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Presentation of the town

Reception, information and advice for newcomers. Coordination of all local issues in connection with the integration of foreigners to the city of Martigny.

Contact care and dialogue with the organisations of foreigners and the organisations for the help of foreigners.

Naturalisation.
Delegate for the integration of foreigners
M. Mahamadou Sognane
Rue de l’Hôtel de Ville 10
1920 Martigny
Phone: 027 / 721.22.59

Email : Contacter


 

History, Geography and Political system

HISTORY

Switzerland (in french : « Suisse » and « Confédération Helvétique » - CH) came into being on August 1st 1291 through the signing of a « Perpetual Alliance » between three cantons : Uri, Schwyz and Unterwald in a moutainside meadow called the Grütli. They swore to unite in order to free themselves from the Habsburg yoke.

The national hero, William Tell, according to the legend refused to recognize the authority of the Habsburgs over the region. Arrested, he was sentenced to pierce with an arrow an apple placed on his son’ s head. A confirmed marksman, he emerged victorious from the trial.

Other towns and regions joined the 3 « primitive » cantons. Today the country is made up of 26 cantons, with Berne the capital.

GEOGRAPHY

Situated at the heart of Europe, Switzerland has borders with Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. Surface : approx. 41,300 km2.

Set in the Alps, with summits of 4000 m, Canton Valais is at the crossroads of the main mountain passes linking Switzerland to Italy and France. So it is at the same time a mountainous, commercial and touristic region.

POLITICAL SYSTEM

Switzerland is a confederation – that is, an association of sovereign States (the cantons) delegating certain tasks to a common organism (the Confederation). Thus each canton has its own legislation, form of government and tribunals.

Schools and Day nurseries

DAY NURSERIES & DAY-CARE CENTERS

A service called « coordination de la petite enfance » (027/721.26.87) places children 0-12 years in the « communal » (= local) day nurseries and day-care centers.

SCHOOLS

Schooling is obligatory for all children 6-15 (9 years’ schooling). The school year begins end of August and finishes end of June ; it includes various days off and holidays throughout the year. A timetable is given to all pupils at the beginning of term.

  • children 4-12 : local schools, called « enfantines » and « primaires ».
    secretariat (new school building in town center) : rue des écoles 7 - Tél. 027/721.24.00
  • children 12-15 : two high school in Martigny called « cycle d’orientation », non – specialized :

C.O. Sainte Jeanne Antide
Rue du Simplon 10
tél. no: 027/722.22.88
C.O. Sainte Marie
Rue du Grand Verger
tél. no : 027/722.22.42

For information regarding all forms of higher education, apply to :

Address

Rue du Collège 5
1920 Martigny
tél : 027/721.75.61
Registration formalities

Contrôle des habitants – Bureau des étrangers (registration of residents and aliens office)

Every person taking up residence in the Commune has to register with the C.d.h. within 14 days.

Aliens arriving in Switzerland with a view to working must register with the B.d.é. before starting their job, for which they require a work permit.
This is issued by the Etat du Valais (= State offices), the decision being made by the Service cantonal des étrangers and the Service cantonal du travail.

Any change in status – marital, name, employer – or change of domicile, has to be reported to the C.d.h.

As each Swiss Commune is independent, it is necessary, upon change of Commune, to register with your new Commune.

permit L temporary (valid according to the duration of your work contract)
permit B authorization to reside
permit C permission to reside permanently (« permis d’établissement »)
permit G permission to commute to Switzerland to work (« permis frontalier »)
permit N /F permit for refugees.

Permits L and B are taxed at the source (deductible from salary and payable by the employer).
For EU nationals and members of the AELE, Permits B,C and G are generally valid 5 years.
For other aliens, Permit B is valid 1 year and C, 3 years. Permit G (commuters) does not exist for them.

ELECTRICITY – HEATING – NETWORK LINK

When taking up domicile in Martigny, you have to register with « Synergy Martigny SA » for the payment of your eletricity bill and, if you wish, for being linked to the radio and television networks, also the internet.

Address

Sinergy SA
Rue du Simplon 4 B
Tél : 027/564.25.00

Serafe

Every household possessing a radio and/or a television set must pay dues to Serafe. 058 201 31 67

Housing accomodation

You may rent your apartment from an individual or an agency (« régie immobilière »)

It is important to make an initial survey (called « un état des lieux d’entrée ») , an agreement signed by you and the proprietor or agency. This will save you trouble when you leave the apartment.

The duration of a lease for rented accomodation is normally one year, renewable by tacit agreement.

More and more frequently, a rent guarantee deposit is required. It can be paid by bank transfer or by warranty. The sum required is the equivalent, maximum, of 3 months rent and remains blocked until the lease is terminated.

A useful address

ASLOCA (association suisse des locataires)
Rue du l'Industrie 10 – 1950 Sion
tél : 027/322.92.49
Some dates

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

As the Valais is a Roman Catholic canton, public holidays largely correspond to RC religious feasts and holy days.

  • January 1 : New Year’s Day
  • March 19 : St Joseph’s Day
  • end May (date varies) : Ascension Day
  • mid-June (date varies) : Corpus Christi
  • August 1 : Swiss National Day
  • August 15 : Assumption of Our Lady
  • November 1 : All Saints Day
  • December 8 : Immaculate Conception of Our Lady
  • December 25 : Christmas Day

PUBLIC EVENTS

  • Thursday mornings : market at the Place Centrale.
  • February-March (dates vary) : Carnival (feast of the end of winter), 1 week, procession Saturday and Sunday, various entertainments, held in Martigny-Bourg.
  • Wallis week of fight against racism, 14th to 21st of March
  • 5 Continents Festival (end June) , Place Centrale.
  • Foire du Valais (Valaisan Fair) held in CERM for 10 days, all trades represented.
  • Knie Circus : Wednesday and Thursday mid-October, every year.
  • Octodurus Corrida (=running race) : town center, November.
  • Foire du Lard (literally « Bacon Fair ») : first Monday in December, in the Martigny - Bourg old street, big market.
  • Christmas Market : end December, Place Centrale.

In an even year, during the first week in August, a folkloric festival known as the FIFO is held in the CERM, and groups perform on the Place Centrale and on the Place du Bourg.

 

Work

Minimum wages and work conditions are fixed by « conventions collectives » (collective agreements) or formal contracts.

To obtain information or advice, ask your syndicate/trade union or professional association representing your trade/profession.

Alternatively :

Office communal du Travail
Mon-Fri 8am-12pm
Avenue du Grand-St-Bernard 4
1920 Martigny
Tél. no : 027/721.22.50

ORP (Regional employment office)

Your partner on the job market helps you find a job.
ORP-Martigny
Rue du Léman 29
1920 Martigny
Phone: 027 606 92 21
orpmartigny@admin.vs.ch

Social service for the protection of workers and of labour issues (Prud’homme)

Rue des Cèdres 5
1950 Sion
Telephone for appointment: 027/ 606 74 00         

CIO

The centre for information and professional advice informs everybody seeking to do an apprenticeship or further education:

Address  
Rue du Collège 5
1920 Martigny
Phone: 027/721.75.61

                                   

Local customs

HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOM

Individual freedom, human rights, democracy and neutrality are Switzerland’s traditional and fundamental values.

The two main Christian denominations, Catholic and Protestant, are roughly evenly represented, but religious freedom is guaranteed.

Equality of the sexes is written into the Swiss Constitution, and children’s rights are recognized and respected, e.g. it is prohibited to force children to work, to mistreat them ; choice of spouse is free, likewise of trade, of religion, of political party, etc.

Thus a fine may be imposed, even a prison sentence, for acts of a racist or sexist nature or reflecting a rejection of a group, a minority.

LOCAL CUSTOMS

With a Catholic majority, the Valais honors Catholic feast-days as public holidays and Sundays, as days of rest, favorable for family lunches or strolls. So kindly avoid making a noise that would upset the neighbors on those days.

Disturbance of the peace at night is also unwelcome. No noise please after 10 p.m.
If you are going to receive guests, kindly inform your next-door neighbors a few days beforehand.

Also, see that you keep clean all the common parts of the building at your disposal.

Vehicles

Some rules

Everybody wishing to drive a motor vehicle must possess a driving license.

A learner’s license conveys the right to drive with a driving instructor, or accompanied by a person possessing a driving license for more than 3 years and aged minimum 23.

In Switzerland, the speed limit is 50 km/h in town, 80 km/h on cantonal roads (blue roadsign) and 120 km/h on the freeways (motorways) (green roadsign).

Safety belts are obligatory for all passengers. Children under 7 have to be strapped into a special baby-seat at the back of the vehicle, in accordance with safety standards. (Info : bureau TCS at the Tourist Office).

For « two-wheelers », including moped riders, a helmet is obligatory.

The alcohol level in the blood must not be beyond 0,5% (1 glass).

Vehicles unable to circulate at 80 km/h are banned from the freeways. On these roads, it is forbidden to hitch-hike and to drive along with studded tires. Should you run out of gas, you face a fine.

Driving license

  • From 14 years upwards : mopeds and farm vehicles up to 30 km/h
  • From 16 years upwards : motor cycles up to 50 cm3
  • From 18 years upwards : all other types of vehicle.

A learner’s license is valid for 2 years at most and can only be obtained after a first aid course and enrolment in a driving school (« auto-école »).

During the first year after arrival in Switzerland, a foreign license remains valid, except for professional runs.

Importing a vehicle

When you bring your own vehicle from your former domicile or from an inheritance, you have to undergo a technical control and present the result to the authorities : the « Service cantonal de la circulation routière ».

For a whole year after registration, the vehicle may neither be sold nor passed on to another person.

For the technical control you have to provide the experts’report (« rapport d’expertise » issued by the Service cantonal) and the anti-pollution certificate (issued by a garage).

ADDRESS

Service cantonal de la circulation routière et de la navigation
Av. de France 71
1951 Sion
tél : 027/606.71.00

Registration plates for bicycles and mopeds must be bought at the post office or at a TCS office.

TCS : 0844 888 111

Available facilities

Commission for the integration of foreigners
Rue de l’Hôtel de Ville 10
1920 Martigny

Help for migrant families
Link between school and migrant families, support, company and building up of responsibility of parents in their process of integration.
Marie-Antoinette Olesen
Phone: 079 794 89 35

Education on the street: social worker outdoors
Interface between adolescents and adults, between adolescents and public authorities.
Facility for parents, educational support for families.
Matthieu Moulin
Phone: 079 238 89 60

Association of pupils’ parents in Martigny (APE):
Lockbox 26, 1920 Martigny
Chairwoman: Myriam Jacquemoud
Phone: 027 722 01 02

Integration for everybody (IPT):
Cultivate the integration and professional reintroduction for people with physically or mentally constrained health
Rue de l’Hôtel-de-Ville 14
1920 Martigny
Phone: 027 327 62 30

Residential home Bernadette Carmen for people applying for asylum
Rue de Bellevue 4
1920 Martigny
Phone: 027 / 722 50 00
Fax:   027 / 722 66 79

Sports clubs and local associations
Participating more, playing, discovering and amusing oneself with varied physical activities offered by the sports clubs of Martigny, Martigny-combe and Charrat.
Children and adolescents from 8 to 16 years
Commune of Martigny
Commission for sports and leisure
Rue de l’Hôtel de Ville 1
1920 Martigny
email: info@participezplus.ch

Projects for Integration

French courses and civic duties for foreingers:
Free lessons from Monday to Friday: terms from September to December and from February to June.
Levels: Alphabetisation I and II, beginner I and II, intermediate, average and advanced.
In the morning from 9 AM to 10:30 AM in the Maison de la Musique and in the evening from 7 PM to 8:30 PM at the Cycle Sainte-Marie.


Information and registration: 027 721 22 59
Delegate for the integration of foreigners
Rue de l’Hôtel de Ville 1
1920 Martigny

Project “integration in everyday life”:

Share a meal in the Centre de Loisirs et Culture of Martigny

Several different communities, associations of foreigners, the neighbourhoods and the Swiss citizens organise dinner evenings in order to have their cultures discovered, to promote cultural exchange and to live it. A convivial exchange with discoveries of local and foreign cultures are offered around a dinner every last Friday in a month.

Contact: Delegate for the integration.
Informations: 027 721 22 59

Mexican evening



Polish evening

Project “Understanding School”

An integrative establishment for pupils’ parents in Martigny. An integration course to facilitate the better comprehension of the school system and to help parents to get more involved in their children’s school career.

Contact: Marie-Antoinette Olesen (079 794 89 35)

Informatics studio

Free course in informatics for migrants of the region Martigny and surroundings.

From September to June, every Wednesday from 2 PM to 4 PM and from 6 PM to 8 PM at the Cycle Sainte Jeanne-Antide in Martigny.

Centre for immigrated Swiss

Responsible: Mrs Agnès Larose
Phone: 027 323 12 16 /  078 648 74 46
Email: agnesla@hotmail.com

Exchange and integration programme of the Red Cross Wallis “Come to me”

Exchange and integration programme for children and adolescents of migrant and Swiss families of the region Martigny.

Red Cross Wallis
Rue Chanoine Berchtold 10
Lockbox 310, 1951 Sion
Phone: 027 322 13 54
   

Schooling and Training

Reception structure for adolescents of foreign languages “beyond compulsory schooling 15 to 20 years“

Professional school of Martigny (EPM):
Option professional training / option integration in the labour world
Laurent Jacquemin
Rue de Grimisuat 8 – 1920 Martigny
Privat phone: 027 722 67 24 – off. phone: 027 606 07 00

Youth Motivation Semester
For adolescents aged 15 to 20 following compulsory school or apprenticeship dropouts. Activity, advice and support structure and apprenticeship finding.
Rue de l’Hôtel-de-Ville 10
1920 Martigny
Phone: 027 722 62 01 /  079 351 30 43

SeVal: Evaluation Semester
Reception of adolescents searching for training, activity, support at school or company at the profession research.
Rue de l’Ancienne-Pointe 16
1920 Martigny
Phone: 027 723 14 45  /  079 351 30 43

Support courses for apprentices
Courses meant for Swiss and foreign apprentices.
Responsible: Bernard Perrin
Phone: 027 723 26 46

Association account

International culture groupe Martigny (CGI):
Non-political and non-religious associations uniting members from various countries.
Communication and exchange location with different ethnic groups in a very convivial space.
Its goal is to unify the forces for permanent actions in the area of human relations and culture and to facilitate the exchanges between Switzerland and the rest of the world.
Chairwoman: Adeline Tornay
Rue des Alpes 1
1920 Martigny
Mobile:  078 852 76 40
Email: adelinetornay@hotmail.com

Association Casa de Galicia
Rue du Châble-Bet 16, 1920 Martigny
Phone: 027 722 60 98
Chairman: Luis Oliveira
Mobile: 079 437 05 55

Italian Colony Oasis
Rue du Châble-Bet 16,1920 Martigny
Phone: 027 722 65 96
Chairman: Massimo Rollo
Mobile: 079 220 77 91

Portuguese cultural centre
Rue des Finettes 55, 1920 Martigny
Phone: 027 722 77 96

Association Solidarity Guinea-Bissau/Switzerland (SGBS):
Lockbox 282, 1920 Martigny
Chairman: Ambrosio Antonio Ucalam
Phone: 027 746 30 16 / 079 577 38 05

Albano-kosovarian Community of Martigny
Lockbox 97, 1920 Martigny
Chairman: Muhharem  Bérisha
Phone: 079 779 96 42
www.association-albano-kosovare.ch

NEWROZ
Association of Kurdss from Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq.
Rue du Léman 35, 1920 Martigny
Chairman : Khalil Al Hussein
Phone: 078 905 25 35

Association of the Sri Lankan of Martigny
Contact: Mohan Nadarajah
Phone: 079 440 82 04
Meeting points and Leisure

Leisure and Culture Centre of Vorziers
Platform for sociocultural entertainment promoting the exchange of people, cultures and generations. Throughout animation projects, the creation and strengthening of links are promoted witch children, adolescents and adults, Swiss and foreigners.
Centre de Loisirs et Culture
Les Vorziers 2
1920 Martigny
Phone: 027 722 79 78
Fax: 027 722 79 77
www.clcm.ch
Infos: info@clcm.ch

Group “Hyphen”This multicultural group consisting of seven people of different cultures and horizons offers you a programming “World music” in line with the “Petites Fugues”.
The goal of the “Hyphen” is to promote the encounter between Swiss and immigrants, support the work for integration of foreigners in an optimal space for intercultural exchange.
Centre de Loisirs et Culture des Vorziers
Les Vorziers 2
1920 Martigny
Phone: 027 722 79 78
Fax: 027 722 79 77

http://www.petitesfugues.ch/
Inscription per email to info@clcm.ch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

En savoir plus
Administration municipale de Martigny Secrétariat Général Hôtel de Ville 1 Case postale 176 CH-1920 Martigny Tél. : 027 721 21 11 Fax : 027 721 22 12 Contacter la ville de Martigny
Horaires d'ouverture du Greffe municipal
du lundi au vendredi
07h30 - 12h00
13h30 - 17h30
Merci de respecter les précautions sanitaires
Horaires d'ouverture de l'Accueil Citoyen
du lundi au vendredi
09h00 - 12h00
15h00 - 18h30
Merci de respecter les précautions sanitaires
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