Hello lovely Hiveans !
Today I have another entry about my relocation to switzerland. In the last episode I said that I recieved a job contract in this wonderful country and accepted it. Thus, a big moving is planed for me, my wife, our son and our two cute furballs ^^ .. This post is about the progress after a week š
Working and Rental Contract !
After I recieved and accepted my job offer, I waited a bit for the final working contract. This took three weeks. Its a bit slower than in Germany, but I was already told that in the swiss mentality is a more relaxed than elsewhere. People seem to be far more decelerated here, but are known for their huge life satisfaction ... As I have no personal experience, I wont comment on it in detail at this point. But honestly, after I experienced the fast paced lifestyle here in Germany for so many years, where effectivity is more valued than the person offering it, I am eager to experience it for myself.
I definitely will discuss things like education, life satisfaction, renewable energy and more in the future. But first, I want to see it myself to be not only objective, but can provide a proper subjective opinion. For a first impression, the OECD website places Switzerland in a relatively good position.
Working Contract
The whole job application was relatively easy. I had an initial phone interview with a recruiter for an hour. The woman was super super nice. There I figured out that swiss people use to be highly informal. Compared to Germany, where burocracy, formalities, as well as formal talks and emails are common, this was a pleassnt experience. Just a few days later I had my interview with two people that work in my field. Here again, it felt like a nice chat and not like an real interview. Of course there were the obvious questions, but the whole atmosphere was really relaxed and I felt super comfortable ... Also it took a month from the first interview to the signed contract, I can only leave positive critics. I even recieved the nessessary information and help on how to properly relocate š
Rental Contract
The same is true for my rental contract. Also there are not many accomodations available in total, it was not difficult to get one in the end. The second one that we looked up, is the one we took in the end. After contacting the landlord, we got a video tour through the accomodation just an hour later. On the next day we were sending the first rent for the month of January, and a job verification, and the housing was reserved for us š² .. This is completely different to Germany. Here you have to wait up to two weeks for a an apartment visit and are directly competing with 5 parties. It is also quite usual that, if there are more than one party available, the rent is increased to the point that the last one standing gets the flat. And of course the wealthy bank manager is always more welcome than a young family, or a single mother with her child .. The landlord is also super nice and even asked us if they should put some colour on the wall for us to make our relocation a bit easier š
My Impression
My first impression on the people in Switzerland and the overall swiss mentality is a very positive one. All people I talked to so far were very kind, were informal from the beginning and super helpful. Even if you do not ask, they help from all sides. This is different to Germany, where people are rather reckless, grievy and more egoistic. But we highly welcome the swiss mentality and look into a future that offers a high life satisfication, a great relationship to our new neighbours, and an overall friendly environment. I am also sure, that our son will make good friendships here from the beginning, will be well accepted by others and learns a good mindset on the way š .. -> 5 of 5 Stars
Documents, Moving and Cats !
The Working and Rental Contract are probably the most crucial things to acquire, but there are many other things that have to be considered and that we had to organise.
Getting Documents Sorted
We directly ordered new passports for all of us. It takes about 3 weeks until they are created, so this is the first thing to do immediately. In addition we scanned various things like our marriage certificate and birth certificates, as well as the working and rental contract. Once we arrive at our new residence, these are needed to open a new bank account, health and other insurances, the registration of the new residence and finally the work permit. As far as we found, this is not complicated can be completed withing a few days. As my work starts in February, the whole January will be reserved for these formalities.
Checking Out of Germany
Here in Germany we only had to cancel our renting contract. One day before the moving company arrives we go to the citizens office and deregistrate our residence and get our passports. With the deregistration certificate, we can cancel our insurances, electricity contract, internet contract and more. Its is quite easy, as a simple email with the certificate is doing the trick. But, the insurances we keep until we got the new contracts in the Switzerland.
Moving Company
We also already contacted a moving company. They will pack everything after new years eve and depack it one day later. They will take care of the customs service and arrange the no parking zones. As it is a 12 hours ride and a lot of paperwork, and the relocation is happening in 2 weeks, we do not want to take the stress of arranging it ourselves. One thing to kept in mind is, that all goods have to be owned for more than 6 months, or need to be declared at the custom service.
Preparing the Cats
Relocating to the Switzerland with pets requires some arrangements too, but in the case of cats, they are not complicated. The cats need to be chipped and receive an european passport. After that they have been vaccinated for rabies.
Summary
So far we received a working and renting contract. The working contract was probably the most complicated milestone here. The rental worked super fast and very uncomplicated. Thereby our first impression of the swiss mentality is a very positive one ! People are friendly, helpful and nice to talk to š .... New passports were ordered in just 5 minutes at our local citizens office. While collecting them the day before the moving, we receive our deregistration certificate too. With this, and a few emails, we can get rid of nearly all contracts here, but our old rental contract. Organiszing a moving company also just took us two days in total .... When we arrive in Switzerland we will have one week where we go to different places to registrate everything anew. This should be easy to do. Only the registration of the new residence and the working permit will be a bit more complicated we assume .... In the meanwhile we will be packing our belongings and are prepare for the last holidays here š
The title picture was taken from free4kwallpapers.com and modified with a swiss flag as a logo.
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