Dear saints,
I'm living with my now-fiancée for three years in Geneva.
I'm EU with an unrestricted, 5 years, permit B.
She's non-EU, with a restricted permit B which she renews annually. The permit is of course tied to her employer and forces her to live in Geneva.
We're in the process of getting married and our current apartment lease ends in August.
I want us to move to Vaud or Valais, with the option of my fiancée quitting her job. Getting any info from OCPM is hopeless.
1. I'm guessing it's impossible for us to leave Geneva before she gets the family reunification permit, right? And if we somehow manage to get married in May, it's still unlikely that she will get the permit in time.
2. To get the new permit, will she have to fill form M as if she's applying for a new permit as if she's a wife who wants to arrive to Switzerland? How does the process work?
Thank you.
The physical permit card is not the permit. Time we call what it is: "permit card" like in French, or "foreigner ID" as it is known in German.
Your future spouse will have all the rights of a EU spouse from the date of marriage.
To move canton as your fiancée she must get permission from the canton you intend to move to. To move canton as your wife, she does not need permission if you move canton together.
Thanks for replying. What you're saying goes against everything I read so far - one we get married we can move, she can quit her job, and there's no risk that her "family reunification" permit will be denied? It sounds too good to be true!
She can live in VD (or VS if willing to commute to GE) if GE agrees. Usually just paperwork as GE knows how difficult it is to find housing. Her B permit will remain restricted to her employer until you marry.
Not the canton you move from, but the canton you move to must agree. GE has no say in this.
The right for family reunification comes from the agreement between the EU and Switzerland on the free movement of person. This agreement supersedes the FNIA/LEI.
See also the SEM Circulair on Regroupement familial de ressortissants d’Etats tiers avec des citoyens de l’UE / Reprise par le TF de l’arrêt Metock de la CJCE du 25 juillet 2008 (C-127/08) https://www.sem.admin.ch/dam/sem/fr/…nnachzug-f.pdf
Other information from SEM:
https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/fr/home…eiben/fza.html
and
https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/fr/home…erbereich.html
We'll marry very soon and the lease ends in August, if we can move as a married couple without waiting for approval for her permit that's awesome. Thanks.
So as a married couple we can just move to Valais and care about the permit card once we're there, and it's legal for her to live in Valais even if she doesn't have an official permit yet, and even if her employer-tied permit B is expired, as long as she has marriage certificate. Did I understand correctly?
The only barrier here will be is if the swiss authorities think it's a sham marriage. ...
You can also try to do it all on a 'fiance visa' but personally I would suggest slowing down, just a little, and lining things up -
1. Fiance/Marriage process all organised.
2. Finding a suitable apartment in Vaud or similar area.
3. (Giving notice on the current apartment).
4. Asking permission/going to register in the new Canton along with marriage certificate and other documents.
5. Move out and de-register from the old apartment.
Please don't push your fiance to quit their job until everything is really settled in, or they find a new job convenient to their new home. The first year of marriage can be very challenging - house + marriage + no job will create even more stress....
The process is *very much easier* for someone who has an EU spouse...once the marriage has been completed and recognised in Switzerland....
Just a quick correction to the post above : you need to deregister from your current canton before you register to the new one. A certificate of deregistration is among the required documents to register in the new place.
Your wife doesn't change status the second you're married, she still needs to get a new permit (otherwise even if married, her purpose to reside in Switzerland is still her current job and her current permit still holds). But it will be no problem to get one because you are entitled to bring her in with you, as long as you fulfill the criteria (live together, make enough money that neither of you will depend on social help, etc).
She should know however that changing purpose of stay from her current work to Family Reunification is not always advantageous. It gives her work and location mobility, and access to the whole job market, sure, but it also means from then on, her status is entirely tied to yours. If you were to separate, she would lose her permit. As someone who is here under Family Reunification, I would tell you that this dependency can be a big source of anxiety, and can put a strain on the relationship. Frankly if I were her and I had a job, assuming I like the job and want to keep it, I don't think I would change to Family Reunification. Non-EU B permits are not exactly easy to get.
Also, she's allowed to move cantons while keeping her current job and permit, if it's just a question of moving. She needs to apply for change of canton, but it's totally possible.
Thank you both for the replies.
If we stay in Geneva, and she simply quits her job (after we get married), does she need to apply for the permit or will it be "automatic"?
It's never automatic, you always need to apply for a permit.