Hi folks,
I moved from Basel Stadt to Ticino on 1st July 2022.
Ticino is one of the few cantons where you can't notify them of your arrival online, therefore I downloaded all the forms, filled them in, and submitted them in person at the local office. At the same time, I notified Basel-Stadt that I was leaving the canton (online).
As I dropped the signed forms off in person, there is no evidence that this actually happened. I have no idea what they did with the paperwork.
In November, I received a notification from Ticino, saying 'we note that you have arrived in our canton, please send us your B Permit so that we can replace it with a Ticino one.' I thought it was odd that it took them almost 5 months to respond, but I was warned that the italian canton operate on a different timescale... I sent the permit in, got a new one in February.
Today I have received a letter by registered post, saying that I have violated an act of the criminal code by not notifying my new canton of arrival within 14 days.
As far as I'm concerned, I did do this - but I have no evidence of it.
Any advice? I have 5 days to respond, presumably by registered post (in fairness they gave 15 days to respond but I've been away on business for 10 days so have only just received it).
* How can I prove that I attempted to notify them of my arrival?
* what sort of fine can I expect from this sort of violation? If it's only minimal, I'll just suck it up and pay. But I'd rather not fork out several hundred when, to my knowledge, I did everything I was supposed to do.
Do you have a copy of what you handed in?
Send them that with a note that you hand-delivered this on xx date.
I don't have a copy, but I can download the forms again and explain, I guess.
They must have SOME record, because within a month of submitting my paperwork, they sent me an invoice for dog tax. So the paperwork obviously didn't get entirely lost.
Actually, I also have an email that I sent to them on July 19th, confirming that I had dropped off paperwork last week and providing my 'departure from Basel Stadt' confirmation (which I hadn't received until that point). Hopefully that will be sufficient!
You can’t do it online where I am either. You should have gone in in person, given them the forms, but also you passport and permit and work contract. The permit is always re-issued by a new canton.
I guess all you can do is write to them and tell them what you did. You also registered your dog right? If I remember rightly!
Ask them how they noted you’d moved to Ticino if you hadn’t handed in the paperwork. Unless a “nosy neighbour” informed them the only way they could know is if they had the paperwork to hand.
Correct (good memory!!) - I went in person, with photocopies of my passport and work contract (but I did not hand in my permit, which I now realise I should've done).
I do remember at the time feeling uncomfortable with not receiving a receipt / any sort of acknowledgement that I had submitted this paperwork
Do you still have the dog-tax bill?
Tom
Write to them, tell them they had all the paperwork but didn’t ask for your permit. If you have proof of the dog registration or dog tax, that might help as proof!
Yes, fortunately I have the dog tax bill - I will send them a copy of that and hopefully that will indicate that I at least submitted something at the time
Well, that would be pretty obvious - landlords also have an obligation to notify authorities when an apartment is being rented out.
I swear, some day, someone will be able to compile a 'what not to do when you move to Switzerland' guide based on all of my threads on EF
Thanks folks. I've written out a timeline of all of my interactions, including evidence where possible (emails, dog tax invoice, etc.), and a friend is going to help me translate it into Italian for submission via registered post tomorrow.
I'll keep you posted!
In some cantons that's the case, possibly in most, but not in all. Solothurn for instance has no such cantonal rule, as a consequence it varies by municipality.
As for the amount of the potential fine, the relevant legislation (which mentions the maximum) should be mentioned in the letter.