US Citizen to marry Legal Resident with Permit B from Switzerland and stay there… ?

Question

I am a US Citizen, and my fiancée is a legal resident of Switzerland with the B permit. We went to the city office where all marriages are processed and registered. They told us that it is legal for us to get married there, that we just have to submit all the required documents and that during one of my visits as a tourist, with my US passport, we can get married once all documents have been verified.

So with my US Passport I can go there and married my girlfriend. That’s not a problem.

My question is this: She has a resident permit B, which is the equivalent of a Green Card in the US. The next thing for her is to get the Swiss Passport. Once I travel there with my US passport and married her, can I stay there with her, can I get a permit from the police or something so that I can live and work there? Is that possible without me having to leave the country after we get married?

Or, do I have to come back to the US again after the marriage and then apply for some kind of special visa?

We are planning on submitting all the documents for our marriage very soon. So any help is much appreciated. Thanks…

Answer 1

Since your wife-to-be has a permit B, as her husband you can also get a permit B. The conditions are that you must live under the same roof, that your place must be adequate (i.e. big enough and salubrious), and neither of you can be on welfare.

On the other hand I cannot tell you for sure whether you would have to return to the US to apply for your paperwork, or if it can all be done from within Switzerland after you get married. I advise you contact an embassy or consulate of Switzerland in the US. Or if you are already in Switzerland, then each canton has some kind of immigration office (e.g. the Office cantonal de la population in Geneva) that you should contact for information.

I'd also like to point out that the permit B is far from a green card. The permit C is a lot more like one. The permit B needs to be renewed every year, and you can usually get a permit C after 5 years on a permit B.