This may sound like a stupid question, but I’m genuinely confused.
American citizen married to a Swiss National for 2.5 years. He deregistered his address in April and is living elsewhere. I am still in the family home.
My B permit is up for renewal and I have received a letter from the migrationsamt asking why we are separated.
On my b permit renewal, it asks me if I am legally separated. Do both spouses need to sign a separation agreement and that begins the start of the 2 year period until one can file for divorce? Or did the legal separation start when he changed his address?
I’m not 100% certain but I believe the separation period begins when one spouse moves out if the marital home and has documented evidence to show when it cvured.
What I’m not sure about is if this is only the case if both spouses agree or if it also applies in unilateral decisions.
Here is are some thinks which may provide further information or give details of who to contact to find out more about your rights.
It’s not totally clear from the links if the spouse requesting the divorce needs to file for legal separation if it is a unilateral decision or if just moving out of the marital home is enough. It’s enough in the case of a joint decision that’s sure.
Thank you both for your input and providing the links to read.
I have a consultation with a new lawyer next week so hopefully some good news.
I spoke to a previous lawyer before and he was not nice at all. When I told him my spouse changed his address he said it was not possible for me to stay anymore and my permit application would be denied. He then advised me to get pregnant quickly or marry someone else.... As appealing to the state and federal court would only buy me a few months more
You don't go to lawyers because they are nice you go to them because they are good at what they do and they give you straight answers!
It is my understanding that these are two separate issues - it does not matter if you are legally separated or not, the immigration authorities will be asking themselves if you meet their conditions - that you are still living as a family and indeed if there every was a valid relationship that justified the permit in the first place.
I wish you well, but don't go shopping for a lawyer that is going to tell you what you want to hear.
Thank you. I meant it more as a lawyer who is willing to stand by my side if that makes sense. When I got the questionnaire from migrationsamt asking me to explain the details of why we are living apart, I called the office asking for an extension. The lady on the phone said it is the law that you have to be married for at least 3 years, but it's not that there's no chance for me to stay in Switzerland as it's case by case. But they would need to review what I submit and make a decision from there.
When I told my lawyer this he said that I can just send him the form and he will fill it out, there's no chance for me. I would like to have a good lawyer-client relationship, but as I never worked with a lawyer aside from this one, I don't know if that is the norm.
It makes zero sense to have two threads on the same topic (I bet it's against against form rules in the first place). Mods should close this one as it contains much less information and is both younger and shorter.
You pay the lawyers to be on your side! In over the past three decades I have been involved with lawyers on various business projects and a couple of criminal prosecutions and I can't say I every encountered a lawyer that was not on the side of the client paying them. How they present your case in public and how they advise you in private are two very different things. You don't want them to give you the sugar coated version in private and yet that seems to be what you are complaining about.
Yes, I agree that several threads on what is essentially the same topic make it much more difficult to answer OP's questions usefully.
As it is, a mod has already worked hard to merge two other very similar threads, opened by the same user, into one. Thank you, 3Wishes.
To OP swissmiss: a number of posters are trying to help you, and I think you'd find that the picture would be more complete and therefore the replies you get more useful, if you kept everything in one thread. For this reason, if there's another new nuance, please don't open a fourth thread. Thank you.
Actually it is sometimes more useful to keep related but not identical threads separate as the specific info being requested is not the same and it gets confusing if everything is in the one thread.
We do merge threads when we think it’s appropriate but merging is not always the best course of action.