Getting Out, The Exit Visa

With less than three weeks left in Switzerland we decided it was time to go to the Office de Population and ask for an exit visa. We never did get an entry visa. 

We started with the Canton office in Vaud. This is the equivalent of the State government office. We had been here before several months ago.  The office hours are short with a long break at lunch so we timed our visit accordingly. At the door we took a ticket and waited. When it was our turn in the cubicle we explained that we never received a response to our appeal for an extended stay visa. We had submitted all the requested documents including a copy of our marriage license, and a copy of our lease. Now we wanted to leave and so needed an exit visa.

They explained that nothing we did mattered. Swiss law does not allow for extended stays. The only way to stay for more than 3 months is to become a "retraité" which is an option for people over 60 years who desire to make Switzerland a permanent home. This would mean paying Swiss taxes as Switzerland would be considered our primary home. This was not what we wanted to do or why we were there.

Then it was our turn to explain that we are leaving on Sept 30. Though we realized we had been here longer than possible we now needed an exit visa to leave. This they said could be done for 90 chf  and passport photos. The money we had, but the photos were at home since we did not realize we might need them. They told us to come back with the money, the photos and photo copies of our plane tickets to USA. 

Next day we returned with everything including the extra copies of the passport photos that we had made for our train passes. My photo was approved but Steve's photo was rejected as he was smiling and showing a little bit of teeth. It seems passport control does not recognize you if you are smiling. Steve was livid. It was good there was a glass wall between us and the clerk.

So we had to once again find a photo booth in the train station. This was another 8 chf. Steve took his photo looking grim and solemn. I went off to my class at the gym and Steve returned to the office for the third time in 2 days with the required copies plus 180 chf for both of us. He waited 1.5 hours and finally he received our exit visas. Hallelujah! BUT. . .

The next step was to go to the commune of Pully, our city, to notify them in writing that we are departing the country. Again we had to produce our plane tickets with our exit visas from the canton as well as  5 chf each.  The woman clerk here remembered us from the time we registered as residents of Pully and they took 234 chf from us for the privilege of living there. She rolled her eyes in disbelief that they did not give us a resident permit.

Then she surprised us with the good news. The 234 chf that we paid in April was returned to us on the spot since we never received a resident permit. So after months of waiting and jockeying with bureaucrats we are finally official to leave the country.