Documents
TL;DR: Paperwork in Switzerland is expensive, but it’s fast and smooth!
Arriving to any new country involves a series of red tape one must go through. It must So on Tuesday morning after Easter holidays, I went to Kreisbuero for registration.
Registration/Immigration
In US, only non-citizens (including permanent residents) have to report their addresses to the government. In most European countries, however, everyone is obliged to report their addresses to the government. I’m German, so I enjoy perks of being treated as an “old EU” citizen in Switzerland — it means I have a simple registration process and pretty much non-existent immigration. I got a residence permit B valid for 5 years, which was just a piece of paper put into a plastic cover, and cost 85 CHF! 20 CHF was for registration, and 65 CHF for the Auslaenderausweis (residence permit). Government services are expensive here, but to be fair I got the residence permit in less than a week, so you get what you pay for.
Bank account
Sometime later I will definitely write a separate long post about Swiss banks. But to keep it short: there is no free checking account for adults, you always have to pay some fees, and forget about credit cards with generous point schemes and cash back. Also, things like numbered accounts and Swiss privacy is pretty much also a thing of a past. If you’re American, expect double paperwork to open an account, since Swiss banks are required to ship your data to IRS.
Since I was going to pay a fee anyway, I decided to try Credit Suisse’s platinum package offer. It is half a price off for first year, and includes American Express Platinum card, with all its benefits such as airport lounge access, purchase protection, etc. It also offers double points for purchases, and the points are convertible to Swiss Miles and More points. However, here’s a catch: American Express cards aren’t accepted in many places in Switzerland! So to sum it up, I don’t think I’ll keep this package after a year, unless I’ll be surprised with something exceptional. It’s just not worth it.
Phone number
Switzerland has a few major networks, and bunch of minor operators who pretty much act as resellers on those networks. The best network belongs to Swisscom, and it is therefore the most expensive one. However they also have a package which includes roaming minutes, and calls to US and EU. I know I will be traveling around Europe, so I decided to go with Natel S plan, and not worry about roaming charges. Later when I get my own apartment, I could also get a discount if I choose Swisscom internet and TV. I think it would be convenient to deal with only one company.
Drivers license
You can drive a year with a foreign license in Switzerland. But I thought it’s a good idea to sort out the Swiss drivers license before my work starts getting intense. This was probably the most positively surprising experience for me: I waited only 2 minutes in line at Strassenverkehrsamt (equivalent of Swiss DMV), and the application process took only 10–15 minutes! Strassenverkehrsamt being easily accessible by public transportation made the whole process last only 30–40 minutes! Compare that to hours waiting times at American DMVs! But it obviously comes with a price: exchanging my US license to Swiss cost me 105 CHF. But I got it mailed to me in just a week. Funny thing is that they took my US license during application, and returned it to me later by mail with an easily removable “not valid in Switzerland” sticker on it.
Transportation
Public transportation amazing in Zurich, and in Switzerland in general. Even though I got drivers license, I have no plans of buying a car. Right now I’m walking distance away from my office, so I didn’t buy any recurring travel card either. However I did buy HalbTax. It’s a card which gives you a 50% discount on all Swiss trains, and costs 150 CHF yearly. While it doesn’t offer a discount for buying a yearly ticket for Zurich, it reduces the one-way price from 4.30 CHF to 3 CHF. Both SBB (Swiss trains) and ZVV (Zurich public transportation) have nice apps where you can buy tickets, so it’s very convenient.
