Would you take a transfer to Geneva? (live, law)

[Cruikshl]

Originally Posted by irman

I am not trying to keep you from going, but prepare for some changes, and for doing a lot of homework.
Both English speaking .. OK, so what, knowing a foreign language only helps a bit, but your attitude towards learning the local language will be greatly appreciated by those around you.
Will your hubby also travel a lot in Switzerland ? Does he go alone, so maybe you can tag along ? Not a bad way to see Europe or wherever he has to commute to. If you have to stay home, you must learn how to make friends with people who are used to a different lifestyle then yours.
When we first moved to Europe a long time ago for work, my family did not speak any foreign language, but they were willing, to learn the languages. The kids went to local schools, and my wife tried like mad to learn the language. She did OK, but her accent was horrible (I imagined), although the locals thought, it was a cute, and she was loved for trying.

So do some homework. What are the legal conditions connected to his foreign assignment. What happens if you would be miserable there ?
My work contract always contained a clause that my family could return *home*, for *whatever reason*. Really, I had to fight for that, but I got that clause included. We NEVER took advantage of that clause, but we did not know beforehand what could happen. Do you have kids over 18 ? They will NOT be able to get a visa to stay for extended periods even though you may have one.
Attend the local churches there and you will make friends.

Our 22 year old and her boyfriend are going with us. She is a college student and that is the one thing that has to happen for us to do this move. Are you saying that is impossible?

[irman]

Originally Posted by Cruikshl

Our 22 year old and her boyfriend are going with us. She is a college student and that is the one thing that has to happen for us to do this move. Are you saying that is impossible?

About your 22 year old one.
Anybody over 18 years old, does not necessary belong to your family anymore in Switzerland. Our kids, when they turned 18 when we lived and worked there, had to leave at that age, which made my wife really upset, so she left, and I had to finish up my contractual requirement. So check out the visa regulations for your daughter. You could have them just visit you for extended periods, like the maximum visa allowed one, and have her attend school *at home*.

Do you have a *local* Swiss consulate near you ? Visit them and find out. Have you checked with the college she is at now, if *studying abroad* is possible ??

Be prepared to fork over a lot of security money when it comes to rentals and phone and whatever else. Licenses to watch TV or listen to the radio !!!

IF you have more questions, you could also PM me.

[Jaggy001]

I lived in Geneva for 18 years from 1980 to 1998. My son still lives and works there. There are plenty of good things about Geneva and relatively few bad ones.

To start with the bad ..........
It is very very expensive
Housing is small and expensive
Parking is terrible as is traffic
You will probably not meet - or at least get to know - many Swiss
I noticed a lot of gypsy beggars on my last trip especially around the station.

Now the good ................
It is clean and safe
Government is good and not corrupt
There is a good work ethic
Public transport and public health and other public services are excellent
Great base to visit Europe
You can easily get by without French although learning it helps
There is a good "anglo" community
Plenty of good - if expensive - restaurants
Good work environment. For a small city there are plenty of big Corporations.
Taxes are reasonable (although much cheaper in the Canton of Vaud).
You get to have a Swiss bank account (don't forget to declare it to the IRS).

As to your 22 year old. She can easily live with you for a lot of the time. The Swiss do not check entry and exit like the US or UK do and are not really bothered who comes in or out. What they do check is who can work, who can get housing and who can get a drivers license. This is almost impossible without a work visa (Permis B). In addition, it is relatively straightforward to get a student visa if she can get a place at the University.

[Jaggy001]

Originally Posted by Viralmd

If you don't like the reserved nature of the people in Connecticut, you're REALLY, REALLY not going to like living in Switzerland!!!! They're MUCH, MUCH worse. I've lived there. The people in Connecticut are hail-fellow-well-met, let's have a drink people compared to the Swiss. You could be very, very miserable.

Yes ... but the OP is going to Geneva which isn't really Switzerland.

Geneva is an international city with plenty of "anglos" (English speakers). Check out the American Club, American Church, American Womens Club, the Irish pubs (e.g. Mulligans). It is very easy to make friends. You just don't get to meet the Swiss.

[Cruikshl]

Okay, I hear all of you, but are you telling me my husbands company can't take care of everything we need? I can hardly believe that we can't work all this out to our satisfaction. I can't belive that we can't take my daughter and her boyfriend to this country that isn't communist.

[Jaggy001]

Originally Posted by Cruikshl

Okay, I hear all of you, but are you telling me my husbands company can't take care of everything we need? I can hardly believe that we can't work all this out to our satisfaction. I can't belive that we can't take my daughter and her boyfriend to this country that isn't communist.

Of course you can take them. But they will not get a work visa for them on the basis of your husbands'. Firstly, because your daughter is over 20 and secondly because the boyfriend is not family. They will have to get visas in their own right.

Incidentally, the same rules apply for foreigners coming to work in the USA.

[Cruikshl]

Originally Posted by Jaggy001

Of course you can take them. But they will not get a work visa for them on the basis of your husbands'. Firstly, because your daughter is over 20 and secondly because the boyfriend is not family. They will have to get visas in their own right.

Incidentally, the same rules apply for foreigners coming to work in the USA.

I knew he had to have a work visa. I guess reading your posts made me think that they wouldn't be allowed to be in the country, especially the one that said their kids had to leave at 18.

[Jaggy001]

Originally Posted by Cruikshl

I knew he had to have a work visa. I guess reading your posts made me think that they wouldn't be allowed to be in the country, especially the one that said their kids had to leave at 18.

They would be in the country as "visitors". But without their own visas, they could not work, could not get their own place, could not get Swiss drivers licences, etc. etc.

As I already said, the Swiss don't really care about who comes in and who goes out. They do not operate immigration controls at that level. They care about what people can do when they are in the country. They love visitors because they spend money and they especially love wealthy visitors.

[irman]

Originally Posted by Cruikshl

I knew he had to have a work visa. I guess reading your posts made me think that they wouldn't be allowed to be in the country, especially the one that said their kids had to leave at 18.

As stated above, They are allowed to stay with you for some period, but to stay there and do nothing else besides visiting takes more than just a visitors visa.
When we came there I had two sons in other European countries working, and the 3 younger ones were with us. I obtained a working visa for me and for my children to work part time (the oldest one was 17 at the time).
When she turned 18, we received a letter from the local kanton Berne where we were registered, that stated that the 18 year old could not stay any longer with us but had to leave the country since she then was not *part of our family anymore*. She had to get her own visa, but was refused since there was *no reason for her to be there*.
The bad thing was that we were not made aware of that rule, when I was hired to do my job there, something my wife became very upset about.
It may be different now, but this is what happened to us. Since it was in my work contract that *they* would pay for travel back for my family for any reason, they went back and I stayed to fulfill part of my contract.
We moved there with the intent to stay for the entire time that the contract was valid for, which was 7 years. We even moved most of our our belongings, plus our vehicles, since buying all that stuff in Switzerland would have been very expensive to say the least. To move our cars to Switzerland costs us 1500 USD. Cheaper than buying two cars there.
Something you may like to know ... If you stay for less than two years, you can actually take your car, and drive there on your *at home license*. We did and it saved us a lot of money.
Something funny there when we tried to have it licensed before we knew that we could keep our California license, was that they did not allow MPH on your speedometer. So I covered the MPH digits with black electrical tape and they accepted that ... You could barely see those small KPH digits ...
Also, I had those brake lights in the rear window, and at that time, those brake lights were not allowed so I taped over that rear brake light also ....
Whatever, but then the official said that we didn't have to do anything until 2 years after we entered the country .... after we went thru all that trouble to get it legal in Switzerland ....
Except for the fact that our 18 year old had to leave, we found that the local people were very helpful. The government actually provided private tutoring for our youngest one to learn SwizzaDuetsh. She was 11 years old then.
So again, check with your local consulate, then arrange for your contract to have everything in place so that you do not have any surprises AFTER you get there.

[Jaggy001]

The Swiss German part is very different to La Romandie. Geneva is a border town and an international city. It is full of foreigners all the time whether they be visitors, working there or French who cross the border for work. The authorities are far less "Germanic" in their attitudes too.

Technically, a visit can be for up to 3 months each time. However, all you have to do is cross the border to France for 24 hours and you reset the clock. However, as they don't stamp passports, there is no evidence as to when you arrived and for how long you have been there anyway.

Here is a tip .... when you cross the land border by car, never offer your passport. If you do, they will feel obliged to look at it. But they really are not interested. What interests the French Swiss customs is how much butter, wine and meat you have bought in France where it is much cheaper. In fact, I believe they have may have even done away with formal border controls between Switzerland and France now.

Irman had the problem because his 18 year old was legally registered as being resident in Switzerland and with him. So the Bernese authorities knew all about him/her. You will not have the problem as they will not know about your daughter from the get-go.

So trust me on this .... your daughter will have no problems provided she doesn't get into trouble with the law in any way.

And watch out for those Suisse Tottos.