Currently, under the agreement Switzerland has with the EU/EFTA, EU/EFTA citizens with a legal right to reside in Switzerland can bring their parents to Switzerland. Citizens of Switzerland can only bring parents with EU/EFTA residency. A proposal to extend this right to include the non-EU/EFTA based parents of Swiss citizens was rejected by the Council of States this week, reported RTS.
The proposal to allow Swiss citizens to bring their non-EU/EFTA parents to Switzerland, which specified that accommodation and support of the arriving parents be guaranteed by the Swiss citizen applying, was rejected by 27 versus 14 votes by the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house.
Reasons given by those voting against the plan included uncertainty around the number of people that would arrive if the rules were changed, and a lack of clarity around the cost of the extra burden on heath care and social services. Those arriving would be older and may draw more from health and social services than they contribute, said one politician. Parties raising these concerns included the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) and the Centre Party.
The proposal was put forward by the Socialist Party, which argued the current policy is discriminatory. EU/EFTA citizens living in Switzerland with non-EU/EFTA based parents can apply for family reunification for their parents, but Swiss citizens cannot. Beat Jans, Switzerland’s minister of justice, supported the proposal arguing that it would bring the rights of Swiss citizens into line with those of EU/EFTA citizens.
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Glauco de Souza says
The article doesn’t make sense:
First paragraph says:
“Currently, under the agreement Switzerland has with the EU (EU/EFTA), those with a legal right to reside in Switzerland can bring their parents to Switzerland IF THEIR PARENTS ARE EU/EFTA citizens. ”
It’s only mentioning that EU citizens residing in Switzerland can bring their parents if they are EU citizens too.
Further down the article it says:
“EU/EFTA citizens with non-EU/EFTA parents are not excluded from applying for family reunification for their parents. ”
and then:
“supported the proposal arguing that it would bring the rights of Swiss citizens into line with those of EU/EFTA citizens.”
So the understanding is that the EU citizens can bring both EU and non-EU parents and Swiss citzens don’t have the same rights, correct? If this is the case, you could perhaps amend the first paragraph to correct the article.
Le News says
Thank you. The article is now amended. EU/EFTA citizens living permanently in Switzerland (C-permit) can apply to bring their parents from anywhere. However, Swiss citizens can only apply to bring parents from EU/EFTA nations.