Obtaining official permission to reside in Switzerland — the process is not the easiest and require compliance with strict rules. Especially in the case of immigrants from the so-called “third countries” (non EU/EFTA) money may become a huge help.
Judge for yourself: according to the data published in the newspaper Aargauer Zeitung last week, over the last eight years 523 of the foreigner, whose identity was represented, supposedly, “important public interest”, took advantage of existing legal loopholes and received, more precisely, just bought a Swiss residence permit. Ahead of all, and by a large margin — “dear Russians”, as shown in this chart:
The success of the application for granting a residence permit in Switzerland depends on many factors: origin, professional qualifications, availability of quotas. And so, as it turns out, to have a little “extra” money, too, is a good thing. Official pricing, of course, does not exist, however it is known that the help of lawyers and consultants on relocation and resettlement in a new place can cost from 50 thousand francs.
Citizens of EU and EFTA (European free trade Association) is known to have the right freely to come to Switzerland for a residency and to find work on the basis of the agreement on freedom of movement between the EU and Switzerland. But the immigrants from “third countries” are required to undergo stringent legal and migration filters. In this situation the money can literally be a “lifesaver”.
In most cases, citizens of third countries receive a residence permit in Switzerland on the basis of an employment agreement. However, some categories of persons, for example, wealthy retirees with existing close ties to Switzerland, financially independent entrepreneurs, vylazhivayu imposing taxes and able to afford more and the costs of lawyers, also may rely on obtaining the coveted pink cards.
In some cantons, rich foreigners can also conclude with the authorities of the so-called “tax deal” and to obtain a residence permit through the so-called parashorea, not income, tax coming from the fact that the taxable base will be the equivalent of seven times the rental value of housing of the taxpayer, provided that the person receives their income not in Switzerland and abroad.
We will remind also that in 2008, the Swiss law regulating the legal status of foreign citizens in Switzerland, was amended on the basis of which cantons was much greater than before, freedom as regards the granting of residence permits. For many wealthy citizens of the already mentioned “third countries” such amendments have become a welcome gift. More precisely, we are talking about article 30 of this law, which States that when it comes to “important public interests”, the cantons may “as an exception” to retreat from the generally accepted procedure of granting foreign nationals residence permits in the Confederation.
The term “important public interest” was very flexible legal definition. So, in 2014, the Federal office of migration confirmed to the newspaper NZZ that such “interests” you can talk, even if it is only the desire of the Canton to get at their disposal “eligible” taxpayers.
