The format of the residence permits issued to foreigners in Switzerland depends on the country of origin and type of stay. Currently, those from EU and EFTA countries and a few other types of foreign residents get paper permits that come in a plastic cover. Others get plastic credit card sized ones, which contain their […]
Archives for 2019
No rise in average health premiums in 10 Swiss cantons in 2020
Every year, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) gives advance warning of compulsory health insurance premiums for the coming year. After years of rising premiums, many will be relieved by the small projected increases for 2020. Across all of Switzerland, the average premium is expected to rise 0.2% to CHF 315.40 a month. On […]
CHANTEZ, SI ÇA VOUS CHANTE! – CONCERT at Victoria Hall – September 26, 2019
If you like to sing – in the shower, in a choir, karaoke…. Come and do it in STYLE – at the Victoria Hall, with two of the most charming and talented entertainers around – the lovely Raphaëlle Farman, and the exuberant Jacques Gay. This delightful couple will lead you through melodies from beloved musicals, […]
Geneva’s 2020 budget 590 million francs short
Next year the canton of Geneva plans to spend CHF 9,143 million. However, forecast revenue is only CHF 8,553 million, leaving a shortfall of CHF 590 million, according to a cantonal government press release. The canton’s finances have been hit hard from both sides. Costs will rise significantly, mainly due to the bailout of the […]
Initiative to house asylum seekers outside Switzerland
This week, a group of politicians from the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) announced a new popular initiative aimed at asylum seekers, according to the newspaper 20 Minutes. The initiative aims to put in place a system of on-the-spot asylum assistance where asylum seekers are housed in secure zones in their home country or nearby. Switzerland […]
FILM: A RAINY DAY IN NEW YORK – so Allen-ish astute
20 September 2019. By Neptune A RAINY DAY IN NEW YORK **** As a steadfast Woody Allen fan, for his continued genius and imagination in over fifty years of annual gifts to his devoted cinephiles, I was overjoyed at the release – finally – of his latest opus. It is nostalgic, funny, melancholy and so […]
Swiss upper house rejects parental leave plan
Switzerland’s government been grappling with the politics of extending universal tax-funded parental leave for a number of years. Some are pushing for paternity leave for fathers and others for a shared pool of parental leave, which mums and dads can apportion. There is also a popular vote working its way through the system which aims […]
Switzerland faces looming shortage of workers
As more baby-boomers – born from 1946 to 1964 – retire, Switzerland will faces a shortage of workers, according to Credit Suisse, a bank. Economists at the bank estimate that 1.1 million people in Switzerland will retire over the next 10 years, a figure which includes nearly 800,000 people currently working. By 2021, there will […]
Zurich city launches initiative to allow foreigners to vote
Last week, the city of Zurich filed a cantonal initiative to allow foreigners to vote at a municipal level in the canton. In July 2019, Corine Mauch, Zurich’s mayor, announced her plan to launch the initiative. If the initiative is successful foreign residents with B or C permits who have lived in Zurich for at […]
Switzerland’s largest glacier could shrink by half by century end
Recent 3D modelling estimates how climate change will affect the Aletsch Glacier. In the worst case scenario modeled by researchers at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich, only a few small patches of ice would remain. Aletsch, the largest glacier in Switzerland and the Alps, currently stretches over 23 km from its 4,000m high starting […]
