Good News from Татьяна & Toño

My sister-in-law Татьяна had some serious troubles with immigration in Switzerland (read about). Basically, the authorities claimed that my brother and Татьяна were engaged in a sham marriage.

My brother had to hire a barrister. There were two options. A) The Specialist in Swiss immigration law but from another Kanton (state) or B) one with the following qualities:

• local, knowing all and sundry
• member of parliament for a xenophobe party
• immigration-phobic voting record
• bulldog-like qualities in and off court.

My brother went for option B and his tactic seemed to have worked. The immigration department caved in very early in the legal process. This week Татьяна had been granted right of residence in Switzerland. She is not an illegal immigrant any more and can now visit her mother in Russia, who will celebrate her birthday at the end of this month.

Toño's troubles were not as bad as Татьяна's, nevertheless, they gave reason to worry. Toño was dissatisfied with his employer and had given his notice (read about). Almost unheard off, Toño's employer seemed to have noticed this shot across the bows and has actually changed his behaviour towards the employees. He also kindly asked Toño to reconsider. After some meetings, in which they both talked about their expectations, Toño withdrew the notice and is back on board.

Now both Татьяна & Toño can smile again.