Swiss family residence permits under 2004/38

[Czdude]

First off, this forum is a goldmine and excellent public good - keep up the good work.

The situation - I am a non-EU spouse of an EU citizen currently in the Czech Rep. under a 2004/38 resident permit. We are looking to move to either Germany or Switzerland in the fall. As Switzerland is not EU, I had called one of the canton authorities to determine what the requirements for residence would be for us. They told us that as the non-EU spouse, I would need to supply police certificates for my countries of residence from the past five years.

My question is under 2004/38 or Switzerland's interpretation of it as to whether that is correct or not. I know the process in Germany would (should) be the same as in the Czech Rep (fill in form, provide marriage record and photos, wait to get card). This seems to be an extra hoop from the Swiss. Do any of the forum gurus have thoughts on this?

[flyboy]

Directive 2004/38 is not applicable in Switzerland. The slightly more restrictive bilateral agreement on the free movement of persons between the EU and Switzerland regulates the entry and residency of EU nationals and their family members.

As for the police clearance,family members of swiss citizens need to provide a police clearance as well when taking up residency here.

Don't know which canton you were in contact with or deciding to reside in, but i would suggest you get in contact with them and ask if you will need to apply for a D visa for family reunification first. Many cantons refuse to consider applications from within Switzerland if one entered the country to take up residency without this, even in the case of non EU family members of EU citizens. Best to confirm this beforehand than to be told to leave the country and apply for one from your country of residence.

[Czdude]

Thanks for the response. The funny thing is there is nothing posted in the regulations on this. I am looking at Canton Grabunden, and my reading on Immigration's website suggests they don't need a D-visa nor a police certificate (see below, first PDF link, in Italian - only cantonal language I have a fighting chance with!
http://www.gr.ch/IT/istituzioni/amminis ... ätter.aspx

The non-EU/EFTA info sheets don't seem relevant, since they are linked to application forms B1 and B2 for non-EU primary entrants.

As one of our activities will be opening a branch of our company, I wonder if the police certificate request could refer to that? Or both?

[flyboy]

According to the canton website,since you the Non EU spouse have a valid residence permit issued by an EU country already, you won't need to apply for a D Visa and can lodge your application for a residence permit once in Switzerland.

Concerning the police clearance, although it is not mentioned, they can ask for it if they want to, as residency can be refused on the grounds of a danger and threat to public order and security , even in the case of EU citzens. Might as well get it if that's what they asked for.