C permanent residence permit

If you have lived in Switzerland for more than ten years, you can apply for a C permanent residence permit. The requirements you must fulfill for this depend on many conditions. Some people can obtain the permit after just five years.

Permanent residence permit after ten years

If you have lived in Switzerland for ten years, you can obtain a permanent residence permit. You must fulfill the following conditions:

– You must have always had a residence permit in the last five years.
– You must have lived in Switzerland without interruption.

– Temporary stays such as training or further education, a cure or an internship do not count.
– There must be no grounds for a revocation.
– You must meet the integration criteria.

The following foreign nationals can obtain a permanent residence permit after just five years:

Foreign spouses and children of German, Austrian or Danish nationals are entitled to a settlement permit if:

– they have lived in Switzerland for five consecutive years.
– they are well integrated and fulfill the integration criteria.
– there are no grounds for revoking the permanent residence permit, i.e.
– there is no reason they could lose the permit again.
– the marriage is actually being lived when they apply for the settlement permit. A purely formal existence of the marriage is not sufficient.

Foreign spouses of Swiss nationals and persons with a permanent residence permit are entitled to a permanent residence permit if:

– they have lived in Switzerland for an uninterrupted period of five years.
– they are well integrated and meet the integration criteria.
– there are no grounds for revoking their permanent residence permit.
– the marriage still exists when they apply for a permanent residence permit.
– A purely formal existence of the marriage is not sufficient.
– the Swiss spouse has a permanent residence permit during the five years of cohabitation in  Switzerland

The documents required

You must always submit the following documents:

– A current, detailed extract from the debt collection register. This must also contain an extract from the register of certificates of loss for the last three years. You will not get the original back.
– Confirmations from the social welfare authorities of the municipalities of residence for the last three years. You must provide information on how long and how much social assistance all persons for whom you are responsible have received.

German language skills
All persons must also provide proof of their German language skills. The proof must be at least at A2 oral level and A1 written level. Exceptions: People from Germany, Austria and the Principality of Liechtenstein do not have to provide proof of language skills.

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