Hi and welcome! How come you decided to move here? Job/other half?

Hi Maria! 

I've visted Geneva once and I totally fell in love with it. The city, I think, draws interesting people from all over the world doing some fantastic work with noteworthy organisations. It is beautiful, peaceful and centrally located. I find the Switzerland's internal and external policies more agreeable than most other countries. God! I could go on... but here are some of the reasons off the top of my head.

That sounds good Neha! I felt the same when I came here for the first time and made every effort to get a job in Geneva.

What I like is the weather (more sun than in my home country), the nature (the lake in the middle of the city, the mountains for skiing, hiking...)

The fact that you meet people from all over the world and can speak different languages.

It's good that you check out in the forums before coming here to get different views.

Also sorry to sink your boat but just coming here to live with no job or anything to support you is not easy. First of all you need a permit. As you are non EU, that will be not easy to get unless you apply for one as a student. Have a look here www.englishforum.ch but do a search first.

I recomment you look into this issue before booking your tickets because the results wont be fun

If you don't mind me asking, how long has it been since you moved there Rena?

Out of curosity, how would you sum up your experience from the move, to settling down, to now welcoming others (like me!)? :) 

And on a totally separate unrelated note, are there really lots of people trying to scam me to wire money to the UK for this beautiful, to-die-for apartments? 

Dont wire any money unless you see the appartment. If you read anything related to western union look away.

Nope, these are not Western Union. These are bank accounts in the UK. And the people in question have offered to send over scanned copies of their passport and ownership documents. That kind of threw me off guard! 

I came here in 2004 for a temporary assignment and got a job offer a year later. As it was an internal move my company paid for the relocation.

Like Maria mentioned: The work permit is the hurdle. In my case the company had to proof that no Swiss citizen could do my job.

Settling down was not that difficult because the relocations agency found me an apartment, I already knew some of my new colleagues, spoke french and of course due to geneva online (aka glocals).

To make a long story short: I stopped comparing Berlin to Geneva, became a passionate skier...

It's good to be aware that Geneva does not have more than about 470'000 inhabitants (40% of which are from abroad) and many leave the town in the evening as they live in neighboring France or near to Geneva.

No they are not. This one is mainly for activities. The other one is more informative but read their rules first!

As for your question. Its a scam every single one of them. You do not transfer money to anyone especially out of the country. You do have to pay a deposit but it is in a swiss bank in your name. In here there are rental agencies called regies that deal with this kind of stuff. Great you got a visa but where will you live. Geneva is expensive.

I lived here in my first month of arrival and its not bad. Give them a call. Some of them speak english http://www.residencedizerens.ch/

Don't you think it's already strange why you need to send money to UK account not Swiss for apartment and you dont need to pay before you have seen apartment and signed contract. When I searched for apartments I found many pictures where taken from magazines and they don't exist in Geneva. Good luck!

Aaah... I knew I wasn't being observant enough. Thank you Maria, I really appreciate the info. And I'll certainly check out the place you've recommended. 

God! I must commend the guys trying to scam me. My instant gut feeling was its all fake but they were willing to send all those documents, meet a friend of mine in the UK, accept a post dated cheque from her. And oh, stories about how they were moved to the UK on short notice so they didn't have the chance to rent out their home. Fabulous work with a lot of effort! I suppose it's not, after all, an easy job scamming people. 

http://www.glocals.com/#/forums/general/Email-scam-139815.htm%23msg_140092

 http://www.glocals.com/#/forums/geneva/where-how-in-geneva/Web-scammer-arrested-161393.htm%23msg_162265

 http://www.glocals.com/#/forums/general/Scum-Warning----Oops-I-mean-Scam----78121.htm%23msg_86517

Just do a search in the forums

That's crazy. Those are sensitive documents, ideal for identity theft. That should indeed put you ON guard. If you do wire, make it to an escrow account, made for that purpose. I'd shop local, where you have a regie to walk into (however, don't expect a smooth ride, even with the exorbitant fees).

Hi neha, 

Be very carfulll, sending money to UK is big NO NO! Here you have to send an application to an agency/owner, to get a place in geneva it's usually 6-8 + weeks.

I know a great relator ( she helped me to get an apartment under 6 weeks) ,you can MSG me for more info.

Learning French or Spanish, it's easy actually,there's a lot of university/college/ lessons, I never studied French befor,I took a class for 2months,I get by very easily,plus most people speak English.

Good luck with your move,you will love it
Dalal S, Feb 11, 2013 @ 00:43

Oh no, they didn't ask me for my passport copy. They offered to prove their identity to me and prove that they are indeed owners of the places they say they are. I wasn't going to wire any money without doing my due diligence of course.  But I couldn't help second guess myself when one of them said he was okay with a post dated cheque! 

You make a very good point!

hi there neha,

like many other people, you have been attracted to one of the best places in the world to live. so, you can easily imagine that finding a place to live and a job are not going to be easy or straightforward. Because of the competition for appartments ( often times 20+ people have signed up for the same apt.) the agencies can subjectively select who they want. one thing is certai, they require a copy of your work contract and residence permit! therefore, if you can find a sub-let from someone, or flat-mate, it could ne easier, especially if it's for 3 months.

Jobs! well, the job market in geneva is quite hard even for locals with a permit. gva has the highest unemployement rate ( together with neuchatel) in switzerland!! so, now you know what you're  up against. you might want to look at the UN organizations, as they don't require a work permit etc. If you go to the ILO building ( Int'L labor organization or B.I.T in french ) and hang out at the reading room coffee shop, you will certainly meet people who work there and may be able to help you find something. it depends on what you can do of course. what are your skills and what have you done previously.

I work with many job seekers, and if you are persistant, and have a clear objective of what you want and what you are able to offer, then you may have some good luck. 3 months is a short time, to be able to acheive this goal, but it has been done :-)

In addition, when applying for apartments and lodging, one must generally present a permit/residency papers. Most people won't rent to someone with a temporary visa. Without these papers,one must look for a sublet or temporary housing. Glocals and world radio switzerland are good places to search for temporary accomodation.

I would touch base with the Singapore Mission here if you haven't already.

Although many have said this above, I repeat you do not pay money up front for an appartment you have not seen.  Anyone owning a Swiss appartment would normally still have a Swiss bank account but again you do not pay.

I have seen cases where apparently genuine adresses are given and it is true that the street exists but the number does not or, if it does, there are no appartments there.  By advertising in advance that you are coming, leaves you open to abuse.

Neha, please do not send anyone money before seeing it with your own eyes.  It is 99% likely a scam!

Here is the Geneva Welcome Center's link for housing. On the right hand side of the page is a listing of temporary accomodation links which might be helpful to you...

http://www.cagi.ch/en/logement/recherche-logement/consulter-annonces.php