Im an american citizen living in the UK currently.
Basically, I grew up in Switzerland I lived there for 12 of my 22 years on this earth. 2 years ago I moved to study in the UK, right as my entire family was applying for swiss citizenship.
Not only was I not allowed to apply, but my C permit was not frozen as I had requested, so it was lost when I went overseas to study. (I only found this out when I tried to return for christmas. Somehow they never received my letter.)
My family managed to secure their swiss citizenships while I was gone, but I'm having trouble understanding my options Can I get my c permit reinstated or is that only available for citizenships? Can I get my citizenship through close ties to switzerland? Am I going to have to restart my naturalisation process even though I speak german fluently and all of my friends and family live in switzerland?
Freezing is not an automatic right, you can't just mail forms & forget. You mail in an *application*, they consider details of your case whether to grant or reject it at their discretion. Now I'm afraid it's gone for good (by law, you lose it after 6 months de facto absence) and you only have yourself to blame for not following up in time
Yes, you'll have to start from scratch. Your past 12 years would just reduce the naturalization timeline from 10-12 to only 6 years
This would help you to demonstrate integration when the time comes to get your C permit and then naturalize. Nothing else.
Family here might help you to get your foot into the country again, but I believe only if they have EU passports - then they can use EU/CH treaties to pull you in as "Familiennachzug". Non-EU and swiss can only use swiss law (AuG) which is much stricter and doesn't allow one to pull in grown up kids / parents into the country. But this is only about getting initial residency. Naturalization is still 6+ years away for you.
No help to you now, but maybe for future students. If you want to keep your rights as a Swiss resident when going away to study; stay signed in, keep paying health insurance and come home to mum and dad in the holidays.
For you, you should re-register. Get your B-permit and start the clock on getting that C back.
No, I don't think so - OP is a third country national and would need to get a job (and jump through third-country citizen hoops for it) in order to get it, unless there is some loophole I am unaware of (Swiss citizens' family member, your parents vouching they will fully support you?).
OP, are you by any chance still a minor? Then being a dependent could be an easy way. I agree with appealing a C-permit hold. You should have waited for a confirmation of a hold, but if you can at least show that you did send an application in, it might help your case.
Another one would be hardship (Cantonal decision) - you'll need a lawyer for that one. I know a failed asylum seeker who was granted leave to stay on the grounds that Switzerland was now his centre of life and he was well integrated. He did have a job though...
Finally, look for work in Switzerland and get a B permit that way.
True, but normally one would need to maintain Swiss health insurance and visit regularly. If the OP kept paying their Swiss health insurance I can see them having a bit of a case to argue, but if they uprooted completely from CH and essentially made the UK the center of their life I would think the chances of getting the C re-instated are slim. I personally think it was very unwise of the OP to just send a letter to the commune without confirming their permit was indeed put on hold, and not follow up for two years.
If you put the permit on hold legitimately then you don’t have to continue paying health insurance or visit regularly. The permit is essentially frozen.
If you go abroad to study but keep the C permit active then health insurance and regular visits apply.
I would try the permit on hold route first to try to get the C permit back but it may be a lost cause as the permit has already been cancelled.
This. The point about "centre of your life" is critical, and your application for re-instatement of the C-permit, or at least for a new B, could have a chance if supported by proof thereof. Do your parents still live in Switzerland? If yes, when you went to study, did you leave most of your books, sentimental posters and photos, etc. in your parents' home in Switzerland? Have you been returning home to your parents during your study vacations? Were they supporting you financially through your study years (and perhaps still now, until you find work?
Freezing the C can be applied for after leaving the country, but that must happen during the first 6 months of the absence. IIRC such an application automatically freezes that 6-month period until a decision (which is probably challengeable) has been arrived at.
Given your family situation nobody will have wanted to throw you out, even less an industrious aspiring academic. Quite the contrary, in all likelihood everybody would have looked the other way, and closed both eyes to boot, whenever possible. But that would have required OP to react swiftly once the official letters started, the first must have been something like "we noticed you seem to be absent, is that true? Looking forward to your evidence for your presence by dd.mm.yyyy ".
It's weird how only important letters ever get lost:
They didn't receive OP's application to freeze the C.
OP didn't receive their negative reply.
There was no letter announcing their enquiry.
There was no request for clarification for what they found.
No letter on the decision taken, presumably no communication at all.
What about taxation?
At age 18 you become individually taxable, and you have to send in your own personally signed forms going forward due to the C. Each and every year. Otherwise there will be official registered letters galore, topped up with 4-digit fines.
I bet the actual story looks completely different from what OP is presenting here.
First of all, I want to thank you all for your replies! There were so many I was kind of overwhelmed. It is greatly appreciated!
I will try and look into appealing it. I still have to original documents for the letter that I sent, so who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky.
My whole family lives in switzerland, and are now swiss citizens.
When I went to study, I pretty much only took my computer and some clothes.
I've been back almost every break. I'm back right now.
My Parents were, and currently still are financially supporting me, but I am 22, so I don't think that helps much.
I would just like to say, that while I normally don't engage in bickering online...
I have given the full extent of the story exactly as it happened. The dates may be a bit off, but I truly did send in a letter, and never received a response. Yes it was foolish of me not to follow up, but I was a first year uni student in a new country, so I was a bit overwhelmed already.
I do not see what the benefit would be to embellishing my story even though Im more or less anonymous on here, especially when I need a solution to this C permit problem!
One question I am left with though, is what can I do with the close links to switzerland? (I believe its article 11 under the New Swiss Citizenship Act)
Whoever speaks the best local language, you or your parents, should go down to your local Gemeinde, explain you messed up, plead for their help. Forget the citizenship act, you are not currently eligible for citizenship. Focus on a dependant permit via your parents.
I can sympathise with being a student and not thinking of all the things that need to be done/considered when leaving (I had a small poursuite waiting for me the first time I left)..
You should be able to get a permit to return (either B or C), particularly because you left for studies. But it will involve writing a few letters to the administration.. some text from the LEI (law governing foreigners) below might be applicable
"3.5.4.6 Personnes séjournant à l’étranger pour le compte de leur employeur ou à des fins de formation professionnelle continue
Le titulaire d’une autorisation d’établissement qui, en application de l’art. 50 OASA, a séjourné temporairement à l’étranger pour le compte de son employeur ou à des fins de formation professionnelle continue pourra, à son retour en Suisse, obtenir de nouveau une autorisation d’établissement, à condition que l’absence ne soit pas supérieure à quatre ans (cf. ch.3.5.3.2.3) et qu’en outre, la période passée à l’étranger n’excède pas celle durant laquelle la personne concernée a été titulaire d’une autorisation d’établissement. Dans les deux cas, la délivrance de l’autorisation d’établissement est soumise à l’approbation fédérale."
I hope the OP is able to get their C permit back, thus situation really sucks.
I would think that the fact they never received anything from the Gemeinde or canton or SEM would help them appeal.
But just concerning the previous post, "formation continue" is not studying full-time for a degree, it usually refers to supplementary studies once already working. In fact the directives are very clear just a few paragraphs earlier that stays abroad for studies require applying for and receiving an extension of the 6 months delay (up to 4 years). The OASA article 50 is clearly about moving abroad to work or receive supplementary training as an employee. It explicitly requires prior approval from immigration, a request from the employer and a guarantee of a job when the person comes back, which clearly doesn't apply here.
Best case scenario is the migration office applies their good judgement and discretion, and give the C permit right away (the directives give then that leeway). Worst case scenario, you should ask for a B permit, to which you should be entitled if your stay abroad was two years or less (LEI art 30, OASA art 49). From there, gainful employment can be authorised if there is a request from an employer and the conditions are equal or better to the market (as I understand it, no need to go through the usual non-EU hoops). The wait time for the C permit may be reduced on the basis that you had one before (but would need to be at least 2 years). Citizenship would then be possible as soon as you have the C permit again, assuming you meet the local and cantonal requirements.