Hello all,
I am in my mid 50’s and close to retirement so looking at my options.
Kind of a long story, I was brought to Geneva as a baby, basically given to relatives to raise without any formal paperwork. I lived and went to school in Geneva till age 8, however no proper paperwork was done, this was in the 70’s and I dont know why.
I was taken back by my birth parents at age 8, but have visited Geneva every year and am close to the family that raised me. In fact from age 18 I became estranged from my borth family due to this.
I have enough money to retire and speak fluent french and have visited my Geneva family at least a few times a year. Would this be considered close connection, I have no proof of my 8 year residency other than school records and photos.
I feel Geneva is my home and where my family is and would like to retire there, any advice would be appreciated.
Mid 50s is still a good decade from retirement age in Switzerland. Are you an EU citizen?
It will be difficult to build a case of a close connection if there is no paperwork which shows officially that you were resident here. Maybe the school records will help a bit.
Were you a refugee, by any chance?
Some info here. Are you EU or non-EU? That will make a difference.
And while you might think you have enough money to retire, that doesn’t mean the Swiss will think the same. Check with the Geneva immigration office how much they would expect you to have to meet the financial requirement for a residence permit.
Are you certain you weren’t properly documented? You could check with the commune you relatives lived, or the Geneva control d’habitants?