I'm here to ask about my trip for 4 months with an expiring permit. So, here's the story. I'm traveling on the 1 st of Dec 2022 and will only return on 31th of March 2023, and have to stay at my home country for four months for some family issues. However my permit is expiring on the 31st of Jan 2023. That means i could only renew it starting from the 31st of Oct 2022.
When I was planning my trip i thought it wouldn't be a problem because preciously it took me only about two weeks to receive it. So i thought 1 month would be enough. Then i heard that they are processing renewal applications sorta slow right now, and it might take 4 to 6 weeks (i sent an email to kreisbüro and that's what they told me), ANNNNDDD it's my fifth permit that's expiring so I will also need to book an appointment at Migrationsamt to renew my biometrics and this might slow down the process more.
After some research i found out that there's the possiblity to get a re-entry visa at Migrationsamt and from what I've read online and heard from friends it is only valid for 3 months. So that's obviously not long enough for my trip
So my questions are:
Do you know if the reentry visa could be longer, for six months for example? If not, could it be valid from a later date so its.still valid when i return?
If the reentry visa way does not work out, maybe I'll need to travel outside of Switzerland and ask a friend to pick up my new permit for me and send it to me. How much risk do you see in this?
I've just been in a similar situation in Zurich, with the only difference that I was extending an expiring C permit card (approaching 10 years in CH).
There was a possibility that I'd need to leave CH for 4-5 months to take care of some urgent family matters (related to the russian war in Ukraine), so I've applied for extension exactly 3 months before the old card expiration date (so I could go with a card expiring in 2027 and not while I'm out of CH).
They told me it would take an indefinite amount of time this year because of the extraordinary amount of work they have. They also repeatedly told me by phone that a return visa can only be stamped for 3 months, so if I go for 4-5 months, I'll need to apply for a return visa at a Swiss consulate in whatever country I'm located at that moment.
At the end, I've been going to the Migrationsamt once a week in person to ask what's the status and if they could please please speed it up. They kept telling me no, but third time around I've been lucky to get to a nice helpful guy at the counter who just phoned their back office on the spot and asked them to push the damn button to approve the new card. I've received it by post 2 days later. The whole process took about 7 weeks from submitting the extension at the Kreisbüro to getting the card. I really hope to be a Swiss citizen by time of next renewal so that I don't have to do this again
Regarding your other question, yes, it’s possible to issue a one-time power of attorney on https://post.ch so that your friend can pick up the letter with your permit at the post office and they could ship it to you wherever you are by some courier post like DHL Express, there’s no issue with that. The only issue would be if the courier shipment gets lost (which happens very rarely but it does happen) you’d still have to apply for a return visa to CH at a CH consulate abroad.
A similar thing happened to me at my C renewal in 2020, NichtsBesonders. I needed to leave the country and had planned everything so that it wouldn't be an issue, but then there were Covid delays. I kept calling twice a week, e-mailing and going to their office every week for about a month until I finally chanced upon a helpful lady who did it then and there. I don't know how long I would have waited if I just let it take its course... and in the end, my problems were relatively meager, as I am an EU citizen who planned on traveling within the EU.
Yes, applying for citizenship so we wouldn't have to deal with things like this has crossed my mind too.
I have just received my second re-entry visa due to long processing time for C permit (almost 7 months). They ask you as of what date you want it valid, depending on your travels. I assume you might ask apply for the renewal mid of November and apply for visa end if November asking to activate it as if Feb.1. Thus you will be covered till end of March (count 90 days and play with the dates).
At least it's going to be once every 10 years instead of every 5 and without being forced to wait to renew until 3 months before the document expiration
Also in Zurich I don't believe that the biometrics office is the same. Citizens do their biometrics at the Passbüro here and us damn foreigners do it at the Migrationsamt.