The Ongoing Swiss Visa Saga of 2009
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July 25th, 2009
I originally applied for a visa to Switzerland on December 31, 2008. It is now July 24th, 2009. It has been 206 days (that is nearly 7 months) and I have still not gotten a final answer.
Let me start at the beginning. When Emily was offered the job in Zürich last year, I fully supported (and encouraged) her to take it since living abroad was something that we both had wanted to do. I said that I would figure out a way to be there with her. My first option was to simply apply for a visa and hope for the best. So I went to the Swiss Consulate in San Francisco and talked to the nice girl working there. I explained my situation and was told that I should be eligible for a Swiss residence permit if I apply as Emily’s partner (yes, even though we are not married, I was told I was still eligible). They never said that this was a guarantee, but it seemed very promising so I applied later that week. I was told it would take 6-8 weeks to get the final decision on my visa application. Then the waiting began.
Emily got her visa in early February, right before we moved. I left for Switzerland and entered as a tourist, which allows me to stay for 90 days out of 6 months. I thought it would only be another week or two so this would be plenty of time. I was in regular contact with the SF Swiss Consulate and even went to the immigration office to talk to someone in person but still heard nothing about my visa application. Then, in the middle of March, Emily got a letter from the immigration office explaining why they had rejected my application (they did not send me any notification).
Undeterred, we responded (with the help of the eBay lawyer) and urged them to reconsider. They quickly replied that they would reconsider their decision if we answered a list of questions and gave them supplemental supporting documents. Among other things, they wanted to know more about my and Emily’s relationship, what I planned to do in Switzerland, and if I had a criminal record. So we drafted a response and included supporting documents ranging from proof of a shared lease in San Francisco to a criminal records check from the FBI.
This letter was sent in the middle of May; I am still waiting. Every time we’ve called them for the past 7 weeks they say it will just be 1 or 2 more weeks. I always thought those scenes in the movies where the person is irate and yelling in the immigration office were just fictional, but now I am beginning to understand how believable that scene really is.
Since I still only have a tourist visa while this whole process has played out, I have been forced to leave the country several times to make sure I don’t overstay my limit. So rather than settling into Zürich and getting accustomed to living abroad, I have been constantly on the move for months. I’ve already been to 7 different countries this year including trips to Lichtenstein, Oslo, Prague, Paris, Mallorca, and Konstanz, as well as back to the US three times. Luckily, I do love to travel, so I am trying to take it all in stride and enjoy having the excuse to travel so much.
Hopefully this will all be resolved very soon and I will be able to stay put in Zürich and enjoy Switzerland for awhile. If anyone has any connections at the Switzerland immigration office, now would be a good time to tell me…
Update: I was finally, officially rejected in August. I’m not really sure what took so long, but at least now I know.
