Frequently asked questions legal service

In Switzerland, all men are obliged to carry out military service before the end of the year in which they turn 30 years of age or 34 years of age if they already completed military training school before leaving Switzerland. Upon your return to Switzerland, you will therefore be called upon to fulfil your military obligations based on your age and aptitude level. Swiss citizens can be recruited until the end of the year in which they turn 25 years of age. They will then be asked to attend military training school before the end of the year during which they turn 26 years of age. An exception exists for men who have already carried out military service in Switzerland, who have been granted military leave to go abroad or who have not been in the country for an uninterrupted period of over six years and are no longer needed by the army. Citizens not recruited owing to their age do not have to complete military training school but have to pay military service exemption tax. Swiss citizens abroad who wish to stay in Switzerland for a period of over three months have to notify the head of section within 14 days of their arrival.
If you hold dual nationality and have already carried out military service or alternative civilian service or have made an exemption payment in your country of origin, you no longer have to carry out military service in Switzerland. However, this does not release you from the obligation to provide notification of your arrival and you may have to pay the military service exemption tax. If you have carried out military service or alternative civilian service in Germany, Austria, France or Italy, you will be exempt from paying the military service exemption tax owing to agreements that Switzerland has concluded with these countries.
You can also voluntarily decide to attend military training school in Switzerland as a Swiss citizen abroad. Requests in such cases should be addressed to:


Führungsstab der Armee
Personelles der Armee (FGG 1)
Steuerung und Vorgaben
Rodtmattstr. 110, 3003 Berne
Tel. 031 324 32 56, Fax 031 324 14 92
E-mail: personelles@gst.admin.ch
Website: www.vbs.admin.ch


Conscientious objectors to military service can undertake alternative civilian service. Alternative civilian service lasts one and a half times longer than military service. For further information:


Zivildienst Zentralstelle
Malerweg 6, 3600 Thun
Tel: 033 228 19 99, Fax: 033 228 19 98
E-mail: info@zivi.admin.ch
Website: www.zivi.admin.ch

 

It is true that postal delivery times can cause problems when communicating with authorities in Switzerland and, in this Internet age, asking whether communication by e-mail would be easier is a legitimate question. We contacted the Central Compensation Office and learned that the situation is more complicated than it may appear at first glance. In countries where delivery takes a long time and is less reliable, the Office works with the local Swiss representations, which are given the task of passing on mail to member organisations. Anyone who wants to contact the Central Compensation Office by e-mail can do so via its website at www.zas.admin.ch (under The CCO? ? ?Addresses?).

However, not all correspondence can be carried out by e-mail. For example, this is not permitted by law for declarations of income and assets required for setting old age and survivors' insurance/disability insurance contributions, or for supporting documentation and general benefit applications, etc. Furthermore, the Central Compensation Office cannot systematically respond by e-mail in all circumstances. Judgements, judicial correspondence and income and asset declarations have to be sent to insured persons by post. Upon the express request of an insured person, copies of some documents can be sent by e-mail. So, while some communication can be carried out by e-mail, postal communication is required in some circumstances for legal reasons.

 

The legal retirement age in Switzerland is 64 for women and 65 for men. The pension entitlement can be brought forward by one or two years. However, bringing forward the retirement age has an effect on the amount of the Old Age and Survivors' Insurance pension, which will then be reduced throughout retirement. Claiming the pension one year early results in a 6.8% reduction in pension and claiming it two years early means a 13.6% reduction until the normal retirement age. The level of pension reduction is then recalculated. It should be noted that the entitlement to draw the pension early is an individual right, which means that married persons can request early receipt of their pension independently of their spouse. The request for early payment of the pension should be made to the competent authority, which, depending on the place of residence of the person concerned, is either the local social insurance institution (clearly state that the request concerns early pension payment) or the Swiss Compensation Office:

Swiss Compensation Office
Av. Edmond-Vaucher, 18
P.O. Box 3100, CH-1211 Geneva 2

Tel: +41 22 795 91 11, Fax: +41 22 795 97 05
Website: www.zas.admin.ch


We recommend that you submit this request three to four months before reaching the age when you would like to claim your pension. The receipt of the Old Age and Survivors' Insurance pension results in the termination of invalidity or survivors' pensions paid up to this point in time. No pension is paid for children during the early claim period.

Please note that while it is possible to claim the Old Age and Survivors' Insurance pension early, a request can also be made for it to be delayed by 1 to 5 years. This results in an increase in the pension amount.

For further details, please consult the Old Age and Survivors' Insurance website: www.ahv-iv.info.

To find out where you should submit your pension request, please visit the Central Compensation Office's website: www.zas.admin.ch (click on ?Swiss Compensation Office SCO? -> ?Making an application? and then choose the corresponding link).

 

The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad regularly receives letters of this nature. Legally, the banks benefit from freedom of contract. They therefore have the right to decide whether or not to establish a banking relationship with a client for their own reasons. The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad advises persons concerned to contact small banks or banks with a more restricted geographical area of activity, such as the cantonal banks or branches of Raiffeisen, etc. Some Swiss ?abroad seem to have found solutions in this way. However, responses can vary from one branch to the next and it is therefore worthwhile enquiring with different branches of the same bank. We also recommend asking the banks concerned if there are alternatives to make account management easier (for instance, by nominating a person of trust in Switzerland to receive mail). Other people seem to have resolved their problems by contacting Postfinance. However, it should be noted that this situation is constantly evolving and these options are subject to change at any time. The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad also wishes to point out that having a bank account in Switzerland does not constitute an exemption from declaring it in the account holder's country of residence.

We also advise anyone who contacts us about this matter to follow the discussions on the Swisscommunity.org website where the Swiss abroad exchange their experiences and provide each other with advice, in particular concerning the solutions they have found. www.swisscommunity.org

 

Answer: The Swiss authorities are not able to issue a new Swiss driving licence. From the date on which you begin residing abroad, it is the authorities of your country of residence that have authority with regard to your driving licence rather than Switzerland. On account of the principle of territoriality, you are subject to the legal system of the state you reside in. Consequently, the area of road traffic is exclusively governed by the law of the country of residence. The cantonal road traffic authority that issued the driving licence can therefore only provide you with an attestation stating that you are the holder of a Swiss driving licence. By issuing this attestation, the cantonal authority certifies that you have obtained a driving licence based on the conditions stipulated by Swiss law. You will then have to check with the authorities responsible in your country of residence which conditions have to be met for a driving licence to be issued to you (confirmation of the information contained in the attestation, driving test, etc.). The attestation from the cantonal road traffic authority may be useful to you at this stage.

The contact details of the cantonal road traffic authorities can be found at:
http://www.strassenverkehrsamt.ch/

 

The situation varies depending on whether someone lives in an EU/ EFTA member country or in a country outside the EU/EFTA. In the case of residency in an EU/EFTA member country, it is no longer possible in principle to withdraw second-pillar capital if the person concerned has compulsory insurance in the country of residence for the risks of old age, invalidity or death. This means, for example, that self-employed persons can withdraw their second-pillar capital to set up in business if the law in their country of residence does not provide for compulsory insurance for the abovementioned risks for the self-employed.

Persons living outside an EU/EFTA member country can request the withdrawal of their second-pillar capital in cash. We recommend finding out about this from the pension fund concerned in good time. It could refuse payment in cash if the person concerned has already reached the age at which the pension fund provides for the possibility of early retirement. However, it is still possible to use second-pillar capital to finance, build or renovate a main home or to pay off a mortgage even if the property is located in an EU/EFTA member country. Finally, the non-compulsory part of the second-pillar capital can still be paid out. If second-pillar capital is withdrawn
in cash, we recommend taking out an insurance policy to cover invalidity and death.

 

From 1 March 2010, all passports issued will be biometric. For the Swiss abroad, the Swiss representation (embassy or consulate) where they are registered is responsible for issuing identity documents.

A distinction has to be made between passport applications and the recording of biometric data. An application for the issue of a passport must always be made to the representation where the Swiss abroad is registered. In the case of Swiss citizens residing in Malta, this is the Swiss embassy in Rome. This can be done by telephone, online or in person.

For the recording of biometric data, persons registered abroad can contact the representation responsible for them, any other Swiss representation abroad or, in special cases, an issuing authority of a Swiss canton, provided the representation responsible for them and the cantonal authority have given their consent beforehand. This means that, for this step, Swiss citizens in Malta do not necessarily have to contact the Swiss embassy in Rome. However, it is important that they inform the representation responsible for them of where they intend to have their biometric data recorded so that the data required to issue a passport can be transferred from one authority to the other. Applicants must make an appointment to present themselves in person at the chosen authority for the recording of biometric data with the documents required by the authority concerned.

In cases of serious physical or psychological disability, the competent authority can waive the requirement for the applicant to present himself/herself in person provided his/her identity can be definitively confirmed in another way and the data required can be obtained by another means. In such cases, applicants must firstly contact the Swiss representation where they are registered.


For further information on the biometric passport, visit:
www.schweizerpass.ch

For further information on the procedure, please contact the Swiss representation responsible for you: www.eda.admin.ch/eda/fr/home/reps.html

 

In order to exercise their political rights, Swiss citizens abroad must be registered with the Swiss representation responsible for their place of residence. They also have to complete a form to register to exercise political rights. This registration has to be renewed every four years using a form that the polling commune sends out directly to Swiss citizens at least once a year. If the registration is not renewed, the polling commune will remove the voter from the electoral register. However, voters can re-enrol at any time by completing the form for exercising political rights and returning it to the Swiss representation concerned.

If you have not received your voting documents, please first check that you are still registered with your Swiss representation for the purpose of exercising political rights. If you are not, you must complete the registration form for exercising political rights and return it to the Swiss representation. If you are still registered, check with your polling commune to ensure you are properly enrolled on the electoral register. If you are not properly enrolled, you must re-enrol with your polling commune for the purpose of exercising political rights. If you are properly enrolled, this means the blame for the fact that you have not received your voting documents lies with the postal service, a problem which is unfortunately still all too common, but which should be improved by the introduction of electronic voting. On a general note, please ensure that you inform your Swiss representation of your change of address if you move house.

The form for registering for political rights is available at:

In French: www.aso.ch/fr/conseils/vivre-a-letranger/droits-politiques/formulaire-dinscription

In German: www.aso.ch/de/beratung/leben-im-ausland/politische-rechte/anmeldeformular


If you encounter problems in exercising your political rights, standard letters relating to various scenarios are available on OSA's website at:

In French: www.aso.ch/fr/conseils/vivre-a-letranger/droits-politiques/difficultes-lors-de-votations

In German: www.aso.ch/de/beratung/leben-im-ausland/politische-rechte/schwierigkeitenbei-abstimmungen