Top court alters expat residence rule

Expats married to a Swiss spouse who dies, can now remain in this country even if they do not have a Swiss passport. This follows a federal court decision to grant residence rights to a Turkish woman living here, whose husband – a naturalised Swiss – died in 2005. Their daughter, born in Switzerland the previous year, had acquired a Swiss passport due to her father’s nationality. But the department of immigration subsequently refused to extend the mother’s residence permit, meaning that she and her daughter would have to leave the country. The woman appealed to the national court, which overruled the decision. The judge deemed that a minor who is naturalized should remain in Switzerland to benefit from its education system and society – something they could not do if their sole remaining parent is required to leave. Minors obliged to quit the country are entitled to come back to Switzerland once they are adults, but the court stressed that anyone returning at the age of 18 would face integration difficulties.