Devil in the Details

On Wednesday afternoon our relocation agent, Mr. Mssrli, picked me up from home and Steph from work and escorted us to the Kloten Gemeinde building (near my favorite bus stop, Zum Wilden Mann, which to my limited knowledge translates as "To the Wild Man"). There's apparently no real English translation for die Gemeinde; every Swiss town has one and it's something like "the municipal office" where local government authorities deal with local residents on local matters. Did I mention it's local? A fascinating aspect of Switzerland (our more well-traveled acquaintances agree) is that government is bottom-up. Town and county (not country) authorities regulate all the important details of daily life (and boy, are there details!) with federal government controlling the least. Which means that the bulk of our total annual taxes, our residence and work visas, and our garbage management practices (among other things) are currently dictated by Kloten town authorities (soon to be Zürich authorities). As an aside, equally fascinating to me is the underlying reason--because Switzerland is both mountainous and heavily influenced multiculturally, neighboring counties are largely isolated with diverse issues (French vs. German vs. Italian roots), so as Swiss government evolved the local authorities needed the most autonomy to decide residential matters.

In any event, within 8 days of arriving in Switzerland with a residence visa, every new resident must register at his or her local Gemeinde. The Swiss visas issued by the consulate in Chicago expire in three months, whereas the Gemeinde issues our more "permanent" annual visas. But only after an agent verifies your Swiss place of residence, proof of employment, proof of marriage, birth certificate, passport and proof of health insurance (mandatory for every person in Switzerland). That's why it's nearly impossible to move to Switzerland first and then find a job later--you need a verifiable job BEFORE you arrive. And yes, in the event of a canine child, all the dog's papers are necessary for issuance of the all-important "doggie passport".

The registration office was small, modern and efficient, feeling more like a combined Visitors Welcome Center and Chamber of Commerce than a town hall. Our registration agent was more helpful in 15 minutes than every combined piece of guidance from every City of Chicago employee in every department in 14 years (of course, that's still not saying much). The agent spoke fairly fluent English and Mr. Mssrli assisted with some particularly tricky bits in Swiss-German. After registering and paying the associated taxes (20 Francs per person and 75 Francs! per dog), we received our temporary-permanent (?) visas until the true-permanent visas are ready in ~60 days and also a "goodie bag" with our locally-approved trash bags and doggie cleanup bags, a local recycling guide, a detailed city map and a local business guide. All of these items are important, especially the garbage bags and recycling guide, because garbage pickup is among the most regulated daily activities (topic for another day) and there's also an excellent system for disposal of dog waste (topic for another day). Also the temporary-permanent visa allows us to register for deep discounts on public transportation (topic for another day).

Of course, immediately after procuring residence in Zürich (topic for another day), we must return to de-register with Kloten and promptly re-register with the Zürich Gemeinde. Although tedious, the practical purpose served is the address change for correct delivery of our true-permanent visas; thankfully all the paperwork doesn't need repeating. So are you confused yet? The process would be an extreme challenge without help from the relocation company, God bless them. So depending on your vantage point, these uniquely Swiss details provide the substance for either making the country a prime target for international mockery OR delivering a very high quality of life (if you believe Mercer consulting reports) within not only Europe but also the world. We have high hopes for the latter.