Owkae.....hope to see u then...wld update u on proceedings...tnx alot

I am no longer a kid either, i am a university graduate, i have interest on becoming a swiss citizen because of its peacefulness and low unemployment rate. I am now think of how to go about getting married

miss-sweety86:


I assumed you are not a child (the years spent completing your mandatory education count double for the number of years you have to spend in Switzerland to apply for citizenship), so I think your only option would be to get married to a Swiss partner! An even that doesn't guarantee to get a Swiss passport because you have to be married for a certain period of time with the person and show that you have ties with Switzerland (this is something that made me sure that my bf wasn't with me only to get a Swiss passport!) In any case, you have to prove that you are integrated into the Swiss society so you must know the language, history and stuff like that.

You can visit that webstie for more information: http://www.bfm.admin.ch/content/bfm/en/home.html

Thanks for the info, i want to knw if u are nigerian, and where in nigeria aswell. I have interest to get the citizenship. Let me know what you can do.

Santino1:

Citizenship?? Except you have a Swiss partner you plan to marry or either of your parents is Swiss, then I'm afraid that is outta reach..... It takes 10-12 years to attain a permanent residence status (permit C), so you can figure out the rest for yourself.

But since your question is directed to miss-sweety86, perhaps she can help you out.

james2020: I am no longer a kid either, i am a university graduate, i have interest on becoming a swiss citizen because of its peacefulness and low unemployment rate. I am now think of how to go about getting married

Good luck!
If you get married to a Swiss citizen, you can apply for facilitated naturation after 3 years of marriage but you must have lived in Switzerland for a total of 5 years.
If you have close ties with Switzerland and are living abroad, you must have been married to a Swiss spouse for at least 6 years.

I really don't advise you to contract a fake marriage only to get citizenship because Swiss authorities are pretty strict and as you can see, the process is quite lengthy.

But you can live in Switzerland with a resident permit. They are many people of have either permit B or C and they have basically the same life than Swiss nationals, except that they cannot vote (maybe on communal level they can)

james2020: Thanks for the info, i want to knw if u are nigerian, and where in nigeria aswell. I have interest to get the citizenship. Let me know what you can do.

No worries, you are welcome.

Yeah, I am a full-blooded Nigerian with green and white blood cells flowing through my veins..LOL

Getting a Swiss citizenship a'int bad, the only thing I can do for you is to wish you good luck with that.

Nice thread.

Saltino, i will like to know more about Swiss in terms of travelling there to hustle, i think you get me right? My main purpose of coming is to get a residence & work permit and work. My field is Engineering and am very good in doing it, Electrical to be precised. Please i need your candid advice on my plan. Its Swiss a better place for me to come cos am kinda scare of this expensive things you guys are mentioning (Lol). My Level of Education, am a ND holder. I think you get me. Please help out i need some info. Thanks.

And to you Miss Sweety in the house, you doing a great job, i like you, you sound like my czech girlfriend. Nice one dear

adigunomomama: Nice thread.

Saltino, i will like to know more about Swiss in terms of travelling there to hustle, i think you get me right? My main purpose of coming is to get a residence & work permit and work. My field is Engineering and am very good in doing it, Electrical to be precised. Please i need your candid advice on my plan. Its Swiss a better place for me to come cos am kinda scare of this expensive things you guys are mentioning (Lol). My Level of Education, am a ND holder. I think you get me. Please help out i need some info. Thanks.

Well, firstly I must admit that I am not a specialist in Swiss affair as my knowledge of Switzerland in terms of employment, residency e.t.c. is only limited to the Canton of Zurich.

Having said that, engineering is a field that is "almost exclusively" non-Swiss because majority of the Swiss natives prefer banking, economics, law and the likes; hence, the chances of a foreigner excelling in engineering are pretty high. However, the stringent labour laws in Switzerland make it "almost possible" for a non-EU citizens to get a job. for instance, for your work permit application to be granted, the following conditions must be met.
(1) you must be a specialist (which in the labour bulletin handbook is defined as someone who holds PhD and above and/or with a 'considerable' experience in the field. note that the word "considerable" is equally subjective and they pegged it at 10-12 years for sciences and engineering) and/or
(2) the employer applying for the work permit must proof beyond doubt that a) no Swiss citizen is qualified enough for the job and b)no EU citizen is suitable for the job. the essence of that clause is that on the food chain, as an African, you are at the very bottom as priority is given to Swiss natives, the EU citizen, Swiss labour and trade partners (e.g. US, Canada) and lastly core foreigners.

There are more Africans in Geneva and other french speaking part of Switzerland, perhaps the labour laws are a little bit relaxed there I don't know for sure.

As per the expensive nature of Switzerland, I think it's kinda natural because if you are working, you also earn big (the minimum hourly wage is CHF 25 which is approximately NGN 5000) so you'll survive I'm sure.

I know the aforementioned stuffs sound discouraging but it is possible. It's an advantage if you have someone close (like family or close relatives) here already. There is this Naija guy I know, he has a brother here who invited him over for a visit, after the expiration of his stay, the guy refused to go back ( you know the Naija way na..LOL). To cut a long a story short the guy is now married to a Swiss with a kid. I wouldn't advice that because you'll be living everyday of your life in fear of getting caught but hey people do it and I'm just laying the cards on the table. Whatever choice you make, you'll be the one to live the consequences.

good luck with your plans

Santino1:

Well, firstly I must admit that I am not a specialist in Swiss affair as my knowledge of Switzerland in terms of employment, residency e.t.c. is only limited to the Canton of Zurich.

Having said that, engineering is a field that is "almost exclusively" non-Swiss because majority of the Swiss natives prefer banking, economics, law and the likes; hence, the chances of a foreigner excelling in engineering are pretty high. However, the stringent labour laws in Switzerland make it "almost possible" for a non-EU citizens to get a job. for instance, for your work permit application to be granted, the following conditions must be met.
(1) you must be a specialist (which in the labour bulletin handbook is defined as someone who holds PhD and above and/or with a 'considerable' experience in the field. note that the word "considerable" is equally subjective and they pegged it at 10-12 years for sciences and engineering) and/or
(2) the employer applying for the work permit must proof beyond doubt that a) no Swiss citizen is qualified enough for the job and b)no EU citizen is suitable for the job. the essence of that clause is that on the food chain, as an African, you are at the very bottom as priority is given to Swiss natives, the EU citizen, Swiss labour and trade partners (e.g. US, Canada) and lastly core foreigners.

There are more Africans in Geneva and other french speaking part of Switzerland, perhaps the labour laws are a little bit relaxed there I don't know for sure.

As per the expensive nature of Switzerland, I think it's kinda natural because if you are working, you also earn big (the minimum hourly wage is CHF 25 which is approximately NGN 5000) so you'll survive I'm sure.

I know the aforementioned stuffs sound discouraging but it is possible. It's an advantage if you have someone close (like family or close relatives) here already. There is this Naija guy I know, he has a brother here who invited him over for a visit, after the expiration of his stay, the guy refused to go back ( you know the Naija way na..LOL). To cut a long a story short the guy is now married to a Swiss with a kid. I wouldn't advice that because you'll be living everyday of your life in fear of getting caught but hey people do it and I'm just laying the cards on the table. Whatever choice you make, you'll be the one to live the consequences.

good luck with your plans

Thankx bro. God Bless You. I'll work on what you said above.
Are you a Student? Or you in Swiss with your family?

Santiano does d minimum wage of 25CHF per hour apply also to international students working part time in switzerland?

there is no minimum wages in Switzerland. It all depends the kind of job you are doing. There are some working conventions relating to minum wages but it depends on your domain.

jay3012: Santiano does d minimum wage of 25CHF per hour apply also to international students working part time in switzerland?

Yeah,I think so.

miss-sweety86:
there is no minimum wages in Switzerland. It all depends the kind of job you are doing. There are some working conventions relating to minum wages but it depends on your domain.

You are right I guess. I got these official figures from the government's webpage:

a. unqualified employee 18.20

b. unqualified employee with at least four years of professional experience in the domestic economy 20. -

c. qualified employee with CFC 22. -

d. qualified employee with AFP 20. -

source: http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/221_215_329_4/a5.html

Which means you are likely to be paid 18.20 at the very least and that's what I meant by "minimum wage".

adigunomomama:


Thankx bro. God Bless You. I'll work on what you said above.
Are you a Student? Or you in Swiss with your family?

you are welcome and God bless you too

don't forget that this is just gross salary. there will be some deductions for insurance, retirement, unemployement, etc
if these wages are in the law, they should be applied to anyone, but it's true that someone coming from another country might be paid less than a national: I was watching the news the other day and they were reporting on people from countries in crisis (eg spain that has a high unemployment rate) coming to Switzerland and doing low-paid jobs such as dish washer :-S

Nice one guys....keep up d gud work

Used to live in Switzerland. Lived in Lugano, in the italian part for about 3 years and zurich for another six months. Great country but very expensive.

for the person that asked about schools with english curriculums. USI (universita di svizzera italiana) has some courses in english at both undergrad and masters level. If you can secure funding there are also some American schools that have campuses there like Franklin (where I went) and Webster. Dunno about Webster, but the degree you get in Franklin is dual-accredited, so you get a recognised degree in USA and in Switzerland. Only thing though is the cost, again can't speak for Webster, but Franklin costs a lot. I believe USI should be cheaper.

You should check out all the schools actually, some of the individual courses they offer might be in english.

If anyone has any questions about Switzerland, particularly Ticino (the italian part) feel free to ask. But santino and miss-sweety86 definitely know their stuff.

USI has the highest fees and international students pay double so 8000 CHF

http://www.crus.ch/information-programme/study-in-switzerland.html?L=2

Informatics is the only program that you can take in English at Bachelor level
http://www.crus.ch/information-programme/study-in-switzerland/study-offers/study-programmes-in-english.html?L=2

miss-sweety86:
Informatics is the only program that you can take in English at Bachelor level
http://www.crus.ch/information-programme/study-in-switzerland/study-offers/study-programmes-in-english.html?L=2

Thanks, i have seen it the first day you pasted the link. Do you mean 8000CHF is the highest fee? Is there any other schools charged below that for international students?

Yes, 8000.- is the highest you can be expected to pay in a public university. I don't know about private universities though. The fees are much more smaller in universities of other regions. Usually it's around 1200.- - 1600.- per year. Studies at the graduate institute (international relations and development) are slightly more expensive (2500.-)

okay, so i just got my updated copy of My acceptance letter (which is quite early) considering that application into masters program is still open and would be closing in 2 months time. Plenty of time for my background work. I have the swiss student visa requirement. So ama pore through it over again so i digest its details. I'm so glad its this early but going to abuja now to submit my application would be an issue I would resolve that tho..

Congratulations! So you're going to study in Geneva, right? Sorry for the inconvenience of having to travel to Abuja for the visa. I also have to go for an interview at the Swiss embassy in Switzerland just for a tourist visa and it bothers me too :-S. But people at the Swiss embassy are nice so I hope you won't have any problems with them.I will be in Abuja in september for an internship at the embassy so I might not be able to meet you and show you around when you're in Geneva :-(. All the best.

Redcliff congratlations... is it university of geneva?? If so wat course did u apply for?....I applied for m.sc biochemistry se
ptember entry but few days ago the skul asked me to send certified true copy of my original certificate as opposed to the statement of result I sent them....they said I should do so in 30days time...but my degree certificate is not ready yet but my skul siad they would send an official cover letter to univ of geneva telling them that my certificate is not yet ready...did u send ur statement of result or ur degree certificate to the skul? And do u think the skul wil accept the official cover note my skul wants to send Pls reply asap..tnxxx

I don't think it would be a problem to accept the official results transcript/letter from your university. As long as you send it on time you shouldn't have any problem.

Hello
There are more Africans in Geneva and other france discussing aspect of Swiss, perhaps the labor regulations are a little bit comfortable there I don't know for sure.

Tnx miss sweety...the letter was sent today through speedpost so it shld be in geneva in 5 working days tym.....redcliff wia u run go naaa

that's good :-) hope they'll accept you. Geneva is a really nice place to stay, although it is very expensive. For those who got accepted, I think you should start thinking about your accomodation soon.

I intend furthering my Ph.d. in University of Lausanne, specifically Economics related course, I can afford the tuition fees , the student account is highly unbearable closest range i can deduce is over 3.5million naira i.e. at abt CHF 21000 (though estimate of Geneva school); can i arrange for someone to sponsor me from Nigeria? Please explain the 120 ECTS European grade point of a thing also how can i convert Nigeria cumulative points to the European conversion transfer system. In any case that I don't gain admission for the ph.d. due to very limited space, will i be granted automatic ph.d. if i re-do My M.sc in same course in Lausanne and can I still give it a trial to apply for Sept. 2013?
is it also possible to get a Nigeria friend in Lausanne to share experience so far i am a novice in culture and other things which of course i am surfing. Thanking u for your response.

You should visit this website: http://www.crus.ch/information-programme/study-in-switzerland.html?L=2 It's the official information about all the universities in Switzerland and gives estimation about living expenses, scholarships, etc.

I did my Bachelor at the University of Lausanne. It is a very nice campus, near the lake, with great facilities. The city of Lausanne is nice too, cheaper than Geneva, especially in terms of rent. http://www.unil.ch/international/page81791_en.html provides information regarding studies for foreign students.

I don't know if you could transfer the credit you acquired during your studies in Nigeria in your studies in Switzerland. That is something you should ask the University of Lausanne. You should try to ask your questions to the academic advisor of the faculty you intend to study in (is it SSP or HEC) or to anyone from the international relations office, they are usually very helpful.

The ECTS system is very simple: for each class or seminar you take, you get a number of credit. For example, if you have 4 hours of international relations during one semester, you should get 6 ECTS. If you take a seminar (it is not like a lecture, students are required to participate through oral presentation and written paper) that is 2 hours per week during one semester you should get 3 ECTS. For the thesis, you will get 30 or 60 or more credits, depending on the work it requires and the program (maybe for PhD it's 60 or 90, I don't know).

You mean that if you are not granted admission for the PhD you would like to apply for the Master? In that case, you should either specify it in your PhD application, or do a parallel application for a Masters. Maybe you could just try to send an email to the school and say that in case you didn't get in the PhD program you would want to apply for the Masters.

I hope this can help you a little.

Pls I need clarification about d embassy details...can I use a sponsors statement of account and all his documents as I do not have enuf money in my account when applying for visa?...

Yes, if someone is sponsoring you you have to submit his/her statement of account. I think you also have to indicate in the visa application that this person is sponsoring your studies/stay in Switzerland.
I checked the visa form: n°30 travel expenses are covered by participant himself/ by a sponsor. So you have to cross sponsor and indicate the name of the person.
Let me know if you need help.

Wow...miss sweety wat more can I say...thank u very much...uve been of much help to me. I love ur prompt response..God bless u! Wld keep u informed on proceedings...still yet to get ma offer letter though

lol! i quit my job last week so that's why i checked nairaland more often ;-)! glad i could help you a bit! good luck with the uni stuff

Nice one...tnxxx

miss-sweety86:
lol! i quit my job last week so that's why i checked nairaland more often ;-)! glad i could help you a bit! good luck with the uni stuff