For information in December 2024, the CCSI reception will be closed every Wednesday afternoon.

Christmas closure from 20.12.2024 until 05.01.2025.

Reopening from Monday 06.01.2025 at 1:30 p.m.

CCSI is a non-profit organization that defends migrants’ rights in Geneva. It offers migrants a walk-in information service, and individual help and support in several areas:

Are you a migrant, recently arrived in Geneva or having lived here for years, with or without a residency permit? Do you have questions about your rights, or where to go to get help? Are you looking for assistance with administrative or legal procedures?

At CCSI, our walk-in service provides a welcoming space where you can come and ask questions or look for information. It is open every day of the week, and you can come without making an appointment. Depending on your needs, we will direct you to one of our three consultations providing individual assistance, or to another organization or service in Geneva.

Telephone only:
Monday: 1 – 1.30 pm
Tuesday to Friday: 8.30 – 9.30 am

In order to reach us by telephone more easily, please use the hours for telephone only.

Desk (walk in) and telephone:
Monday: 1.30 –  5 pm
Tuesday to Thursday: 9.30 am – 12.30 pm and 1.30 – 5 pm
Friday: 9.30 am – 12.30 pm

Ms Sandra Garlejo is responsible for “first-information” segment, in collaboration with Ms Jacqueline Casella and Ms Leticia Coutinho.

Do you live in Geneva with children (aged 0 to 12 years old) who do not have a residency permit? Do you have questions about various administrative procedures, childcare options, your children’s school, or their access to healthcare?
Our Childhood, education and health consultation is for families living in Geneva who have children who do not (yet) have a residency permit and who were either born in Geneva or who have come to Switzerland before the age of 12.
The consultation can assist you, for example, with the following issues:

  • access to healthcare, health insurance and subsidy;
  • finding a chilldcare solution for your pre-school aged child;
  • your children’s school, the right to education;
  • extra-curricular activities and school meals;
  • undocumented work, social insurances and family allowances;
  • other issues.

Ms Amanda Schroeder, Ms Teresa Lourenço, Ms Martina Nunes da Silva Tyrisevä and Ms Camille Grandjean-Jornod are responsible for this consultation. The consultation is open on appointment only, please call 022 304 48 60 (no appointments via email).

Do you need help to obtain or renew a permit? Do you have questions about family reunification?

Our consultation on Residency and work permits welcomes anyone living in the canton of Geneva looking for information and guidance on obtaining and/or renewing a residency permit (except for asylum procedures), and on the procedures to follow. This consultation is held by Ms Eva Kiss and M. Mehmet Aras.

The consultation can for example assist you and defend your rights in procedures such as:

  • obtaining or renewing a residency, work or study permit;
  • request family reunification;
  • keep your permit after a separation, e.g. due to domestic violence;
  • obtaining or renewing a permit with the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP) for EU citizens and their family members;
  • regularization for undocumented migrants;
  • others.

The Residency and work permit consultation is currently overloaded. If you wish to make an appointment for a new situation, you can phone on Monday as of 1pm (022 304 48 60) and ask for an evaluation appointment. We will do our best to give you an appointment in the following two weeks. If necessary, our service will then take on your case and assist you with the procedure as needed. Please note that there are currently very few evaluation appointments available, we thank you for your patience.

Have you suffered and illness or accident and can no longer work? Do you have questions about your rights, social insurances, your retirement, or disability insurance?

Our consultation on social insurances is for migrants living in Geneva who need assistance and support for issues related to social insurances in cases of disabilities due to an illness or accident. We specialize in cases of disability benefits claims.

This consultation can, for example, provide help and support for procedures such as:

  • disability benefits claims;
  • support for disabled persons;
  • requesting “prestations complémentaires” (PC);
  • recovering pension-related social security payments;
  • social security benefits in other countries;
  • others.

Ms Catherine Lack and Ms Sandra Garlejo are responsible for this consultation. They take on cases on appointment only (by telephone at 022 304 48 60, never via email).


Our consultations are available on appointment only. Please make an appointment by calling us at 022/304.48.60. We will not take appointments via email!

Please note that CCSI can not provide assistance for the following issues:

  • asylum procedures (you can try here);
  • looking for work in Geneva;
  • looking for accomodation or housing in Geneva;
  • school enrolement and heatlh insurance for children over the age of 12, i.e. children who are no longer in primary school (ask the social worker at your child’s school);
  • work related conflicts (contact a trade union).

In addition to providing individual assistance, CCSI also works on a more collective level to improve the situation of migrants in the mid to long term. With other organizations, CCSI is committed to ensuring that migrants’ rights are respected, and to promoting an open and fair society. Take a look at the other pages on this site to find out more about our work!

Important information


Children


Useful addresses and links


Practical tips


Horizon - information bulletin for migrants in Geneva