Switzerland is a great place to live and work, so it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that many people who come initially just for a few years end up wanting to stay indefinitely. The Swiss C permit is the much sought-after permanent residence permit that enables just this. It is unconnected to any conditions linked to its holder’s employment relationship or family situation.  It provides a great sense of security and comfort and is a very frequent topic of conversation among expats. The C permit is also now required in most cases for people to apply to become Swiss citizens, so it has grown in importance for that reason as well.

Because each case is innately different and both communes and cantons can impose their own additional requirements, this can lead to a huge amount of confusion when someone is trying to understand if they qualify for a C permit. In an effort to de-mystify C permits, I am giving you 5 essential facts to help you understand how this special type of Swiss permit works.

1. The General Requirements for a C Permit

The general requirements for a C permit are threefold:

• A person must have resided in Switzerland for at least 10 years total (with an L or B permit, and with a B permit without interruption for the last 5 years);
• There cannot be any grounds for revocation; and
• The person must be able to show that they are integrated into Swiss life and culture

2. Early C Permit Application Based Upon Good Integration

If a person has held a B permit for an uninterrupted 5 years, meets the other requirements listed above, and can also prove that they are well integrated and can speak the local language, then it should be possible to apply already for a C permit after just 5 years of residence in Switzerland.

3. Special legal requirements underlying Swiss C permits: No clear EU vs. Non EU distinction

Normally in Swiss immigration law, there is a distinction between Non EU nationals and EU nationals. It’s kind of like everyone is divided into these two categories and then the immigration requirements are clear based upon which category a person fits in. But C permits are different. Instead of having two main categories, each with its own distinct set of requirements, a person’s eligibility for a C permit is determined based upon their citizenship as well as their personal situation. Holding EU citizenship does not in and of itself provide any benefit when it comes to C permits, nor is eligibility for a C permit covered by the bilateral Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP) between Switzerland and the EU.

However, several countries, many of them European, have concluded special agreements with Switzerland on the issue of permanent residence, which makes it easier for citizens of those particular countries to obtain C permits and subject to a lower set of requirements. In many cases this means that after 5 years on a B permit a person may apply for a C permit, and for some nationalities there is even no local language skill requirement.

4. Students and C permits

Years spent in Switzerland as a student do not count towards the required uninterrupted period of residence necessary for a C permit. However, if a student completes their studies and then is directly hired by a Swiss company and obtains (based upon an employment relationship of unlimited duration) a regular B permit, then after two years of working at the company the person can start counting the years in Switzerland spent as a student toward the required total for the C permit application. I know this probably sounds a little confusing – but just imagine that once a former student reaches the milestone of two years working at a Swiss company with a B permit, a flashlight goes on and suddenly illuminates the person’s student years in Switzerland that were previously not counted and in the dark.

5. Eligibility for a C permit based upon a Swiss family member

The foreign spouse of a Swiss citizen has the right to a Swiss C permit after 5 years of holding a family-reunification-based B permit in Switzerland. Children under the age of 12 of a Swiss citizen have the right to a Swiss C permit, (although this doesn’t in reality come up very frequently, because in many cases the child is a Swiss citizen from birth).

I hope you’ve found this information useful, and should you ever wish to do a C permit consultation with me to find out what possibilities exist in your particular situation, please make a booking request via the consultation form below.