VisaForeign families moving to Liechtenstein should check the sponsor's permit and filing deadline
Current-rule guide: sponsor status, fresh criminal records, German-language evidence and separate permit charges shape the family application.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Check the sponsor's category and the legal filing period
Residents in Liechtenstein who are neither European Economic Area nor Swiss citizens and are planning to bring a spouse or children should check the sponsor's permission and the family-reunification deadline before arranging the move. The Foreign Nationals Act covers spouses or registered partners and common unmarried children under eighteen, including the specified adopted or foster children. This guide concerns that statutory category; the broader rules for EEA and Swiss sponsors should not be substituted for it.
The Act requires appropriate housing and a stable livelihood or sufficient resources without social assistance. It assesses the sponsor's financial circumstances at application, excluding the arriving relatives' assets and income. Its ordinary filing period is three years from permission being granted or the marital relationship beginning. Sponsors who themselves received residence through family reunification face a separate four-year continuous-residence waiting rule and related filing calculation. Ask the Migration and Passport Office to identify the applicable starting date, rather than treating the ordinary three-year period as universal.
Prepare the checklist with a fresh criminal record
The official family-reunification checklist asks non-EEA and non-Swiss applicants for the application, language evidence, residence-card personal-details form, passport photograph and signature. The criminal-record extract must be an original no more than one month old and translated into German by a translation office recognised in Liechtenstein. Coordinate its issue date with submission rather than obtaining it before other documents are ready.
The housing file includes the accommodation details and rental-contract or ownership evidence. The sponsor's financial documents include the employment contract or stated bank guarantee, the latest three payslips and the previous year's wage certificate or individual payslips. Spouses need the original marriage or partnership certificate, with a copy sufficient for a ceremony in Vaduz; children need original birth evidence and the specified adoption or foster-care decisions where applicable. The checklist requests a complete, correct application at least four weeks before the intended residence begins.
Check recognised alternatives to a standard A1 certificate
The Residence Ordinance explains the German-language evidence for the spouse abroad. A recognised A1 diploma is one route. Another is certification of at least three years of compulsory schooling in a German-speaking country with a positive result in German. It also permits basic knowledge to be demonstrated through a personal appearance at the Migration and Passport Office or an authorised overseas representation. A private course-attendance receipt is not one of those specified alternatives.
The checklist's short A1 entry therefore needs to be read alongside the ordinance, rather than assuming a diploma is the sole possible evidence. Ask the office which route it can accept before paying for an examination or travelling to demonstrate language skills. The ordinance also requires family-reunification household members not to establish separate residences and requires domestic or domestically recognised court evidence for adoption or foster-care relationships.
Separate the assurance, permit and card charges
The consolidated foreign-nationals fee ordinance charges cumulatively per person and procedure. It lists CHF60 for an assurance of permission and CHF200 for a newly issued residence permit granted by the Migration and Passport Office. The government-issued permit category has a different CHF1,000 charge, so applicants should establish who is deciding the actual request rather than assuming every first residence permit costs the same.
The ordinance separately lists CHF30 for biometric recording and CHF20 for card production. These are additional service categories, not another family member's application fee. Confirm which components apply to each adult or child and whether any reduction or exemption is available. The regulation permits reductions for proven need. Do not present the sum of every line as a universal family-reunification price: not every listed act necessarily occurs in every file, and the authority's invoice identifies the payable acts.
| Act | CHF |
|---|---|
| Assurance of permission | 60 |
| New permit issued by Migration Office | 200 |
| Biometric recording | 30 |
| Card production | 20 |
File a separate request for each relative
The official online family-reunification form expressly requires a separate application for each family member seeking permission. Its category choices distinguish spouse or registered partner, child, parent, life partner and other entitled relative. A displayed choice is not proof that every sponsor qualifies for every category; select the relationship supported by the applicable rules and documents.
The form names the Migration and Passport Office at Giessenstrasse 3, Vaduz, and gives +423 236 61 41 and [email protected] for contact. Saving an unfinished form is different from completing submission. Ask the office what confirms successful receipt and what entry permission is needed before moving; the reviewed application interface does not establish automatic lawful stay while a request is pending.
