Last year we applied for the same piece of papers ~ the Swiss facilitated naturalisation citizenship/passport. Myself as an Aussie, married to a Swiss lady for 11 years now, with a few Aussie-Swiss kids.
Was formally interviewed by a lovely lady at the consulate in Aug 2013, and she was satisfied with my answers (knowledge of Switzerland, famous citizens, politicians names & political issues, daily life over there, so on). This was largely done in English, with some Swiss-German words given.
Papers were finally sent onto Berne from Australia (Sydney Consulate) in late Sept 2013, with our listed referees (both relatives and close friends) now contacted this week (early March 2014) by letter. That's five months along the application process.
Would I be correct in assuming that we're roughly 30% along the process - in not expecting a final answer (passport or refusal) not before April 2015 (18 months since my papers were sent to Bern)?? Or can we expect the final outcome in late 2014 (12-14 months process time)?!
My Swiss wife is impatient and wants us to relocate back to Switzerland much sooner (Aug 2014)! For that, I would need a visa-D/permit-B to join my family. However I heard from other EF'ers that it does not offer much success in obtaining jobs, vs those holding their red Swiss booklets at job interviews - given my age as a mature-aged worker.
Danke! Kids don't need permits, they already got Swiss passports via their maternal route.
I can easily get permit-B/visa-D, it takes only 2-3 months thru' the Sydney consulate. With that, I can go alone to find work - then bring my Swiss-passport-holders (i.e. my family) afterwards.
Whether that (B permit) will easily get me a good start in the Swiss job-hunting scene, at ages over 40y - is another matter. As noted from other EF threads in the last few years, some says "wait for the red booklet" first before relocating to CH to simplify matters on family migration & arrival, given my mature age.
Once you're here I don't think it will make much difference at all to a potential employer whether you hold a Swiss passport or not, as long as you have the correct permit to allow you to work. Nor need you be quite so pessimistic about your chances of finding work - 40+ is hardly over the hill.
It sounds to me like you are quite far along in the process. You could be done soon. In my case it was over a year but there was also additional information that they asked for and it took me some time to get it to them.
You could even try looking for jobs now. I searched for and found a job, from abroad. We wouldn't have moved without it. Just mention on your resume that you are married to a Swiss citizen.
I'm not so sure it's that easy. You are only entitled to the B permit as a family member of a Swiss person via family reunification. So, generally that means you are moving with or to join the Swiss citizen. I'd double check on that plan.
But to be honest, I wouldn't move in the middle of the naturalization process. It could delay the process quite a lot.
The Sydney consulate gave me that information "yes, you can get visa-D/permit-B and move to CH without your spouse, they can come later".
However thank you for your advice, and I will just pass the info to my impatient Swiss spouse, especially as I'm happy to wait to simplify matters - as opposed to delay/restart the naturalisation process.
Will PM you (Island Monkey) the contents of our local consulate's response last Sept - since I cannot quote them on a public forum here. Basically I can travel there without my Swiss spouse and kids to get the residence/work permit on arrival. But not all cantonal offices accept this and best I double-check with them.
As I said earlier, I think best wait for the red booklet - to simplify matters for all of us, even if it means our children would begin the Swiss school year a few months or more in. Wife wants them ready to enrol by mid-Aug 2014
It sure doesn't. But he's heard it from the horse's mouth. So, who am I do disagree.
If your wife is anxious to get back to CH and the Swiss citizenship is the cherry on the cake, then having it delayed may not matter as much. When we lived overseas they said told us leaving in the middle of the process 'could significantly delay' the process. So I decided to wait until I got back to apply at all. Of course I had to wait a year of being resident in Switzerland again. So, even if I had delayed it by moving I'd probably be done at exactly the same time.
I agree. In fact in my case (moving with Swiss spouse and a B permit), our entire process was stalled, because I registered but my wife didn't (long story as to why). Anyway nothing moved forward until my wife and I are were BOTH registered here. I'm pretty sure the B permit is tied to your spouse being present with you in Switzerland.
Auslan, just one other piece of advice, I would double check on the consulate's response with the cantonal office here. Many times you can get inconsistent information. I.e. different answers depending on whoever you speak with. You won't find out the real answer until you arrive. But if the consulate is correct then that's great and I wish you the best!
I would be very surprised if you can get a B or any other permit without your wife being here with you. The way the law works is that effectively you are allowed in as her dependent and she would be financially responsible for you. If she is not here, you can’t be her dependent and therefore are not entitled to a permit of any kind unless you’ve had a job offer and it’s been approved by the Swiss authorities.
The rules may be different for spouses of Swiss nationals, but I wouldn’t think they’re that different unless you need to produce lots of paperwork to prove what you say. Just turning up at your commune/cantonal migration office and saying “oh by the way, I’m married to a Swiss national and would like a permit please” is likely to get you laughed out the door.
I would assume the rules are similar to those for EU nationals who want to bring their families here. Anyway here are a couple of links:
Either way you would be best off all traveling together. Otherwise you will have to deal with the Swiss system alone. If you are strong in the necessary language then you might be OK, but your wife being Swiss will make it much easier if she is here with you. I assume she knows how it all works.
thank you to those who've added their thoughts / points of views...
the consulate gave their advice last year - in that once I applied for visa-D, permit-B is ready and can be collected once registered on emigration arrival. The visa officer took care to say that the canton / geminde have their own rules and I should make further enquires.
At that time, and still now - I opted to wait for the facilitated naturalisation period to run its course. Your feedback lately has helped placated my Swiss spouse by curbing her impatience to a degree.
In any case, we do have B-permit as our fall-back Plan B, should my application - for some reason - be declined in the end ?!?
The original name of this thread was meant to say "How far along am I on the facilitated naturalisation process", thence split into this standalone thread by one of the moderators (much appreciated) as the other thread "CH Facilitated Naturalisation - How far along am I?" was getting a bit crowded.
It is very unlikely your application will be declined, being married for so long and with two children who are Swiss citizens. It can take a while for the application to be processed however. I think you are further along than 30 % though. More likely 50 - 70 %.
The process takes closer to two years and moving back to Switzerland does not restart the clock. You just need to inform the consulate that you are moving back but also, more importantly, your case worker in Bern.