple, but in reading kar84's breakdown I realize our paperwork took a very similar route. There were a few key differences for us that I often leave out because I didn't think they were relevant. Maybe they are after all?

In our case, my Swiss fiance was living in his home canton, in his Heimatort. I was living in the U.S. and had only been to Switzerland for short visits. Nowhere near my 90 day limit. He flew to the States as a tourist (no mention of marriage at immigration!) We got married in the same U.S. state where I was born, and my mom still lives in the county where I was born. This meant that all our paperwork went through San Fran, to D.C. to Bern (and back and forth) and no other consulates, cantons or municipalities were involved.

My husband had gathered all the info he needed on paperwork in advance, so nothing would be missing. He also wrote a letter to include with the documentation and spoke on the phone with the consulate.

I moved to Switzerland one week after the wedding, and entered as a tourist at immigration. He entered through the citizen lane and didn't mention me. Naturally I flew and entered under my maiden name. We registered at the Heimatort (because that's where he was living) and it was no problem since they already knew I was coming. They were kind enough to follow the paperwork through the process and we had everything official and my permit in my maiden name in hand well before the 90 days was up.

It took several more months for the name change and corresponding passport and permit changes, but it wasn't too much of a hassle.

There's a lot of paperwork no matter which way you go, but certainly as BT says doing it in the right order from the start makes a difference.

Best of luck to you, OP and congrats on your upcoming marriage!

D-visa? No way. Why bother? Got married in US, came on Tourist visa. Registered the marriage (via the marriage certificate and associated apostile, plus all the other vital documents) done! Got green letter giving me permission to stay in Switzerland/ open bank accounts etc. until CH visa and paper work was process. I didn't stay in CH though, I had a Job in the US still. Done.

What seems the be the issue - if you want to do it with less hassel, just get married in the US. No consulate visits needed - nothing. I never involved any embassy/consulate I found them to be a waste of time. Everything I needed to know, i found right here on Englishforum (not kidding, i even posted my expriences if you search).

Depends on the cantonal authority. Some may be amenable to you arriving on a tourist visa and then applying to stay, others won’t. Zuirch for example has insisted that the non-EU spouse leave the country and apply for the Type D visa elsewhere, even if it’s only to go to Germany to get it done.

Getting things done properly may be more vital in the future if the quota limit is extended to spouses/dependents due to the recent curb immigration vote.

Can say from experience that this is NOT the case if the other spouse is Swiss (but if they are non-EU with a B permit the tourist visa won't work). Easiest way is to ring and ask.

Yes, that will come into it as well transeuropeancheese. No firm rule, comes down to the canton you deal with, your spouse’s status, etc.