When a permit holder dies

If your permit depends on a family member who has died, you do not lose it automatically. Swiss law lets surviving family members stay, most often under Art. 50 FNIA, but only if they act: tell the cantonal migration office and apply to keep the permit. EU/EFTA families and recognised refugees follow their own rules, set out below.

If someone close to you has just died, take care of yourself first. Caritas, Pro Senectute, the Swiss Red Cross and cantonal counselling services offer bereavement support. The deadlines here are real, but a first meeting with a lawyer two to three weeks after the death is usually still in time.

In short

• Your permit does not lapse automatically. A family reunification permit (Art. 42, 43 or 44 FNIA) can continue after the family unit ends, and death counts as the end of the family unit (Art. 50 FNIA).
• After at least 3 years of marriage and with successful integration, you can keep your permit (Art. 50 para. 1 let. a FNIA). Otherwise, "important personal reasons" may apply, but the death alone does not guarantee this.
• Act promptly: register the death, inform the cantonal migration office in writing, and apply to keep your permit.
• Your own C permit is independent and is not affected.
• EU/EFTA families have "acquired rights" under the AFMP; family members of refugees keep their refugee status (Art. 51 AsylA).

Your permit does not end automatically

Many people assume that family members lose their permit when the person they depend on dies. That is wrong.

• A family reunification permit under the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration (FNIA, SR 142.20), whether through a Swiss national (Art. 42), a C permit holder (Art. 43) or a B permit holder (Art. 44), is tied to the family relationship. But Art. 50 FNIA allows it to continue after the family unit ends, and death is one way it ends.
• A C permit you already hold yourself does not depend on the person who died.
• EU/EFTA permits under the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP, SR 0.142.112.681) follow their own rules on the right to remain, in Annex I AFMP.

You must act to secure your residence. Doing nothing can lead to losing it.

How Art. 50 FNIA applies after a death

Art. 50 FNIA was written mainly for separation and divorce, but in practice it is applied by analogy when a spouse dies. Each case is assessed individually.

Three years of marriage and integration (Art. 50 para. 1 let. a FNIA). Your permit continues if the marriage lasted at least 3 years (from the wedding, or from when you started living together in Switzerland, until the death) and you are successfully integrated under Art. 58a FNIA.

Important personal reasons (Art. 50 para. 1 let. b and para. 2 FNIA). Even before 3 years, your permit can continue if important personal reasons make staying necessary. A spouse's death can be such a reason, but not automatically. The Federal Supreme Court has refused to treat it as creating a right in every case. The cantonal office looks at your whole situation, in particular:

• how long you have lived in Switzerland;
• your integration: language, work, social network;
• your family, especially minor children living here;
• whether your reintegration in your home country would be at serious risk;
• whether you can support yourself or depend on social assistance.

What the migration office checks

1. At least 3 years of marriage, or important personal reasons. Death can be an important reason, but your roots here and whether you can reasonably return still count.
2. Successful integration (Art. 58a FNIA): respect for public security and order and the values of the Federal Constitution (Cst., SR 101), language skills, and taking part in work or education. For a later C permit, practice often asks for a higher language level (A2 spoken, A1 written, Art. 60 para. 2 OASA); the details come from the Ordinance on Admission, Residence and Gainful Employment (OASA, SR 142.201) and cantonal practice.
3. No lasting dependence on social assistance. Temporary help during the first period of bereavement is judged with more understanding. Substantial and lasting social assistance can be a ground for revocation or non-renewal (Art. 62 para. 1 let. e FNIA).
4. The canton's discretion, which it must use properly. Practice varies between cantons.

What to do, step by step

1. Register the death with the civil registry office where the death occurred, usually within 2 working days. Hospitals and care homes often do this; otherwise the family does. You receive a death certificate, which you need for almost everything that follows: migration office, AHV, banks, insurers, the estate.
2. Inform the cantonal migration office. This is part of your duty to cooperate and report changes (Art. 90 FNIA). Federal law sets no single deadline; ask your canton. Do it promptly and in writing, with a copy of the death certificate, so your cooperation is documented.
3. Apply to keep your permit under Art. 50 FNIA. This often happens at your normal renewal, but the office may also review your case earlier. Usually enclose:
   • the death certificate;
   • proof of the marriage up to the death (family record book or ID);
   • proof of integration: language, work, taxes, social network;
   • documents on your job;
   • for children, school certificates.
4. Wait for the cantonal decision, which usually takes several months. If it is negative, the appeal deadline is short, usually 30 days. If you risk losing your permit, get legal help straight away.

If your Swiss spouse dies

If your permit depended on your Swiss spouse (Art. 42 FNIA), Art. 50 FNIA applies by analogy in the same way.

Facilitated naturalisation for spouses of Swiss nationals (Art. 21 of the Swiss Citizenship Act, SCA, SR 141.0) requires an existing marriage:

• If your spouse dies before you meet the conditions and apply, this route is closed.
• If you had already applied and met the conditions, the procedure may in some cases continue. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) decides.

Ordinary naturalisation stays open if you meet its conditions: ten years' residence in Switzerland, three of them in the last five years (Art. 9 SCA), and the integration criteria (Art. 11 and 12 SCA). See naturalisation in Switzerland.

If a C permit holder dies

If your permit depended on a family member with a C permit (Art. 43 FNIA):

• Spouse from a third country: you can keep your B permit through Art. 50 FNIA by analogy. You can apply for a C permit in principle after ten years' uninterrupted residence (Art. 34 FNIA), or earlier if you are well integrated (Art. 34 para. 4 FNIA).
• Minor children: their situation usually stays stable, through the surviving parent or in their own right.
• Adult children usually have their own permits (work, study). If a child comes of age during the procedure, get legal advice.

If an EU/EFTA permit holder dies

Annex I AFMP, in particular Art. 4 Annex I AFMP and the EU rules it refers to, gives family members a right to remain ("acquired rights").

• Family members who are EU/EFTA nationals usually keep their right of residence under the normal AFMP conditions: their own job, self-employment, or enough money plus health insurance.
• Family members from third countries keep it only under narrower conditions (Art. 3 Annex I AFMP and EU practice), linked for example to how long they had already lived in Switzerland, or to death from a work accident or occupational illness. Cantons apply these rules differently.
• Family members who already hold a permanent EU/EFTA C permit, usually after 5 years' uninterrupted residence, are independent. Their permit continues and is renewed normally.
• Children at school: children of a deceased EU/EFTA citizen who are in compulsory school in Switzerland can, under EU case law on education applied through Annex I AFMP, stay to finish their education, and the surviving parent may be able to stay as their carer.

These cases are less clear-cut than Art. 50 FNIA cases, so get legal advice early.

If a recognised refugee dies

If a recognised refugee (B permit with refugee status) dies, the Asylum Act (AsylA, SR 142.31) applies, in particular Art. 51 AsylA on family asylum. Family members recognised as refugees together with the deceased keep their refugee status and residence. The death does not affect protection already granted. Ask the cantonal authority or the SEM about document renewals. See recognised refugees in Switzerland.

When the permit can be lost

• Marriage under 3 years with no other important reason, such as a long prior stay, children at school or serious hardship on return: the outcome is uncertain.
• Substantial and lasting social assistance can be a ground for revocation or non-renewal (Art. 62 para. 1 let. e FNIA). Temporary help during bereavement usually does not lead to loss of the permit on its own; the overall situation counts. Debts or debt-enforcement proceedings do not on their own justify revocation under Art. 62 FNIA; at most they count indirectly through the integration assessment (Art. 58a FNIA).
• Hardship case: if Art. 50 FNIA and other routes do not apply, you can apply as a hardship case (Art. 30 para. 1 let. b FNIA with Art. 31 OASA). The bar is high: serious personal hardship, strong roots in Switzerland and serious risk to reintegration at home. See the hardship provision under Art. 30 FNIA.

Practice in some cantons

Practice on death cases varies. As a general guide only:

If your permit may be at risk, get a first legal consultation with a lawyer who works in your canton's official language.

Death during an ongoing procedure

If the person dies while a procedure is running (for example your C permit application, a child's family reunification application or a naturalisation application), the procedure usually continues under the new circumstances. Tell the migration office or the SEM straight away and add documents if needed. The outcome can depend a lot on the stage, so get legal help.

Social insurance

A death usually creates entitlements from the first and second pillars:

• AHV widow's or widower's pension: paid monthly to surviving spouses under conditions such as length of marriage and children. Registered partners are treated like spouses.
• AHV orphan's pension: for the children; for children in education it continues beyond majority up to an age limit.
• Occupational pension (Federal Act on Occupational Old Age, Survivors' and Invalidity Pension Provision, OPA, SR 831.40): spouse's pension, partner benefits where applicable, and orphans' pensions, depending on the pension fund's rules. Unmarried partners often need to have been named in writing to the fund in advance.
• Pillar 3a: paid out in the order set by the ordinance OPO 3 (SR 831.461.3), usually spouse or registered partner first, then children. Notify each 3a account separately.

Contact the compensation office (usually the last employer's, or the cantonal one) and see www.ahv-iv.ch. For the occupational pension, contact the deceased's pension fund. For pensions paid abroad or tax treaties, get specialist advice.

Inheritance

If the deceased was domiciled in Switzerland, the estate generally falls under the Swiss Civil Code (CC, SR 210):

• Spouse's share (Art. 462 CC) depends on which other heirs there are.
• Children are first-order heirs (Art. 457 CC and following).
• Registered partners: since 1.7.2022, couples can convert a registered partnership into a marriage; if they do not, the Partnership Act (PartA, SR 211.231) still applies.
• A will or contract of succession can change the shares, as long as compulsory portions are respected (Art. 470 CC and following).

For the certificate of inheritance, inventory, division, assets abroad or inheritance tax (set by each canton), see a notary or an inheritance lawyer. With EU links, the EU Succession Regulation No. 650/2012 may apply.

Support

• Caritas Switzerland: bereavement support in several languages.
• Pro Senectute: for the loss of older relatives.
• Swiss Red Cross: counselling for migrants in several languages.
• Cantonal counselling services for migrants, such as HEKS or partner offices of the Swiss Refugee Council.
• 143, Die Dargebotene Hand: for acute emotional distress.
• 144: medical emergencies.

Related pages

• Divorce and residence permit (Art. 50 FNIA)
• Marriage to a Swiss national
• The B residence permit and the C settlement permit
• The Ci permit
• Your permit is expiring soon
• FNIA and OASA terminology glossary, AFMP glossary, Asylum Act glossary and Citizenship Act 2018 glossary