I’m sure you’ve had many posts like this so forgive me if there are sections where my query will have been already answered.
My wife is Swiss and has lived on England with me for 10 years. We’re planning on moving back to Switzerland (Valais) with our son in the next few months.
My first query is regarding Swiss import/customs. We are planning on taking most of our furniture and I’m planning on renting a van to do so. However, we have an issue whereby we will be living with my wife’s parents for the first 6 months and one of the requirements for customs seems to be that "You must transfer your residence to Switzerland and provide proof. " How can we do that if we haven’t yet moved? Our plan was to bring all our goods to the parents’ house and then transfer residence within 14 days.
I’m sure I will have many more questions going forward.
Yes, registering with the authorities within 14 days is proof of transfer of residence, but other means are also accepted, see link below: If you are EU (or swiss) then you can show a work contract in switzerlnad, a house lease, or proof you left your previous domicile.
Since your wife is Swiss, the easiest will be to have the letter she receives when she de-registers with the Swiss Embassy in UK (Swiss citizens are required to formally register with the embasy if the live abroad and deregister if they are coming back). (Or alternatively, she files to her dad’s town and registers formally as Swiss resident ahead of you, obtaining a paper “certificate” the next day and then flying back to the UK)
For yourself, if you are British, you cannot import alone as the link says unless you have already applied for a Swiss work permt and received a positive answer, as otherwise there is no guarantee that a work permit will be issued / i.e may not be possible to move to Switzerland at all.
Thanks for this. It’s likely then that my swiss wife will have to “Import” our belongings.
Does that mean she would have to drive the van with our belongings? Or can she equally take me and our son with her? I understand this may not be straightforward to answer.
We are going to look into deregistering my wife with the embassy.
It seems pretty straight forward to me: You’re wife is coming home, bringing her belongings and a child (that is if you officially allow the child tro travel with her. On paper.)
It doesn’t matter where she lives or if she plans to move later, she must register under her parent’s address if she moves there first.
The only thing that needs checking is how you can come along, settle here, do you have a job or does the wife have enough assets to support you, etc. etc.
You will probably start on a B-permit “Verbleib bei der Ehefrau”, meaning that B is only valid as long as you and your wife stay together.
If you are driving the van with the goods on board acrosss Europe, then you are exporting from the UK, importing into the EU, exporting from the EU and importing in to Switzerland. For a smooth flow you need to ensure you have all the correct paperwork for this. Alternatively maybe ask for a quote from an shipping agency who already have this stuff down pat. It might be a lot less hassle.