I'm planning to start working in Zurich soon (first week of August) and haven't organized housing yet (for various reasons, basically because there's been no time). I'm from England - so, as I understand it, before I start work, I need to go to a local office and apply for a residence permit.
I suspect I won't be able to find a good apartment to move into before I start, although I'll obviously try. So my question is: do I need to have signed a lease contract before then in order to apply for the residence permit? For example, would I still be able to apply for the permit and begin working while staying in a hotel initially?
Hopefully this question makes sense and hasn't been addressed elsewhere. Any help and/or suggested solutions to this problem would be appreciated!
Not necessarily. When I was working in relocation, more than once they used the business address for correspondence. Anyway, that is why I told the OP to ask the commune which they want. I'll bet they take both the addresses. He may even be asked for his work contract which will have the work address on it.
The point however is that he can and should register with a hotel, hostel, friend's house, wherever he is living and then change the address when he moves.
When I came to Switzerland, I stayed in a hotel for a week. Gave my friend's address to the Canton while registration (they need a letter from your friend saying he/she is ok with you using his/her address). Once you get a place on rent, you have to go to the Canton again and ask for change of address.
As for everything in Switzerland, each of these trips to the Canton costs money
Thanks everyone - I suppose I'll give them both the hotel and office address, and request they send correspondence to the office. Glad that I shouldn't have to worry about this part - just finding an apartment sounds like it will be a formidable task!
Resurrecting an old thread (sorry) - did you manage to register while staying in a hotel? I'm in a similar position, will probably stay in a hotel for a few weeks...
I've heard of people successfully registering with employer's address in cases when Kreisbüro didn't like their airbnb host (because he was subletting without permission) They do it every reluctantly and tell people to find a real flat asap though.
You'll need to ask! When I replied back in 2007, I had no problem registering people with office addresses or temporary addresses in and around Lausanne.
Now north of Lausanne the commune our office is in does not allow this. They don't like BnB's, hotels or office addresses. I have two colleagues that had problems registering they could not (cannot) do it until they have permanent addresses.