Hi, I am a non-EU citizen, PhD student at HSG, St. Gallen since 2021. I applied for doctoral mobility in India for a period of 9 months (Oct 2024-June 2025). Currently I have a B permit but because of the mobility stay abroad I need to terminate my work contract and apply for a student permit but based on the Swiss regulations, if I stay away from Switzerland for more than 6 months, my permit expires.
I want help regarding the possible options for my return to Switzerland:
One option is that I come back to Switzerland in Feb 2025 (couple of weeks) and return back to India to complete my mobility until June 2025. So I am not away for 6 months straight. I keep my apartment, pay health insurance, etc.
Another option is that I deregister, leave everything – inform the migration office that I will be away for 9 months and that I will return back to Switzerland and continue my studies. However, I am concerned if I can be without any permit although I will be enrolled at the University. Also, if reapplying for permit given that I am already a Swiss student will create a problem to get the student permit and also work permit.
Can anyone help me with this? Is there anyone with similar situation?
I don’t have specific advice but I don’t think coming back for a week or two is going to work - ay least there is a high risk your permit will be revoked
You should discuss this with your university - they should have legal advice on this since I presume they are sponsoring your permit.
The story seems somehow murky - why do you want to do this in the first place, and not just go for under 6 months? Breaking up work contract with B permit for a student permit sounds like going back in status…
The University is not sponsoring my permit. Also, as a non-EU citizen my work contract could not be made indefinite (I don’t know about others) and this is why my contract cannot be frozen while I am away as informed by my institute where I am employed. This is why I need to terminate my work contract and apply for a student permit instead. I know its a disadvantage for me but that’s what I have been told.
The minimum duration of doctoral mobility offered by HSG unlike other universities is 9 months and this is problematic for me. I guess I can shorten it by giving proper reasons for it but in any case I might not have any job when I come back.
I think you should ask this question directly to the migration office. I don’t know about SG, but elsewhere they have a location where you can visit and speak to a person in English. They will advice precisely which of the two options is best. Anecdotally I know EU people being told that visiting for a weekend breaks the 6m away period, but not sure if this is the case in all situations.
PS: Personally if my new student permit would be valid throughout the period away, i would go for 1, guaranteeing entry back into CH… it would be very difficult to renew a permit from abroad.
Can you even get a student permit if your university knows you are going 9 months away? I wouldn’t be sure of it…
I would really question whether this 9 months mobility is beneficial for you in this situation - if your end goal is to remain in Switzerland. I mean, it might be good for your academic/PhD situation, but it will seriously limit your options of staying in Switzerland afterwards.
You can try to wing it and pretend you are still living in Switzerland for 9 months on a student permit (by not de-registering, paying rent and health insurance, returning from time to time) but there is absolutely no guarantee that will work. For all intents and purposes physical presence is required for the residence to be considered valid and if you get found (and there are so many ways it can happen) you can even lose the student status.
And even if you pass through the net, and at the end of your studies you are left with a student permit that expires and almost at ground 0 with finding a job and stable permit again.
A conspiracy theorist may might think this is HSG’s way of making sure their students don’t end up staying in Switzerland at the end. It does happen in other countries too…
Also need to think about the financial side. IIrc you may need to show something like 25k in a Swiss bank account to show you can support yourself as a student since students are limited in the number of hours they can work because they’re here mainly to study.