RAV & C Permit > Redundancy - Without citizenship must I sell my flat?

[anchor]

Hi,

Since everyone here has been so incredibly helpful (for which I am forever grateful!) wanted to share my story (in case it helps others!).

Am a Non-EU passport holder, C visa (since 2017, valid til 2028) with a mortgage (since 2019). Game plan was to apply for my Swiss Citizenship in February 2025 but have just been made redundant. With my concerted efforts to pay off the second tranche in 2023, I have flexibility on my ‘new’ income and am willing to ‘hunker down’ on cashflow to keep things afloat (especially in this job market).

Three questions for which I hope to receive insights:

1. RAV - If I’m on RAV when I apply for my Citizenship, can they deny or delay decision?
2. Citizenship - If no citizenship is granted, once RAV ends and if I don’t find a job, can they force me to sell my flat and leave Switzerland?
3. C Visa - If I get a new role outside of CH, can I park my C Visa and take a transfer overseas and rent out the flat? Am thinking no because the bank wants to see that my ‘hauptwohnsitz’ is here. Curious to know how others have fared.

Will welcome all comments.

Thank you for reading & sharing!

[nabalzbhf]

@anchor

if I don’t find a job, can they force me to sell my flat and leave Switzerland

Not on a C permit, if you’re not asking for social benefits from the Gemeinde. (If you are I’m not sure but anyway would only be an issue for renewal, they definitely ask you if you’re on social benefit iirc)

(Note unemployment money doesn’t count as social benefit, it’s an insurance)

@anchor

on RAV when I apply for my Citizenship

As usual might depend on cantons, in Zürich it’s supposed to be fine (the criteria is to have no social benefits needs to be able to live).

See page 40 https://www.zh.ch/content/dam/zhweb/bilder-dokumente/themen/migration-integration/einbuergerung/eo_handbuch_einbuergerungen_ab_01.07.2023.pdf

Also depends on Canton/city but if they have issue in Zürich (city) they tend to pause the application and ask you to improce rather than deny it. (Hence the extremely low number of formal denials)

[Ilixio]

Your C permit is not valid until 2028, only the document/physical medium is.
A C permit is permanent and does not need to be renewed (just need to redo the document, like an ID card/passport).
Unless you leave the country of course; for more than 6 months in the C permit case; then in this case you can ask to put the permit on hold for up to 4 years.

If no citizenship is granted, once RAV ends and if I don’t find a job, can they force me to sell my flat and leave Switzerland?

No, you are a permanent resident now. Your permit does not depend on your job anymore. There are provisions for revoking a C permit, but as far as I know they only apply in case of serious crimes.
And even if you were to leave the country, you are not forced to sell. Edit: it appears to be more nuanced, after reading the thread below.

Also see this thread:

Real Estate and leaving Switzerland

I signed up to try and shed some light on your questions as have first hand experience on this which I hope is useful as there’s often a fair bit of conjecture! You do not have to be married and do not need a contract between you. When purchasing the property, there are different structuring options but the easiest is to likely register in the land register as joint owners whereby you each own a 50% share of the land and property title. This is a very simple process at the notary and of zero …

[nabalzbhf]

@Ilixio

There are provisions for revoking a C permit, but as far as I know they only apply in case of serious crimes

Not anymore (since 2019), at least another reason is lack of integration (and getting social benefits counts as lack of integration).

But in most cantons it shouldn’t come as a surprise, for instance in ZH there’s bunch of criteria about when it starts being an issue (https://www.zh.ch/content/dam/zhweb/bilder-dokumente/themen/migration-integration/einreise-aufenthalt/weisungen/Massnahmenpraxis%20bei%20Sozialhilfe%20IW.pdf)

And the thresholds are high (it needs to be a long term thing) and they’d warn you before.

In general as a foreigner I’d try to stay away from Sozialhilfe since it’s an issue for a lot of things (naturalization, renewal of permit etc)

[Mirager]

@nabalzbhf

I’m general as a foreigner I’d try to stay away from Sozialhilfe since it’s an issue for a lot of things (naturalization, renewal of permit etc)

Just for clarity, for me and potentially others: my understanding is that unemployment benefits are NOT Sozialhilfe. Confirm or deny

[anchor]

Hi - Thanks for your insights. I reckon if I have sufficient liquidity to keep myself afloat then I sense I should be ‘OK to stay’. For the Citizenship piece, as I’m in Kt Zürich, I’ll just hope I can get a job so as to avoid any further complications. Keeping my thumbs pressed as they say

[anchor]

Hi, Thanks for your message. I scanned the thread but it appears to focus more on B versus C; I’ll reach out to a Notary I know to gather more info as well - Thank you for linking!!. I assumed it would be all based on the Mortgage requirements with the Bank only.

[nabalzbhf]

@Mirager

Just for clarity, for me and potentially others: my understanding is that unemployment benefits are NOT Sozialhilfe. Confirm or deny

Indeed:

@nabalzbhf

(Note unemployment money doesn’t count as social benefit, it’s an insurance)

[Jaime]

@anchor

I assumed it would be all based on the Mortgage requirements with the Bank only.

I don’t think you will ever be forced to sell your apartment by the government when you leave the country, not with B permit, not with C permit, not with citizenship. Yet your mortgage might be an issue because the bank may not want you as a client if you are no longer a residence here. And this can also apply if you are a swiss citizen.

[anchor]

Thanks everyone for some great food for thought! I will check in with the Bank about if I have to leave if I can sell while out of the country. Merci!