I'm visiting my Swiss Girlfriend in Lucerne and am attempting to find a job in my field (Marketing). Since I am from North America it seems impossible find anything unless you are incredibly specialized. You need a job to get a visa and vice versa....... Is anyone else having the same frustrations? After my 90 days are up I will have to leave. We have contemplated marriage since we have been a couple for 3 years doing long distance.
Hi Everyone,
Yep, that’s the case. As a “third country” citizen you come last in the job market. Employers here have to consider Swiss, EU nationals and others who are already here with a valid work permit before they can look at anyone else. Be very careful with your job hunting. You can look at the possibilities, study the job market for your field, but applying for/attending interviews while you’re here is a no no. You’re here as a tourist and as such are not allowed to apply for jobs while you’re in the country. If you get caught you could be deported and banned from entering the country for some years.
If you don’t have the language skills and are not that specialised in your work it will be much harder for you. Not impossible, but much harder.
I feel your pain.
My bf is EU and has a job here and I have come as an au pair but my time is quickly running out and I cannot find any way to stay here (I am American)
It is horrible I wish you the best of luck and let me know if you come up with any good ideas!
Get married
If you are under 35, there is an agreement between the Canadian government and the Swiss Confederation to facilitate getting work experience in the other country. The Canadian embassy in Bern may be able to give you some information.
It's hard but not impossible. I got my job offer while applying from US and will be moving to start my new job next week. But I am IT so maybe that field is in more demand.
You could always go as a student, get your MBA.
Ive only seen that the 'easiest' place to get a job at is with a school as a masters/ph.d/post doc position.
Has anyone had success with this? One major problem I am seeing reading into this is:
Source:
http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/...mp/howapl.html
Is there a way to approach employers saying that, due to this program, it will be easy to get a permit if you are offered a job? Otherwise, it is quite hard to even get to the interview stage...
yes, i initially came to CH on the YMP so employers are open to it and the process is incredibly straight forward
Some new Americans (i.e. arrived since the EU visa changes) who were not specialized and didn't have langagues are in teaching in private/international schools. Maybe worth looking into.
I wish you luck. I'm curious what your immigration process expectations were. Please bear in mind you are describing what non-north Americans have to go through in North America too. Marriage to a local, similar to the Common-law/Marriage status recognition in Canada, will make things a lot easier, unless you find an employer willing to go through the hoops for you, or can be posted overseas by a Canadian company with Swiss links.
Hey,
I'm in the exact same position. I'm a Canadian, just finished my master's degree in economics/finance, looking for a job in Zurich/Winterthur.
My boyfriend lives in Winterthur and I simply don't see a point in continuing long distance... it's too hard! So I'm looking to move out here and hoping to find a job. Also, to get the work permit my understanding is that you have to be in Canada when processing it, you cannot be a tourist looking for a job.
Has anyone had luck with this YMP? Is the first step really to find a job? No other way of getting a work permit first, that allows you to look for a job while in the country?
http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/...anott/ymp.html
Thanks.
You can look for a job while here as a tourist, but you can’t start working until you have your permit. Also as you need a visa to enter the country for longer than 3 months, you are supposed to apply for it at the Swiss embassies in Canada, or at least an Swiss embassy in another country like France or Germany, i.e. you’re not supposed to be in Switzerland when applying for the visa.
Hi Everyone!
I have the same problem like the topic starter.
I'm Ukrainian IT guy and I'd like to get a job in Switzerland.
I thought it's much easier to get this job permit for US/Canada citizens.
But it's the same case. I was sending my CV for a while but the answers were the same.
"We're glad to receive your CV but you must have CH work permit."
I don't know German or French unfortunately.
How to resolve this problem? btw, please do not advice a marriage, I'm married.
P.S.
Ukraine is ex-USSR country but not Russia if you don't know.
There are jobs out there, but unfortunately as I said in my first post, you - like b_occomore - are a long way down the queue for jobs here. And the Swiss recently introduced quota limits for EU-17 nationals as well so it’s even more difficult. Until you get a job you will not get a permit so all you can do is keep applying. Or seek work in another country with easier entry requirements.
Medea Fleecestealer , thanks for the quick reply.
Yes, I understand the problem clearly. But may be someone knows big companies which could hire non-EU specialists.
Probably I'll try to get Austrian job seeker visa.
Would be great if Switzerland had something like job seeker visa program.
Well some companies are mentioned here:
How much an IT Helpdesk Support can earn with no German or French
But it really depends on how specialised your skills are and how much experience you can bring. Even the big companies have to prove that they can’t find a Swiss, EU national or someone already living here with a valid work permit who can do a job before they can get a permit for a non-EU person.
Austria is part of the EU and the same rules apply - Permits for non-EU citizens are issued if the authorities are satisfied that there is no EU/EET citizen available to take up the job!
Thanks for the link to the topic. I'm familiar with IT help desk role. I've been working as a support engineer for 3 yrs. Minimum salary would be nice for me.
Austria allows to get a job seeker visa:
http://www.migration.gv.at/en/types-...-red-card.html
It resolves the main problem - no job==no visa and no visa==no job in my case.
Germany also has opened the same program which is called Blue Card.
But Switzerland doesn't have the same program unfortunately.
Why not opt for a job in Austria or Germany first, to get some EU experience and learn German? You can then visit Switzerland regularly, learn more about it, and continue applying for jobs here if this is your ultimate destination.