Swiss immigration

I don't know why I always have this kind bad luck when dealing with immigration bureaucrats. Today, I tried calling the Federal Office of Migration in Bern to enquire about re-entry requirements to Switzerland regarding my impending travel to the Netherlands this May. I already did the same enquiry 3 weeks ago, but it was in French. As the language of enquiry was in French and I am dealing with very important legal matters, I decided to send them an email immediately after my enquiry three weeks ago in English but have not received any reply from their office.

Today, I decided to call again and tried to enquire about my situation in English. I reached a German-speaking switchboard receptionist in which I enquired if I can proceed in English. She politely said 'non, français s'il vous plait' in which to the best of my ability, I tried relaying to her about my plans to travel to the Netherlands and my immigration scenario and enquiries whether I need to secure a Swiss re-entry visa. She then transferred my call to this guy which was the beginning of my problems.

After the transfer, I asked this bureaucrat if I it would be possible to have assistance in English. Although I already did the same enquiry a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to have my questions answered in English as these are all legal matters and that it is indeed of utmost important to have 100% understanding of the Department's feedback. He agreed to conduct the consultation in English which was a relief on my part as I would be more effective in stating my circumstances and of course would be in a better position to understand the Department's feedback on my enquiry.

I asked him about the requirement of securing a re-entry visa from my trip to the Netherlands. Fortunately, my legitimation card will be sufficient enough for me to be granted entry and there is no need to secure a new visa. Now, here is the beginning of the problem. I ask him if I could have another question regarding my intentions to travel around Europe and Switzerland for half a month after the expiration of my legitimation card. At this point, he became really irritated and acted out rudely to me with his tone really becoming hostile. In a rude and arrogant tone that makes you feel stupid, he says a matter of factly that I am calling the Federal Office of Migration in Bern and that he does not know the answer to my question. I then ask him if he could refer me to the office responsible that might be able to answer my question to which he rudely and unhelpfully responded 'I do not know.' He then started rattling words which I could not remember to specifically write here which made me feel I was being treated impolitely.

Despite the beating I received today, there is something on me that wants to keep an open mind. I keep trying to tell myself that the guy must have had just a stressful time and it just irritates him answering the same questions again and again and again and again. As I have experienced myself, doing repetitive tasks can be quite stressful indeed and might drive a person crazy. Another thing might be the language barrier. Again, as I have experienced myself, communicating in a third or a fourth language is stressful indeed with my struggles with French. This might have been one cause as well as I do recognize the fact that since I am in Switzerland, I must speak in one of their official languages to receipt prompt service.

On the other hand, the other part of me wants to think radically. There's a part that wants to think that this person is power tripping. Since he knows that a foreign person's stay in this country is at the mercy of this organization, he has gotten to a position that he holds a lot of power as he has plenty of reasons for others to be wary of him.

As a person working for the immigration department, he should have been exposed to customer service etiquette as his job requires interacting with clients usually of a different cultural background of his own. As a civil servant, one must adhere to the highest standards of conduct and to exercise competence, integrity, impartiality, independence and sensitivity. Unfortunately, in my own personal opinion, not only has this civil servant failed to behave professionally and but has also lacked competence by being ignorant on matters that he should be aware of. For a job requiring a lot of customer interaction, he effectively puts the department and ultimately this country's image in a bad light on the way he treats foreign clients such as me. As a bureaucrat for the Swiss government, he effectively serves as an ambassador of this country. If indeed he does the same thing not only to me to other foreign people as well, it does not give a good impression on the Department and inevitably the way how foreign people are treated here.