Binational couples
In Switzerland, one third of newly concluded marriages are currently binational, i.e. men and women are of different nationalities. If one counts the marriages between foreigners of different origins, it is more than half. Nevertheless, binational couples and families are perceived as an exception in public. Binational couples and families live transculturality and integration in their everyday lives and make a significant contribution to the self-understanding of diversity in our society.
Information and advice
Welcome Desk - Integration Promotion of the City of Zurich:
The Welcome Desk of integration promotion offers migrants and their partners living here (Swiss and other nationals) information and short consultations free of charge and without prior notice. For specific questions regarding residence and work permits, training recognition, further training opportunities, etc., a personal consultation can also be arranged.
Welcome Desk
Infodona - Counselling Centre for Migrants - City of Zurich:
The Infodona counselling centre advises migrants and their partners living here (Swiss and other nationalities) in the areas of family, law, finance and health. The consultations are free of charge and by appointment (German and many other languages). For persons residing in the city of Zurich.
Infodona
Mirsah - Legal advice on immigration law issues:
Mirsah
Federal Office of Justice: Fact sheet on marriage in Switzerland: Rights and obligations
Pamphlet
Information about marriage
Civil Registry Office of the City of Zurich
Publications
Stadtblick 33: Arriving in Zurich
Zurich has been a city of arrival for people from Europe and all over the world for decades. It owes its social, economic and cultural development to a large extent to the migrants who have found a new home here or made a stopover. Without this cultural diversity, Zurich would not be Zurich.
In this issue, eight migrants tell their personal stories: They came to Zurich and stayed because of love. They are stories of the difficult search to gain a foothold here professionally, of the success of the arrival, of building new existences and of finding new friends.
Binational Couples and Families in Canton/City of Zurich - Project Report
The report of the IG Binational (Association of Binational Partnerships and Families) describes the reality of life of binational couples and families in Switzerland and analyses the counselling services offered to binationals in the canton and in the city of Zurich. The report identifies the need for action at various levels and outlines possible solutions. Various measures are currently being implemented in the city of Zurich.
Marriage and Migration - Technical Report of the Swiss Observatory for Asylum and Aliens Law
In its technical report, the Swiss Observatory for Asylum and Aliens Law deals with the topic of "Marriage and Migration". In 2012, more than 40,000 marriages were concluded in Switzerland, with around half of those willing to marry having a foreign nationality. With 12 case documentations, the technical report illustrates the hurdles and difficulties faced by binational and foreign couples in Switzerland, even though the right to marriage is anchored nationally and internationally.
more information
Radio SRF: "Boundless Love": Couples between two cultures
More than one in three new marriages in Switzerland unites people from different countries of origin. How is it possible to reconcile two different cultures in a partnership? 10 couples report. Portraits
Mission Meeting point: Binational couples: Love under difficult circumstances