Residence Permit
As a former undocumented migrant, you are a „non-EU/EEA citizen“ or a „third-country national“. After your regularisation, you receive a B permit (residence permit = Aufenthaltsbewilligung). B permits have a specific purpose and are valid for one year. After a year you have to apply for an extension. The B permit is always limited in time and can be subject to conditions (e.g., sufficient work or staying with a spouse if the reason for the permit was marriage).
As a former undocumented migrant, you will have to show all your employment contracts, salary payments and fees to the migration office in the first one to three years after regulation in order to prove that you are „economically independent“. The migration office uses the same criteria as for the hardship application (Härtefallgesuch): basic needs according to SKOS guidelines (Swiss Conference on Social Aid) plus fixed costs such as rent, taxes, health insurance, household insurance. Since the migration authorities have already checked your living requirements in the hardship application, you usually only have to declare your employers and incomes when applying to extend the permit. This means that you usually do not have to show any documents relating to rent, health insurance, etc.
The B permit is issued by the canton in which you live. If you want to change your canton of residence, you have to apply for a permit in the new canton. The B permit is valid, together with your home passport as a „Schengen visa“: You are entitled to stay in a Schengen country for a maximum of 90 days within a period of 180 days. Please note: You will lose your B permit if you leave Switzerland for more than six months!
If you have family (spouse and/or underage children) abroad who would like to live with you in Switzerland, this is possible in principle with a B permit, but you and your family must fulfil a number of conditions. Your apartment must be large enough; your income must be sufficient to pay for all of them and the family members must have passed a German test or enrol in a German course in Switzerland. Get advice (e.g., from the GGG Migration, see 1 Welcome). Attention: If you want to have children older than 12 join you after you have received your permit, you must apply for this within 12 months of receiving your permit. Children under 12 years of age and spouses must join you within five years. In cases of hardship, it is always important to clarify whether family reunification is planned within a year and whether this should be mentioned in the hardship application.
If you have lived in Switzerland for ten years without interruption, you will usually be issued with a C permit (settlement permit = Niederlassungsbewilligung). This is valid for an unlimited period. However, you can also lose your C permit, e.g., if you have lived abroad for too long (you can live abroad for a maximum of four years, but you have to apply for it beforehand) or if you have committed a crime.
If you are an EU/EEA citizen, other, less strict conditions apply.
