uffff finding an apartment is a pain, and you should try to start NOW and applying for them, the process works in a way that you see an apartment available and then apply for it with the regie and the regie decides who will it rent it to.... very archaic and annoying but what can you do?

me and my partner looked at over 7 apartments and ended up with a good one because an ex-colleaue of him was leaving back to his country so we took it without even chaging the lease.

There are many websites that u can look at if u need apartments, START NOW AND CONTACT AS MANY OF THEM AS U CAN, THERE ARE SHORTAGES OF APARTMENTS IN GENEVA AND THE PROCESS IS VERY ARCHAIC WITH THE REGIE AND ALL.

As far as your wife, I think you should be ok because my partner is a EU citizen and I am not, but because we have registered partnership in his country and he is working here in Switzerland I am entitled to live here and actually even study and work... so there shouldnt be a problem, just register her with you in the regie of the place where u find an appartment.

I recently moved here in february with my partner so we're new and it tooks us sometime to get used to this place, but we're starting to finally.

it takes a while to really settle but you should be ok.

here is a website where u can find some appartments available

www. immoscout24.ch

in that  website u can find more links to other appartment for rent websites for switzerland and geneva

good luck to you!!!!

I hope I was able to help!

Thanks both of you guys. The websites were alot of help in terms of estimating costs for apartments and which types of insurances are necessary etc.......

Still not having any luck with immigration though, but will give the Swiss embassy here in Ireland a go. Never knew that there would be so much involved in a move to Geneva!!!

Hello,

well for permit matters I know that even if you are a EU you must have a working or studying permit in order to stay here. And I know that with a student permit you can work part time during classes and full time during vacations.

Of course that being EU is much easier for you to get a job as many companies don't like to hire non EU people because its much harder to get a visa.

If she is legally your wife I think the same rules apply to her but after your studies you must have a valid permit in order for her to have hers too. from what I understand her permit will depend on yours. 

thanks justdoit for the link, very good!

cheers

Thanks Paula,

From conversations with ppl who live there, I understand that my wife will be able to have the same residence and work permit as me, but does that then mean that she is treated the same as me in terms of her being considered as EU not non-EU..... !?!?!?!?? She is legally my wife so will she then only be allowed to work part-time?!?!?

Man, Geneva sounds like it is drowned in bureaucracy!

Hii!

yes, she will

what I mean is that since you are EU and she is not, in order for her to have the permit you will have to have it too, do you understand?

you cannot stay in Geneva if you don't have student or work permit (even if EU), if you have a student permit you can work part time during classes and full time during vacations without having to get a work permit.

if you have a work permit than you can work "normally" and your wife will have the same permit as you.

its clear now?

I am not a EU citizen, I am an American and here I have the same rights as my partner who legally lives and works here and is a EU citizen..... of course neither of us are swiss.

That includes working, studying etc.

What the girl you're replying to means, is that many companies prefer to hire EU nationals over others because is easier for them to get the correct paperwork and process done fast instead of having to deal with visas etc.  This would be the case if your wife's main purpose for coming to Switzerland was to be an immigrant looking for work and looking to settle in the country.

your wife will have the same status as me, the status of some one who came to switzerland temporarily, to live with her husband/wife who will be in switzerland for a while..... 

Her main concern should be the language.... though she shouldn't have much problem, a lot of stuff around here is done in english, plus there are always voluteer jobs for all those international organizations that they have here.

she just have to network.

Crystal clear. Thanks very much for your help.... I'd be lost without this website. I tried calling the Swiss embassy in Dublin and the municipal offices in Geneva to find out about residence and work permits and they only spoke French.

Matt, 

I'm one of the folks helping run glocals. We're trying to collect the key questions that folks who are moving to Geneva have, so we can eventually publish a guide with the answers to the most popular questions. 

If you have (or had) more questions about moving to Geneva, would you mind posting them on this Moving to Geneva Switzerland thread?

Many thanks,

Nir