Residence permit-CH (Germany)

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Sample of a residence permit for Swiss citizens (front and back) in the credit card format issued from September 1, 2011
Sample of the front of a residence permit for Swiss citizens (in the optional paper form)
Sample of the back of a residence permit for Swiss citizens (in the optional paper form)

In Germany, the residence permit CH is a residence document for Swiss citizens and their family members, even if they are of a different nationality. In the field "Type of title" it contains the imprint residence permit-CH .

Free movement of Swiss people in the EEA

On the basis of the EU-Switzerland Free Movement Agreement of June 21, 1999, Swiss citizens in the member states of the European Union and, via bilateral agreements, also in the other EEA states - Iceland , Norway and Liechtenstein - enjoy a legal status that approximates the free movement of persons under European law. EEA citizens in Switzerland have the same right. The agreement entered into force on June 1, 2002.

However, the Freedom of Movement Act / EU (FreizügG / EU) for EEA citizens is not formally applicable to Swiss citizens living in Germany ; conversely, the Residence Act (AufenthG) does not exclude Swiss citizens. Formally, they are therefore subject to general German residence law. However, according to the case law of the European Court of Justice , national legal provisions are to be disregarded if they are incompatible with European law. For this reason, the right of residence of Swiss people in Germany is primarily judged by the agreement on the free movement of persons. In this context, reference should be made to the general prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of nationality ( Article 2 of the Agreement).

Proof of the right of residence in Germany

Evidence of the right of residence since the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons came into force has been subject to several changes, which show great uncertainties in the application of the law.

Residence permit required until December 31, 2004

The entry into force of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons initially did not change the previous practice of requiring Swiss citizens to have a residence permit. Before the Residence Act came into force on January 1, 2005, Swiss citizens were subject to a normal residence permit. They had to obtain a residence permit under the validity of the Aliens Act .

Loss of the residence permit requirement on January 1, 2005

With the entry into force of the Residence Ordinance (AufenthV) on January 1, 2005, this initially changed insofar as Swiss citizens no longer required a residence permit in principle. The first version of § 28 AufenthV read:

"According to the agreement of June 21, 1999 between the European Community and its member states, on the one hand, and the Swiss Confederation, on the other hand, on freedom of movement, Swiss citizens are exempt from the requirement of a residence permit."

The formulation was evidently guided by the fact that EEA citizens lost their residence permit at the same time, and Article 8 of the Union Citizens' Directive only required a registration for stays of more than three months, but no longer required a permit in the form of a residence permit. In German administrative practice, EEA citizens have since received a certificate of freedom of movement .

The legal situation between the EEA states and Switzerland was and is different because the Union Citizens' Directive does not apply to Swiss citizens. Only the agreement of June 21, 1999 applies to the relationship between the EEA states and Switzerland.Apart from short-term gainful employment of up to three months, which are exempt from the requirement of a residence permit, Annex I of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons expressly provides for obtaining them in almost all other cases a residence permit ( Art. 6 for employees, Art. 12 for self-employed, Art. 20 for service providers, Art. 23 for service recipients, Art. 24 for persons without gainful employment).

The exemption of § 28 AufenthV is - which is easily overlooked - subject to the restriction that it is only granted in accordance with the agreement on freedom of movement. Mostly it ran into nowhere.

Changes as of August 28, 2007

Section 28 of the Residence Ordinance was therefore changed with the Directive Implementation Act. A second sentence was added which read:

"If the agreement provides that the right of residence is certified by a residence permit, this is issued ex officio."

At the same time, the official justification tried to point out that the residence permit not obtained (perhaps with reference to the first version) did not constitute a violation of the right of residence. In the view of the legislature, such a residence permit has no legal effect, but is only of a declaratory nature, i.e. it has the character of an identity card. The reasoning states:

"The addition makes it clear that a residence permit is issued if the EU-Switzerland Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons provides for this. The residence permit is - similar to the one issued to Turkish citizens who are beneficiaries under association law (cf. Section 4, Paragraph 5 of the Residence Act) - of a declaratory nature. "

This approach is also supported in the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons. According to Article 6 (7), completing the formalities for issuing the residence permit must not hinder the timely fulfillment of the employment contracts concluded by the applicants . The residence permit to be obtained becomes a formality.

Further changes from September 1, 2011

The current version of Section 28 of the Residence Ordinance removes the obligation to issue an ex officio residence permit from the text without, however, effecting any substantial change. The new formulation is based on the fact that, since September 1, 2011, Swiss citizens have had the right to choose whether to have their residence permit certified in the form of the electronic residence permit introduced that day or in paper form, as was previously possible.

Family members

Family members of Swiss people, provided they are neither Swiss nor EEA citizens, receive a CH residence permit . A corresponding passage is missing in Section 28 of the Residence Ordinance, but results clearly from Art. 3 of Annex I of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, which also includes family members, regardless of their nationality, within the scope of the Agreement.

costs

For a Swiss residence permit in the form of an electronic residence title, you have to pay 28.80 euros, for persons under 24 years of age 22.80 euros ( Section 52 subs. 2 sentences 1 and 2 AufenthV). A Swiss residence permit in paper form costs 8 euros (Section 52, Subsection 2, Clause 4 of the Residence Ordinance).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Law for the implementation of residence and asylum directives of the European Union of August 19, 2007 (Federal Law Gazette 2007 I p. 1970).
  2. ↑ Justification for number 8 (§ 28) in BT-Drs. 16/5065 , p. 238, PDF doc. 5.62 MB, accessed January 14, 2013.