Some of this will need to be reviewed:
EU Permits - bullet points:
Q. Can I travel to Switzerland without a visa?
A. Yes
Q. Can I search for a job in Switzerland?
A. Yes. You will be given a 6-month residence permit (three months as a visitor, three months jobseeker’s permit) allowing you to reside here while searching for jobs.
Q. Is access to the job market restricted?
A. No. A work permit will be delivered automatically upon signature of the contract.
Q. Is my permit tied to the employer??
A. No
Q. Does this mean I can change jobs freely?
A. Yes
Q. Can I work as an independent?
A. Yes. See details here.
Q. Is my significant other allowed to come with me?
A. Yes.
Q. Is my significant other allowed to work?
A. Yes, provided the union is official (marriage, civil partnership), and regardless of nationality.
non-EU Permits - bullet points
Legal base: Federal Aliens Law in German ; Federal Aliens Law in French
Gainful employment is any activity carried out as a self-employed or employed person, temporary or permanent, which is usually paid, even if no payment is received :
- for an employer which is based in Switzerland or abroad, no matter where the salary is paid
- as an apprentice, trainee, volunteer, sportsperson, social worker, au pair, artist, etc…
First employment : priority for residents
When a first employment is involved, priority will be given to Swiss nationals seeking employment or foreigners residing in Switzerland and who hold resident and work permits.
The employer is required to prove :
- that it has made every possible effort to find a worker on the Swiss and European local labour market, the latter if the application concerns a non-European national
- that it has notified the job in question to the Cantonal Employment Office by means of the Vacancy “We are searching” form and that the Office has been unable to find a candidate within a reasonable period
- that for the post in question it cannot train or have trained within a reasonable period a person available on the labour market
Conditions of employment, employment contract
Permits may only be granted if the employer is offering the foreign national the same salary and employment conditions current locally and in the industry and if the foreign national has adequate sickness insurance.
The employment contract must be enclosed with any application, whatever the period of employment.
Changing a job or place of work
Since the 1st of Jan. 2008 foreign nationals who hold an annual work permit (B Permit) must no longer obtain permission to change job, profession or canton and to change from employment to self-employment. Note this applies only to permits delivered for long-term contracts, not to short-duration or job-specific (i.e. project) permits. Legal base Art. 38 AuG / LEtr
Obtaining a visa - application and first entry into Switzerland
The prospective employer must do the application on behalf of the prospective employee . The vetting process can take up to three months. Once the authorisation to receive a work permit is delivered, foreign nationals must apply with it for the specific entry visa at the Swiss consulate / embassy of their residence . Upon entering Switzerland, the visa must be stamped by the immigration officers at the border. Failure to get a stamp may result in being required to exit and reenter Switzerland to get said stamp.
US citizen EU spouse - Requirements for permits:
THE FORMAL PROCEDURES FOR A NON EU SPOUSE IN KANTON ZURICH ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Visa Requirement
NO Residence Visa/Permission granted before arrival is required for a NON-EU spouse coming from a visa-exempt country or has access to Schengen Visa and you come entering WITH your spouse of EU citizenship. If you have a residence permit in another EU country you also do not need a Visa to enter WITH spouse.
YOU require a Visa if
- You are in risk of overstaying your 90 day Schengen in the 180 day time span. This also means when they check you they count back 180 days from that date. So if you’re spending on and off a lot… you might want to save yourself some big legal trouble and count back. The process takes about 1-3 weeks maximum if you have all your paperwork together
- Your spouse is already a resident and you are entering AFTER that
- See above… you are in need of a visa from the very beginning.
- Your spouse is not EU
- You have a marriage certificate from a NON EU country with Apostille or International AND in German (Sometimes I heard they accept from non-EU countries a marriage certificate if it is apostiled ahead of time… but this was very important for them when I called)
Paperwork
- Passport photos
- Birth Cert.
- Marriage Cert.
- Criminal Record Cert. or Affidavit… and in addition a once more sworn little paper with your Gemeinde that you are not a criminal
- Passport and should ideally match the new name on your marriage certificate.
- Be prepared to state when you entered or left EU or for them to scan your passport or have a look on it.
- Rental contract of spouse/you
- Work contract of spouse
- Health insurance proof. They are more relaxed on this as long as you can prove you can supplement yourself until your spouse puts you on their plan or you have a health insurance that can cover you (like travel insurance per say which is what I’m actually on right now until first of month) and show them concrete Swiss based insurance within 3 months – thats your time limit normally for any paper you don’t have on you for EU spouse or EU citizen. But get it in ASAP.
AFTER THE FACT
You should*… get a residence permit within 3 weeks… your Gemeinde must first mail papers to kanton… you have an appointment for biometrics… then within ten days after that if all is good permit is with you. We had all our paperwork correct and orderly… made process go so smooth and imagine it could have taken us a lot longer had we not.
Your residence permit should be 5 years … as you should be treated the same as
Work Permits for Foreign Nationals - Swiss official rulings on work permits:
https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/themen/arbeit.html
Visas and Documents Required - for non EU India
https://www.eda.admin.ch/countries/india/en/home/visa/entry-ch.html
