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residency without employment

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reneelgraves

11/10/2016 04:40 EST

I have a question, and honestly I am having trouble finding my answer on the governmental websites or popular sites associated with Swiss immigration. My husband is a MD/radiologist and he belongs to a group in the US that is considering allowing him to "night hawk" via telecommunications - i.e., read studies and films for them online during what would be the "overnight" shift from another country - one more or less 12 hours away - so that his "day" at work corresponds with their nightshift back home. This is becoming more common in radiology, but most hospitals are using "nighthawk firms," (based largely from India) to do their reading. In our instance, however, we are investigating the possibility of the US employee retaining his job at home and simply performing it from a location abroad. If we could get the details worked out, our family is very interested in living in Switzerland. However, everywhere on every expat site I've noticed that the assumption is that the foreign citizen would either be coming to Switzerland to work, or to look for a job. We would not be - we would actually be earning our income from an American job, and simply living in and spending our income in Switzerland. Is this possible? Does anyone know? Or is the "to live here you must work here" rule the standard for a Visa? Mind, we are in the very beginning of the exploratory stage of this, so forgive me if my question seems particularly uninformed - I swear I've been searching for the answer for hours to no avail! Thanks!

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OldPro

12/10/2016 17:24 EST

Probably too late to answer now but I'll write one anyway in case someone else has the same type of question.

Switzerland is a country where many people live but do not work in the country. Here are a few you might have heard of:
http://www.thelocal.ch/20130422/top-ten-celebrity-expats-living-in-switzerland

All you need is enough money, there is no requirement that you work.

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rvandenberg

2/10/2017 12:46 EST

Dear Reneelgraves
assume you found your answer already, but if not.....:
if you are a non EU citizen you will not be able to live in Switzerland without any work permit and employer in Switzerland (i.e. proper employment contract with a company registered in Switzerland)
There are some exceptions possible but would not apply in your case.
Hope this helps!
best regards
Roswitha van den Berg
Bridging Cultures Relocation

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lilamila

3/8/2017 12:35 EST

If you do any economic activity (even if it's remote work) in Switzerland, then legally speaking, you're working here, therefore you'll need a work permit. If your main purpose is only to live here, then you can consider retirement visa - provided you have enormous savings. Life is expensive here. Even the American night-hawk job may not suffice... unless we're talking about 120K or above for a family. Why not instead consider moving to India to retain the job? Or some other cheaper European country like Italy / Spain?

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