Leaving Switzerland during studies, EU citizen

Question

Cross-post from travel.SE because I was asked to:

I'm an EU citizen, and study in Zurich, Switzerland. I'm enrolled for the following semester.

My housing lease is expiring and I haven't managed to find other affordable accommodation, so I must leave Switzerland for my home country. My residence permit expires on the same day as my lease, and I've applied for an extension before I knew I would not find accommodation.

1. What will happen to my residence permit, which is being processed right now? Will I be able to enter Switzerland again when I find some apartment? (If e.g. my country is on a high-risk Covid19 list then.)

2. Am I breaking some Swiss law if I receive my residence permit, but don't have an address for some time? Is my residence permit valid for entering Switzerland again?

3. Is it a good idea to pay someone that I know to register me as a subtenant, so I have a postal address? I don't plan on being in Switzerland for a while, I will only maybe need to reenter for exams. Is this even legal?

Answer 1

As an EU Citizen is relativ automatic, so leaving and returning is no problem here.

Before you must deregister your residence as everyone else must. (You can be fined for not doing so)

When you return you will have register again when you take up a residence.

Depending on how long you have been gone, your Aufenthaltsbewilligung may have expired after leaving the country for a longer period (I found no information about this).

Checking back with the Kanton authority after your return would be, therefore, wise.

You could, of course, go now and simply ask 'Does the Aufenthaltsbewilligung expire after being absent over 3/6 months?'.