She Says She Was Stranded in Morocco, but Switzerland Permanently Revokes Her Permit

This Moroccan woman’s prolonged stay in Morocco has cost her her Swiss settlement permit permanently. The national, born in 1976, had obtained her first residence permit in 2008 after marrying a Portuguese man living in Geneva. In April 2019, she was finally granted a settlement permit.

But the Swiss authorities discovered that she had spent very long periods in Morocco. She stayed there from 29 December 2018 to 19 January 2020, then from 9 February 2020 to 28 August 2021. Questioned in 2024, she acknowledged these absences while claiming that she had been stranded in the kingdom because of the closure of airspace during the pandemic.

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Her argument did not convince the judges. Under Swiss law, a settlement permit automatically expires when its holder remains abroad for more than six months without requesting that it be maintained. Yet the Moroccan woman had taken no steps to retain her permit during her stay in Morocco.

Above all, the six-month period had already expired on 29 June 2019, several months before the pandemic began. Covid therefore could not explain the first absence that led to the loss of her residence permit.

Her brief returns to Switzerland change nothing

The applicant submitted several medical prescriptions issued in Switzerland in an attempt to show that she had not left the country permanently. These documents attested to a few visits in April 2019, February 2020 and September 2021.

In its ruling of 26 May 2026, however, the Federal Supreme Court held that these brief trips back and forth were insufficient. To interrupt the six-month period, it is not enough to return to Switzerland occasionally: the foreign national’s centre of life must genuinely remain there.

The Moroccan woman alternatively requested a new residence permit. She pointed to her marriage, the violence she claimed to have suffered and the jobs she had held in Switzerland. Since January 2025, she had been working full-time for a gross monthly salary of 4112 Swiss francs.

The judges nevertheless noted that she had received nearly 55 000 francs in social assistance between September 2022 and March 2024 and had accumulated more than 110 000 francs in debt. The recent improvement in her professional situation was not enough to establish successful integration throughout her stay.

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The Federal Supreme Court also dismissed the domestic violence allegations. The two complaints filed against her husband had resulted in no convictions, and the restraining measures issued in 2022 had lasted only 17 days.

Her appeal was therefore rejected, and the judicial costs of 2000 Swiss francs were charged to her. After nearly 18 years of proceedings and stays between Switzerland and Morocco, she no longer has the right to remain in the country.