Hi everyone,
Would really appreciate some advice in relation to family reunification and work permits!
I am a British citizen (non-EU) looking to join my husband (also British) who has recently relocated to Zurich for a new job, and has a B permit. Through family reunification, I understand I am also eligible to get a B residence permit if certain conditions are met, however the situation is less clear with regard to the process of getting a work permit.
I have 2 options at the moment:
1. Continue to work for my UK employer through a labour leasing agreement with a Swiss payroll company. I’d essentially be a freelance contractor.
2. Receive an employment contract from a Swiss company (close to getting this)
For both options, I am finding it difficult to establish how to obtain a work permit. From research online, I understand I have a “right to work” as a spouse of a B permit holder once I receive my residence permit. My questions are:
1. How do I apply for this work permit given I will already have a residence permit?
2. Am I more likely to get a work permit approved as I will already have a residence permit?
3. What are the obligations of my employer? (I’m guessing this might be slightly different depending on which option I go for?)
Any tips, pointers and/or advice from similar experiences, would be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks.
There are B permits with the right to work and B permits without the right to work. If you have a right to work, you'll be granted the former from the start. From what I've been able to find you will simply be issued a B permit with a right to work.
There’s no such thing as a work permit. What you get is a residence permit. If you have an employment contract from a Swiss employer then all you need to do is take the contract to your gemeinde and the permit will get the work part added to it. Would probably need to do the same if you opt to keep working for the UK company and have a Swiss payroll company, but that you’d need to check as I’m not that au fait with that side of things.
It's not quite true that there's no such thing as a work permit. Work authorizations are granted separately than residence permits. For example if you have a Family Reunification L permit, you have no right to work. When an employer wants to hire you, they need to apply for an authorisation to the work authorities, who then notify immigration to change the permit if it's granted, and it's not automatic, there are restrictions.
However, a B permit for family reunification should indeed include right to work without authorisation (the law itself plans that there is no right to work, but the government has decided to give that right anyway to encourage good integration). So for OP, you should in principle not have any problem working.
Please note that freelance is different in Switzerland than in certain jurisdictions. Here you are not considered self employed, and employers still need to collect social security and in your case tax at source even for very short term contracts, unless you actually register at the social security authority as self employed, which may be subject to authorisation (although for family reunification B permit I think it's usually de facto allowed). If allowed, working for your UK employer as a true self-employed independent contractor may be more financially advantageous (although with more bureaucracy for you) than going through a payroll company, depending on how much that company takes in commissions.
From my experience,
There is no separate work permit document for family reunification, your residence permit is the only document that you will have.
As mentioned, no need to apply for a work permit separately. My B residence permit mentions ‘ Familiennachzug Berechtigt zur Erwerbstatigkeit’ which means I can work without any further approvals.
For working option having a Swiss employer, no obligation on the employer. Just inform the canton that you are starting a job here.