Protection Status S: rights, obligations and what comes next

Protection status S allows a large number of people seeking protection a quick, unbureaucratic stay in Switzerland without having to go through an individual asylum procedure. This article explains the legal basis and what to bear in mind if the status is lifted.

Legal basis

Protection status S is based on the provisions on temporary protection (Art. 66 ff. AsylG). The Federal Council can activate this protection for groups of people in need of protection, without each person concerned having to go through an individual asylum procedure. While the status is in force, any asylum application by the person concerned is not examined on its merits; examination of any ground for exclusion from asylum remains reserved.

Rights under protection status S

• Right of residence in the assigned canton, with a limited possibility of changing canton
• Access to the labour market, in principle without a waiting period
• Entitlement to social assistance under cantonal law
• Family reunification for the spouse and minor children under eased conditions, observing the deadlines of Art. 47 AIG

Consolidation with good integration

In cases of particularly good integration, a hardship permit can in certain situations be requested from the canton even while protection status S is in force. The criteria correspond in essence to those of Art. 31 VZAE, which we explain in detail in our article on the hardship permit.

What happens if protection status S is lifted?

Careful, early documentation of your own integration efforts is therefore sensible, even if the lifting of the status is not yet foreseeable in concrete terms; later it can be decisive for a hardship or permit application.