I am non-EU living in Neuchâtel since 2014. Next year, i am supposed to apply for anticipated permit-c (i was student before, so i have to make 7 years for it), but now as I have got a new job in Valais, I must relocate.
I was wondering do i have to stay in Neuchâtel till i apply & get permit C next year, or i can move to new place and can still apply from there?
Please advise, thank you.
You say you needed to wait 7 years — you studied for 5 years? Student years count as long as they are followed immediately with 2 years with a "long term" residence permit (B, or L with a permanent work contract)
Thank you for your valuable message. It was helpful to know that moving from canton to other doesnt reset the years counter.
Are you living in Sion. As i will be working in Visp, which area you advise to get apartment, i have 9 years old son too, he plays ice hockey and speaks French.
Thank you.
If your work is near the station in Visp I would tend to look for housing elsewhere. Visp is really not a particularly interesting town. Brig would at least be prettier, while still very near. Leuk-Stadt is a very beautiful, quiet, historic town, but a bit uphill from the trains (not far, but flights of stairs and steep streets up), and the only decent sized supermarket is also down by the station. Almost moved there when we moved to Valais, but we figured the canton is already isolated enough as it is without moving to a place we have to walk 120 meters in vertical gain from the train station. Not a problem if you have a car of course. A bit of a hybrid between bigger valley town and mountain village feels.
If not there, I would say Sierre can be nice, and then you'd be in French speaking lands and your son can go to school in French. Sion is the bigger town (although it's still small, but dense so it feels bigger), but that's 25 minutes by train from Visp so maybe starting to be a bit far unless you work near the station in Visp, and live near the station in Sion like me. You probably don't want to go further to your work than Sion.
Life in Valais is very much divided between "en-bas", as in down in the Rhône plains and "en-haut", meaning villages and towns on the alpine slopes. Very different rhythms and lifestyles. Up in the villages it can be very charming, quiet. Slower lifestyle, more of a small community feel (if you can integrate the community). If you have a car, that can be viable, otherwise make sure you really properly check what the public transit schedules look like. The Post buses are good but while some villages are very well connected to the larger towns below, some of them have very sparse service or none at all. Also can be somewhat complicated with the kids' commute to school (and they can be very small schools with mixed-aged groups, I think).
Tom
For C permit, it's only the length of stay in Switzerland that counts, and under what types permits you have stayed (stays of a temporary nature don't count). The requirements are clearly indicated in the LEI and its associated "Directives".
They are pretty relaxed about these things in Neuchâtel so in the OPs shoes I would apply and try to get the C permit before moving.
Depending on how much time OP has before they need to move for the new job, I would say better to apply now if they're already eligible. But if they're not eligible already, or if the move is imminent, there's not much they can do.
If and when you do move, live in Sierre, French speaking and so much friendlier than Oberwallis.
May help settle some of the debates here https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2007/758/en
Rest can be found on Kantonal and Gemeinde Websites