SwissImmigrationPro explains the law in a general, abstract form; SwissImmigrationPro represents no one and provides no legal advice relating to an individual case. The professional representation of parties and case-specific legal advice are reserved to the legal profession entered in the cantonal bar register; the professional duties of lawyers are governed by the Federal Act on the Free Movement of Lawyers (Lawyers Act, LLCA, SR 935.61), in particular by its Art. 12 (professional rules).

1. Overview — the Canton of Thurgau in the migration-law context

The Canton of Thurgau (TG) is a canton of Eastern Switzerland on Lake Constance and on the border with Germany. Its capital is the town of Frauenfeld. The cantonal administration belongs to the German-speaking area; the primary language of procedure is German.

Thurgau is among the cantons with a share of foreign resident population in the order of roughly one quarter, which corresponds approximately to the Swiss average. An exact figure as at a specific reference date is to be obtained from the continuously updated statistics of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) as well as from the cantonal statistical office; depending on the reference date and the delimitation used (permanent resident population, cross-border commuters not included), the values differ.

Descriptively, Thurgau is an agriculturally shaped canton known as the "apple canton", but it also has industrial and service sectors. It lies on Lake Constance and borders Germany; accordingly, cross-border dynamics with neighbouring Germany — in particular in the employment and cross-border-commuter context — are of practical significance. This presentation serves description only and is not a reason to choose this canton as a place of residence or of application.

The cantonal authority competent for all residence-law procedures is the cantonal migration office of the Canton of Thurgau, based in Frauenfeld. The currently valid contact details — address, telephone, email, opening hours and public-transport connections — are to be obtained from the official authority page, as they may change.

Cantonal migration office of the Canton of Thurgau (Migrationsamt des Kantons Thurgau) Web / online portal: https://migrationsamt.tg.ch Address, telephone, email, opening hours and public-transport connections: see the official authority page (authoritative and continuously kept up to date).

2. Legal bases — federal law and cantonal implementing law

2.1 Applicable federal law

In migration law, the Canton of Thurgau — like all cantons — applies federal law as a matter of priority:

  • the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration (Foreign Nationals and Integration Act, FNIA, SR 142.20), namely admission to gainful employment (Art. 18 FNIA), admission to education and continuing education (Art. 27 FNIA), the serious personal hardship case (Art. 30 para. 1 let. b FNIA), the regulation and extension of residence (Art. 33 FNIA), the granting of the settlement permit after ten years (Art. 34 para. 2 FNIA) and its early granting in the case of successful integration (Art. 34 para. 4 FNIA), the change of canton (Art. 37 FNIA), family reunification (Art. 42–47 FNIA), the continued residence after dissolution of the family community (Art. 50 FNIA), the integration agreement and recommendation (Art. 58a FNIA and Art. 58b FNIA), the revocation of permits on security and public-law grounds (Art. 62 FNIA and Art. 63 FNIA) as well as the federal approval requirement (Art. 99 FNIA);
  • the Ordinance on Admission, Residence and Gainful Employment (OASA, SR 142.201), namely the hardship-case criteria (Art. 31 OASA), the provisions on language competence (Art. 60a OASA), the family-reunification time limits (Art. 73 OASA), the proof of language skills for early settlement (Art. 77d OASA) as well as the situations subject to approval (Art. 85 OASA and Art. 86 OASA);
  • the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP, SR 0.142.112.681) with the associated ordinance introducing the free movement of persons (OFMP);
  • the Asylum Act (AsylA, SR 142.31), namely the distribution key for allocation to the cantons (Art. 27 AsylA) and the free legal advice and legal representation in asylum proceedings (Art. 102f AsylA);
  • the Federal Act on Swiss Citizenship (Swiss Citizenship Act, SCA, SR 141.0), namely the required period of residence (Art. 9 SCA) as well as the integration and aptitude criteria (Art. 11 SCA and Art. 12 SCA);
  • the Ordinance on Swiss Citizenship (Citizenship Ordinance, SCO, SR 141.01) as the implementing enactment to the SCA, namely the modalities of the proof of language skills (Art. 6 SCO); the federal-law language requirement itself is set out in detail in the ordinance and is to be distinguished from the residence and integration criterion of the Act;
  • for victim protection, the Federal Act on Assistance to Victims of Offences (Victim Support Act, VSA, SR 312.5).

For the in-depth legal account, see the FNIA and OASA glossary of terms, the AFMP/OFMP glossary and the Asylum Act glossary.

2.2 Cantonal implementing law

At the cantonal level, cantonal enactments give concrete shape to the implementation of federal law. As the designation and enactment number of cantonal laws and ordinances may be revised, the official cantonal collection of laws of the Canton of Thurgau (Rechtsbuch) is always authoritative for the current state. Of particular practical relevance are:

  • the cantonal implementing law on the FNIA (Thurgau introductory and implementing provisions on the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act), which governs the implementation responsibilities and the cantonal procedure;
  • the cantonal citizenship law (cantonal concretisation of the naturalisation procedure within the framework of the SCA; see section 7);
  • the cantonal administrative-justice law (procedural law for proceedings before the cantonal administrative authorities and the cantonal appeal body).

The exact enactment designation and number are to be obtained, in the respective case of application, from the cantonal collection of laws.

3. Competent authority — contact and accessibility

The competent cantonal authority for foreign nationals is the cantonal migration office of the Canton of Thurgau. It processes the ordinary foreign-nationals-law procedures of the permanent resident population (granting, extension and revocation of permits, family reunification, change of status as well as the cantonal preparation of naturalisation and asylum-coordination steps).

  • Web / online portal: https://migrationsamt.tg.ch
  • Address, telephone, email, counter opening hours, public-transport connections as well as section-specific contact points: the official authority page is authoritative; these details may change and are kept up to date there at all times.

Via the online portal, various procedural steps can be initiated digitally (for example extensions, address changes, forms handling and, depending on the offering, an appointment reservation). The exact, currently available scope of the procedures available online follows from the portal itself (https://migrationsamt.tg.ch).

4. Procedural duration — cantonal benchmark figures

The table below gives non-binding benchmark figures, which can vary considerably depending on the state of the file, the completeness of the documents, the workload of the competent section and the complexity of the individual case. As a rough orientation figure for a fully submitted standard application, a processing time in the order of roughly six weeks can serve as a guide (initial applications tend to take longer, mere extensions tend to be shorter). The respective current processing situation is to be enquired about at the migration office itself.

ProcedureBenchmark duration (orientation)
B initial applicationtends to be longer than approx. six weeks
B extensiontends to be shorter than approx. six weeks
C application, ordinary (after ten years, Art. 34 para. 2 FNIA)in the order of six weeks, case-dependent
C application, early (Art. 34 para. 4 FNIA, after five years)case-dependent
Family reunification (third country, Art. 42–47 FNIA)case-dependent, tends to be longer
Hardship case (Art. 30 para. 1 let. b FNIA, Art. 31 OASA)considerably longer, multi-stage

Important reservation: All benchmark figures are non-binding; the official details of the migration office are authoritative. The approval of the SEM for cantonal preliminary decisions (Art. 99 FNIA; Art. 85 OASA and Art. 86 OASA) is not included in the above benchmark figures and may, in constellations subject to approval, require additional weeks to months.

Anti-scope: SwissImmigrationPro provides no strategy for expediting proceedings, no templates for expediting letters and no submissions aimed at delaying or denying justice. Such submissions belong to legal practice.

5. Proof of language skills

The relevant language for the proof in the Canton of Thurgau is German (standard-German variant; Swiss German is not relevant for examination purposes).

  • Family reunification from a third country: For the granting of a B permit under family reunification from a third country, the federal-law minimum standard regularly requires proof of German-language skills at level A1 oral under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR); alternatively, registration for a corresponding language-promotion offering suffices, insofar as the applicable law so provides.
  • Early C settlement permit (Art. 34 para. 4 FNIA in conjunction with Art. 60a OASA and Art. 77d OASA): Here, federal law requires elevated language competence at level B1 oral and A2 written. This language minimum standard is prescribed by federal law; whether and in which constellation early granting otherwise comes into consideration differs according to residence status and, for nationals of EU/EFTA states, is additionally governed by the AFMP.

The fide certificate in the German language is accepted as an officially recognised proof; alongside it, the language diplomas and attestations recognised under Art. 77d OASA apply (in particular telc, Goethe and ÖSD certificates at the respectively required level). The modalities required for the specific case are to be enquired about at the migration office, as cantonal interpretations of the federal-law language minimum standards may diverge in individual points.

6. Standard permit practice B / L / C

The Canton of Thurgau implements the federal-law standard permit practice under the FNIA and OASA as well as under the relevant SEM directives:

  • L short-term permit: for temporally limited gainful employment and temporary purposes of stay; admission to gainful employment under Art. 18 FNIA (third country) or under the AFMP/OFMP (EU/EFTA).
  • B residence permit: the most frequent permit category; gainful employment under Art. 18 FNIA, education and continuing education under Art. 27 FNIA, family reunification under Art. 42–47 FNIA, each with the federal-law requirements.
  • C settlement permit: ordinary granting after ten years (Art. 34 para. 2 FNIA); early granting after five years in the case of successful integration (Art. 34 para. 4 FNIA). Early granting lies within the discretion of the competent authority and presupposes, among other things, the elevated language competence mentioned in section 5, participation in economic life or in the acquisition of education, observance of public security and order as well as respect for the values of the Federal Constitution (integration criteria under Art. 58a FNIA).

Implementation follows the federal-law standard under the FNIA and OASA as well as the relevant SEM directives; the cross-border dynamics with neighbouring Germany are of practical significance in the employment context. These notes are purely descriptive and contain no permit strategy.

For the applicable permit fees, the cantonal fee tariff in force at the relevant time is authoritative; the current amounts are to be obtained from the migration office or via its official page.

Anti-scope: SwissImmigrationPro provides no case-specific permit strategy advice (for example on arguing an early granting of the C permit or on family-reunification strategy). The case-dependent presentation of evidence belongs to legal practice or to assessment by the competent authority.

7. Naturalisation

7.1 Three-tier procedure

Ordinary naturalisation follows a three-tier procedure: federal (the Confederation's naturalisation authorisation under the SCA and SCO), cantonal (citizenship of the Canton of Thurgau under cantonal citizenship law) and municipal (citizenship of the municipality of residence). All three tiers must be present cumulatively.

7.2 Federal-law requirements

At the federal level, the requirements of the SCA (in the version in force since 1.1.2018) as well as of the associated SCO apply. These include in particular a period of residence of ten years in Switzerland, with the time spent between the eighth and the eighteenth year of age counting double (Art. 9 SCA), successful integration (Art. 11 SCA) with its more closely described criteria (Art. 12 SCA) as well as no endangerment of Switzerland's internal or external security. The proof of language skills is set out in detail at the ordinance level: oral competence at level B1 and written competence at level A2 of the CEFR in a national language are required (Art. 6 SCO, in the Canton of Thurgau German).

7.3 Cantonal and municipal requirements

The cantonal and municipal requirements — in particular the required cantonal period of residence, a possible hearing as well as a cantonal or municipal proof of knowledge or integration — follow from cantonal citizenship law and from the respective municipal regulations. Owing to municipal autonomy, these requirements can diverge between municipalities; authoritative are cantonal citizenship law in the version in force at the relevant time and the regulations of the municipality of residence.

For the in-depth legal account, see the 2018 Swiss Citizenship Act glossary.

Anti-scope: SwissImmigrationPro makes no recommendation as to in which municipality an application would be "easier". Such advice would be a classic example of municipality or canton shopping and is expressly not provided.

8. Asylum in the canton

The asylum area is primarily governed by federal law. Asylum applications are first processed in a federal asylum centre (FAC) of the competent asylum region (accelerated procedure); where an application is transferred into the extended procedure, allocation to a canton is made according to the SEM's distribution key (Art. 27 AsylA). During the extended procedure, the asylum-seeking person lives in the canton of allocation and is subject to the cantonal asylum-coordination structure.

The specific asylum region and the competent federal asylum centre (FAC) for the Canton of Thurgau, as well as the legal advice and legal representation body mandated in the asylum procedure under Art. 102f AsylA, follow from the SEM's respective current details (sem.admin.ch); the current list of the mandated bodies is also maintained there.

For the in-depth account of asylum law, see the Asylum Act glossary.

9. Taxes and withholding tax — migration-law context

Gainfully employed persons with a B or L permit without a settlement permit are as a rule subject to withholding tax (tax deduction directly from the salary). Withholding tax on employment income is levied both at the level of the direct federal tax and at the cantonal level; the federal-law basis is found in the Federal Act on Direct Federal Taxation (DFTA, SR 642.11), namely in its Art. 83 DFTA and the subsequent provisions on withholding tax, the cantonal part in cantonal tax law. Where the annual gross employment income exceeds the threshold of CHF 120,000 set by the Withholding Tax Ordinance (WTO), a compulsory subsequent ordinary assessment (SOA) is carried out ex officio. For lower incomes, withholding tax in principle has a discharging effect; an SOA upon request is possible under Art. 89a DFTA. With the receipt of the C settlement permit or with marriage to a person of Swiss nationality, the withholding-tax liability lapses and the ordinary tax assessment applies.

A qualitative assessment of the cantonal tax burden is deliberately not undertaken here, as it has no migration-law significance and must not be a reason to choose a canton as a place of residence.

In migration-law terms, the tax situation is only of indirect significance: considerable, persistently unsettled debts — including tax debts — can feed into the foreign-nationals-law integration assessment, because observance of public security and order as well as participation in economic life are among the integration criteria (Art. 58a FNIA). Tax debts or a debt-enforcement proceeding alone, on the other hand, bring about no automatic revocation; revocation under Art. 62 FNIA and Art. 63 FNIA attaches to independent requirements not exhaustively set out here.

Anti-scope: SwissImmigrationPro is not tax advice. For specific questions on withholding tax, on the SOA, on tax-status optimisation or on double-taxation matters, the cantonal tax office or a qualified tax adviser is to be consulted.

10. Economy and largest municipalities

The details below are descriptive and serve general orientation; they are not advice and not a reason for a choice of location.

  • Economic structure (descriptive): an agriculturally shaped canton on Lake Constance and on the border with Germany, known as the "apple canton", additionally with industrial and service sectors; transport connections to the economic areas of Zurich and St. Gallen; cross-border dynamics relevant in the employment context with neighbouring Germany.
  • Larger municipalities (descriptive): the capital is Frauenfeld; further more populous municipalities are, among others, Kreuzlingen, Arbon, Amriswil and Weinfelden. Current population figures are to be obtained from the cantonal statistics or from the FSO.
  • Housing costs: rent-price levels fluctuate strongly by region and over time; reliable, current benchmark figures are to be obtained from the relevant official sources (FSO, cantonal statistics) or from housing-market portals.

11. Anti-scope statement for the Canton of Thurgau

In the present content, SwissImmigrationPro provides general cantonal practice information that facilitates orientation in Thurgau migration law. The case-specific legal assessment and the professional representation of parties are reserved to the legal profession entered in the bar register, whose professional duties are governed by the Lawyers Act (LLCA, SR 935.61), in particular by its Art. 12. Expressly not covered are:

  • strategy advice in the individual case (hardship-case argumentation, permit strategy, family-reunification strategy, appeal strategy);
  • comparative leniency judgments — no statements that this canton is "easier" or "stricter" than another;
  • canton-shopping pointers — no recommendation to apply in another canton or another municipality because the practice there appears more favourable;
  • tax advice — no optimisation of the withholding-tax position or of the SOA;
  • appeal or time-limit aids — no appeal-brief templates, no appeal strategy, no time-limit calculators.

The place of residence is determined in Switzerland primarily by work, family, education and personal life decisions; a migration-law "optimisation" of the choice of domicile is neither serious nor does it carry in the majority of constellations. Anyone who needs a case-specific legal assessment turns to a lawyer entered in the cantonal bar register, to a legal advice body for asylum seekers (asylum constellation) or to the competent cantonal or municipal authority.

12. Cross-References